Sparrow nest tearout how often?

[James A Lenz]

I have a couple of sparrows building in a gourd. I have been tearing it out everyday, but I feel like that is too much raising and lowering of the rack for my Martins. Any thoughts?

[C.C.Martins]

If you can, shoot them. I know some have neighbors, it has prevented me from pulling the trigger a time or two. Set a trap in that gourd if you can.

[rrmartins]

You have to trap the male for sure. The male will destroy the other nest if he keeps having to start over. If you can’t trap him, just let them be. After they are staying the night, insert pool noodle into opening and trap both of them at nighttime and remove them the next day. You can also poke small holes, in the end of their eggs, with a hot needle, to keep them from hatching. Good luck.

[handyman315]

It's hit or miss for me, literally, i.e., will shoot them at almost any opportunity, but miss once and they become super-smart.

I've had some luck re-closing some open housing until the HOSPs move on to another location; too many sparrows and/or Martins actively needing housing makes that approach problematic.

Once I finally learned how to control Tree Swallows, my remaining problem was, and continues to be, HOSP.

[C.C.Martins]

Yeah i understand. They learn quick...if you have time perhaps a blind? They will keep at the gourd, maybe a close shot? You need a lethal permanent solution. I hid under my wifes tree for an hour to get a starling. Sparrows seem smarter.

They seem to come in waves, starlings are active again and the sparrows snooping around.

[C.C.Martins]

That pool noodle idea is a very good one!

[rrmartins]

That pool noodle idea is a very good one!

Have to be very quiet not too spook the Martins at nighttime.
I have a T14. Last year only had 13 pair because I let sparrows have one cavity, to keep from having “Sparrow Revenge”. I used the egg hole method and all 13 pair fledged babies. This year I opened the house slower and have 14 pair. I killed 67 sparrows last year, by various traps. Good luck

[James A Lenz]

That pool noodle idea is a very good one!

Have to be very quiet not too spook the Martins at nighttime.
I have a T14. Last year only had 13 pair because I let sparrows have one cavity, to keep from having “Sparrow Revenge”. I used the egg hole method and all 13 pair fledged babies. This year I opened the house slower and have 14 pair. I killed 67 sparrows last year, by various traps. Good luck

THANKYOU everyone. I can’t seem to get a shot on the male as there are always Martins around. I will see about the noodle approach. That just might work.

[-=DKC=-]

Personally, I don't think lowering the housing every day is too much for the birds. My crew don't seem concerned at all even when they are incubating or feeding babies. It might be a little much for us landlords though.

[Dan G]

I say tear them out as often as necessary. If you pop the ends of the eggs with a needle, they will not hatch, despite how long they sit on them, thus reducing the number of broods. I had a pair of HS start to build in a BB box out of my direct line of sight from the house. I managed to trap the female on Sunday. Yesterday, the male was making himself quite at home on my new T-14. I walked right by him as he chirped away, calling for a new mate. Went inside, grabbed the .22 and went out and took care of him. He obviously had no fear of me. Had i missed, he would have been educated. As other have said, they learn quick to avoid us.

[Fuzzmeister]

I was watching my martins and it never fails as soon as they leave the house the dam sparrows fly in and start snooping around going through all the cavities, then when the martins come back the sparrows fly away. I’m wondering do the sparrows go in to the cavavties to wreck the Martin eggs or does the female protect them from the time she starts laying them?

[John & Linda - KY]

Sparrows do learn quickly. A couple of times when they just wouldn't get trapped (I can't shoot because of neighbors) I let them nest for a couple of weeks until they had either eggs ready to hatch or nestlings and then tore the nest out. This was before the martins had eggs. One or two times was enough, they abandoned their efforts in our housing. -- JohnP

[jhcox]

For those of you who are not a great shot with a .22. I would suggest using a 22 with rat shot in it. It’s pretty accurate at like 20 to 25 yards. And as far as the neighbors it’s not very loud at all. And the shot spreads out like a tiny shot gun. So if you’re not a very accurate shot its ok because like 20 or 30 tiny bbs spread out and even if they fly right as so shot odds are they will fly into several of the bbs. Good luck and kill some for me. JHCox Heiskell TN

[James A Lenz]

For those of you who are not a great shot with a .22. I would suggest using a 22 with rat shot in it. It’s pretty accurate at like 20 to 25 yards. And as far as the neighbors it’s not very loud at all. And the shot spreads out like a tiny shot gun. So if you’re not a very accurate shot its ok because like 20 or 30 tiny bbs spread out and even if they fly right as so shot odds are they will fly into several of the bbs. Good luck and kill some for me. JHCox Heiskell TN

Ok thankyou everyone for your input I never knew about rat shot but I’ll have some this afternoon. I keep missing the devils though. Should I be shooting above the sparrows or leading it left or right? Wow what a wealth of knowledge we have here. I’m also gonna try putting out a scarecrow look alike of myself as the sparrows never come around when I’m in the yard.

