Glue traps for Sparrows

Guest · Tue Apr 21, 2009 3:46 pm

I've been debating about posting my success of using glue traps to catch sparrows so please read this carefully. I'd be devestated to know you didn't follow my exact approach and ended up catching a PM. This is my 3rd year for my colony and I have approx. 30 PMs so far. My location is NW AR. I have S&k homes with tri-tel poles and about 40 cavaties enlarged with 6 x 12 rooms.
In the past several weeks, I've had issues with Sparrows. After shooting at them with a pellet gun they become extremely alert. They know when I go to work, when I come home for lunch, and when I come home in the afternoons. But I tricked them this
weekend. I finally went to Wal-Mart and bought some black tray glue traps and put it in the hole where the Sparrows were building. I'd only see them in the morning before lunch so decided this would be the best window of opportunity. Within 30 minutes of placing the trap on both occassions I trapped the male. He does all the nest building believe it or not. I watch the hole the entire time from inside the house. Thing that you must not do.

1. Put trap into a hole without a solid nest started. Sparrows are bad about putting junk in every hole but will settle on one specific hole. Concentrate only on that hole. Anything else and you are risking it.
2. