UST - Universal Sparrow Trap

[Charlie Rogers]

The above trap is described on the catalogue page for a Coates house, but then goes on to say not for crescent entraces on an aluminum house. My question is which is it? Does anyone have one and does it fit up to crescent openings? what is measurement from bottom of trap to bottom of trap entrance hole? How well does it work?

[Louise Chambers]

Charlie, it says it fits most Trios (and then lists exceptions) AND Coates, Lonestar, T14, Trendsetter, and Sunset Inn houses. I do not see where it says not for aluminum house/crescent entrance. I am using in Lonestar w crescent, it fits in S&K houses too. I put a bit of sparrow nest up against back wall, slide trap to back, then camo front of trap with tunnel from removed HOSP nest - that way the sparrows don't see the metal of trap, just their own nest material. I put a few feathers onto the trip wire inside, too.

[Charlie Rogers]

QUOTE:
Works on wooden houses with round, oval, and crescent shaped entrances (will not work in crescent/excluder entrances on metal houses).

Appreciate your help Louise, I am in a place I cannot shoot basically.

[Louise Chambers]

Thanks for helping me narrow it down, Charlie - you are viewing the online item description, which does not mirror the print catalog info. Sorry for that, and we will get the online info updated.

The measurement of trap is, front to back, 5-1/4 inches (some of that is simply for thumb screw that lifts shutter)
Five inches wide, 4-3/8 inch tall.
Height with shutter raised for use, 5-1/2 inches - so would fit in most 6 x 6 x 6 inch compartments, and all larger compartments.
Bottom of trap to bottom of entrance, 1/2 inch.

Yes, the trap's front metal wall will show a bit behind SREHs, but it does not cause any problems if you do a couple of things. I use the trap very successfully in Lonestar houses with crescents. First thing I do is put a thin layer of pulled-out HOSP nest against back wall of compartment, so a HOSP that looks into the opening sees nest at the back. I push the trap all the way to the back wall, and then fill gap between trap front and compartment door with removed hosp nest material, shaped into tunnel, with narrow hosp passage into the set trap. They don't see any trap metal due to hosp material that covers it. I am refining my technique a bit, using a few feathers to hide the perch wire on floor that triggers the trap.

Even so, I caught TWO martins this way - the hosp female entered, laid an egg, left - and in went a martin, despite the tunnel! So either add a reducer to front outside of house, or be sure to check trap often - and you cannot see the shutter when trap is pushed to back of larger compartments. But it is working well, have caught 5 males, 2 females, at public site where in-house trapping is the only option. The trap will work for starlings on houses with round entrances.

[Charlie Rogers]

Thanks so much Louise, I appreciate all the advice. I like to check things out in every scenerio before I make a purchase. I will be ordering right away.

[BirdBrain]

It's a tight squeeze but it fits in my Heath house.

I operate mine a bit differenfly from Ms. Chambers. I caught an ASY male in mine earlier this season. Because I only have one pair of Martins in residence, I can't stand the thought of the trap frightening them off. So when I caught the one PUMA, I fashioned a façade for the front to reduce the size of the opening to something too small for PUMAs.

Before:



After:



The façade is made from "flashing," sort of a super-heavy duty aluminum foil used to join central hear/air ductwork (~$11 for a 10-ft roll at Home Depot). I originally made the hole using a 1 1/4" hole drill, but it stopped catching HOSPS, so I enlarged it to 1 5/8" with a pair of tin snips. Now I'm back to catching sparrows, despite the rather jagged edges the snips left.

As to how I differ from Ms. Chambers, I pull mine as close to the opening as possible. I do, however, keep some HOSP feathers and nesting material inside.

I shot this this morning. The orange gate has dropped (bottom row, right), meaning the trap has been sprung. This is a strange PUMA to me, and my pair in residence lives in a chamber on the other side, so I was afraid this porch sitting display meant his "missus" had got herself caught in my trap. Turns out it was a sparrow, thank goodness.



I tried to match the height of bottom of the hole in the façade to the bottom of the hole in the door as closely as possible. I insert the cage, set the trap, close the door, then move the cage so the holes line up and are as close as possible.

The reason my decoy is upside down is that something seems to be knocking it over at night (an owl maybe?) and I hadn't righted it when I shot this.

[Louise Chambers]

That's a nice adaptation - have to see if I can make one too, I'd like to have both options for using the trap, and it's nice to see shutter easily. I could still push to back and disguise for the hard to catch HOSP

[Charlie Rogers]

I appreciate the input, I am waiting for my trap to get here.

[johnnycoon]

Could not help noticing the up side down decoy.For me that would be a red flag that a hawk or owl swiped at it. But I don't know how tight yours is around the perch.The wind could do that too.

[johnnycoon]

I would put up a 4X4 CHICKEN WIRE ASAP!!!