[-=DKC=-]

Ok thankyou everyone for your input I never knew about rat shot but I’ll have some this afternoon. I keep missing the devils though. Should I be shooting above the sparrows or leading it left or right? Wow what a wealth of knowledge we have here. I’m also gonna try putting out a scarecrow look alike of myself as the sparrows never come around when I’m in the yard.

I wait for House Sparrows to perch on the gourd rack when all Martins are either out flying or inside the compartments. This usually gives me a good shot at them with the pellet gun while they are stationary. No leading necessary.

I also use a simple blind set up close to the housing. Mine is just a roll of bamboo fencing leaned up against my privacy fence. Someone here on the forum suggested having another person walk out to the blind with you and then return to the house once you are inside. I find that this does help and I don't have to wait so long for the HS to return.

The rest is just marksmanship. Make sure your sights/scope is sighted in. I find that a scope helps tremendously for old eyes. Try to breathe and stay calm and squeeze the trigger without jerking it. I know the times that I miss are usually times when I've gotten too impatient or excited and rushed my shot. When I stay calm and breathe I never miss.

[flyin-lowe]

For those of you who are not a great shot with a .22. I would suggest using a 22 with rat shot in it. It’s pretty accurate at like 20 to 25 yards. And as far as the neighbors it’s not very loud at all. And the shot spreads out like a tiny shot gun. So if you’re not a very accurate shot its ok because like 20 or 30 tiny bbs spread out and even if they fly right as so shot odds are they will fly into several of the bbs. Good luck and kill some for me. JHCox Heiskell TN

I've never had that kind of luck with the "rat shot". I've tried a couple different brands and literally at 15-20 feet it does not kill them. I shot at some card board and once I got between 5-10 yards the shot spread out so much that only one or maybe two (sometimes none) of the projectiles would be hitting in an area the size of a bird.
I have an old rusted up 20 gauge shot gun that has killed hundreds in it's day. Fortunately I live in an area that I can shoot in no problems. Insert trap is my second favorite tool for them.

[James A Lenz]

For those of you who are not a great shot with a .22. I would suggest using a 22 with rat shot in it. It’s pretty accurate at like 20 to 25 yards. And as far as the neighbors it’s not very loud at all. And the shot spreads out like a tiny shot gun. So if you’re not a very accurate shot its ok because like 20 or 30 tiny bbs spread out and even if they fly right as so shot odds are they will fly into several of the bbs. Good luck and kill some for me. JHCox Heiskell TN

I've never had that kind of luck with the "rat shot". I've tried a couple different brands and literally at 15-20 feet it does not kill them. I shot at some card board and once I got between 5-10 yards the shot spread out so much that only one or maybe two (sometimes none) of the projectiles would be hitting in an area the size of a bird.
I have an old rusted up 20 gauge shot gun that has killed hundreds in it's day. Fortunately I live in an area that I can shoot in no problems. Insert trap is my second favorite tool for them.

Well I am now the proud owner of some 22 LR rat shot and this afternoon I will give it a try. Fingers crossed.

[Purple Man]

I have a couple of sparrows building in a gourd. I have been tearing it out everyday, but I feel like that is too much raising and lowering of the rack for my Martins. Any thoughts?

Cover the hole for a few days until they go away

[rrmartins]

I have a couple of sparrows building in a gourd. I have been tearing it out everyday, but I feel like that is too much raising and lowering of the rack for my Martins. Any thoughts?

Cover the hole for a few days until they go away

Sorry, I have to disagree. All your doing is making the male mad, and setting yourself up to have holes poked in all your Martin eggs.

[Purple Man]

I have a couple of sparrows building in a gourd. I have been tearing it out everyday, but I feel like that is too much raising and lowering of the rack for my Martins. Any thoughts?

Cover the hole for a few days until they go away

Sorry, I have to disagree. All your doing is making the male mad, and setting yourself up to have holes poked in all your Martin eggs.

Hey I`m just asking , If the gourd is empty (assuming that`s why sparrows are trying to build a nest there) then what eggs?
are you saying the sparrows will go into the other gourds near by and destroy the eggs if they can`t get into the empty gourd??? remember I new