the sparrows are SO bad

[Lenora C]

The sprrows are so bad this year I do not know what to do. As soon as we put the house up they were on it like a swarm of bees. We have used the trap door, but as soon as you reset it another is in it before you are down the ladder. The repeating trap on the groung catches other birda. What will the martins do if I do not open the house. We live in the city and the sparrows just keep coming. We solved the starling problem with excluder doors.

[klcretired]

Hi Lenora C
Welcome to the Forum, we are glad to have you.
Please continue to trap those pesky sparrows, use nest box traps , trap's in your housing and whatever you can , eventually they will stop coming, If you trap please make sure you check your traps frequently while the martins are here, your perseverance will pay off in the end , Now I don't get sparrows any more because I was on a Mission to Get rid of them , Let me tell you of another trick , but only use this when you are sure that the Martins are gone for this Season, use Glue traps /and Mouse traps in each compartment , you can get them at Lowes/Home depot . every year after My Martins Have Left My Site I leave up My Gourd Rack and My Housing and use them as Traps until my Martins come back then I cut back to a couple of Super Gourd Traps , It is really nice to be able to sit and watch My Martins and hear them with out any of those Trash Beaks Here.
Good Luck This Season and Please Don't Give up!!!!!

[chickadee]

I put up a house I use just to attract the sparrows and shoot them. but last year 2 pair of martins nested in it. not sure what to do now this year. I have a blains trap. 2 males in it for 2 weeks now. and cant catch any other sparrows. so I wait for them to land on boxes and shoot them. they are like cock roaches I understand how you want to get them. but please whatever you do if you use glue traps be careful. I have heard horror story's of people catching blue birds or anything but a sparrow.

[DornCounty]

sparrows do not migrate... so there is hope... you simply have to continue to trap as best as you can. Every one you get is 5 more that you don't have to deal with later. At one colony section I manage I traped 2 or 3 a day for about 2 weeks when I first started. Now it's only 1 or 2 a month.

[CHenry]

My sparrow trap is in a wooden house down low about 5' off the ground and the martins don't use it, only sparrows. I usually catch 8-10 and they give up or have found other housing elsewhere. Keep at it, they will thin out.

[Darryl Sparlin]

Lenora,

I know exactly how you feel about them sparrows. A few
weeks ago I had probably 20-30 of them just appear
out of nowhere. Sometimes I often wonder if someone is
trapping then driving them away from their property and
releasing them around mine. Whatever you do after you
catch one, don't trim its tail feathers and let it go like I have
read before that some people do. It will be just a matter of
time that the feathers we be grown back and the sparrow will
be right back doing either you or somebody else trouble. In the
past week I have trapped 12 sparrows. I just take them out of
trap and break their neck. The ones you really need to try and
get rid of are the males. If the females can't find a male to mate
with they will be forced to move elsewhere. I wish you success in
getting rid of these pesty birds. Whatever you do don't give up, just
keep trapping and shooting and you will eventually see a difference
in the amount of sparrows. Good Luck!!!!!

[chickadee]

yes don't give up. I was about to today and after 2 weeks I caught my second sparrow in my trap. I moved it under my car today where they all hang out. I am so happy. I will try the car again tomorrow. and I use to clip their feathers. before I new better. so yea don't do that.

[Conrad Baker]

For those who insist on "clipping their wings" and letting them go, make sure you clip their wings with pinking shears between their eyes and the top of their wings. Then they will be "good" sparrows. It only takes one nest check to find Martin eggs with holes pecked in them, or the mother PM who has died trying to protect her babies and the top of her head pecked in before you decide that the Sparrows are not good for anything but target practice. Just my humble opinion, and your mileage may vary.

[MamaBruff]

Hi Lenora, Nice to have another Missouri Lady on the forum! European House Sparrows were a plague for me too last year. (my first to offer housing). I kept buying traps, so there was some variety. I have 2 that fit in my house compartments, and 2 that fit my gourds. I also have a PMCA nestbox trap mounted on a post. Also an insert trap or two for the HOSP that finds BB housing more interesting. Keep at it, try not to get discouraged! Remember, each sparrow you humanely eliminate keeps it from producing 15 more that year. Also, a hole 1 5/16" will exclude PMs and BBs but allow HOSP entry, IF you get desperate enough to use a glue trap. I did have to resort to that once last year, when a single pair of HOSP built nests in EIGHT empty compartments. I made the excluder hole in a piece of black plastic and taped inside my SREH entrance holes. Traps can be deadly to any bird, so be sure to monitor closely!

Knock on wood, the HOSP pressure is greatly reduced this year. Your hard work WILL pay off!! Good Luck!

PS: Everyone on the forum is great to help out with ideas and encouragement as you can see... Kept me from going bald last year!

[~Ray~Gingerich]

The other day I heard that awful cheeping sound and noticed a male sparrow sitting near my box trap /spar-o-door and I noticed the trap had been tripped, rather than scareing the male away when I reset the trap I decided to try a shot at him and that worked out perfectly..2 down, then this morning there was one messing with my bluebird box, he flew away but was slow and not flying right so I suppose he was #3. Sparrows seem to be on the increase, at least around here it seems.

[Jose Rodriguez]

I had sparrows landing on the porches of my gourds. One even went in and out of the gourd. It wasn't till I got rid of all the porches, and added cling plates that the sparrows stopped hanging around the gourds. We still have them flying around our yard but I have not seen them go close to the gourds anymore. Thank goodness!

[Lenora C]

Thank you everyone for your kind words of encourgrement and suggestions. This is not my first year as a landlord, we inherited the martins several years ago. I have learned the hard way a couple years and have learned alot from this forum. This year justs seems a little extra tough. There must be a sparrow factory close by. Again thank you.

[DAVE]

I don't have a Sparrow problem but my friend doe's. He bought a new House and we converted the old house into a Sparrow haven We reworked the openings to 1 and half inch's. Put it up 2 months ago with traps in all 12 compartments. When we started there were about 30 plus Sparrows around and now maybe 1or2 a day. No martins at his place yet so keep on getin it.
Dave

[Craig Haddox]

I have trapped at least 15 sparrows in the past 7-10 days using my spare-o-door traps and my ground trap. They just keep coming. A never ending supply around this town.

[phldave]

Trapped my first male HOSP this year today in a horizontal gourd. Sure hated to see that headache start, but such is what it is. If keeping them out will get me some PM's so be it. Everybody fight the good fight!

[KathyF]

Hi Lenora,
I've written about helpful tips and some of the myths of House sparrow control here. Take a look at let us know if you need more help. You can get them under control, but it takes some time. Don't give up!

Good luck!

http://kathyfreeze.blogspot.com/2014/02 ... lings.html

[Carlton]

Yes, please continue to trap and get rid of the pests.

When I first started trying to attract martins in DE I really fought HS constantly the first year. Once I discovered the Spar o Door I was catching the pests right and left. After awhile you get rid of A LOT of them and the others seem to realize that is not a very safe place to hang out and the martins have a chance to move in and nest.