nest fidelity of house sparrow

[gray fox]

Some one mentioned that h.s. male has a stronger urge to nest than too food sources.I put up a nest box trap in barn several times .More than enough time to trap them. Not even 1 time did I catch a h.s.

[KathyF]

Gray Fox - the type of trapping required really *depends* on the time of year. During the winter months, food-based traps work much better. During the warming months, when you see h.s. (aka, "HOSP") looking for nest sites (like bluebird nest boxes, or purple martin housing), is when you should deploy the nest box trapping methods.

By the way, a study by the University of North Dakota reported this:

Previous studies have shown that during winter house sparrows rarely travel more than 6 km (3.6 mi.) to reach food sources (Weaver 1939), and most house sparrows will spend their lives within 4 km (2.5 mi.) of their natal sites.

https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/view ... aarsfacpub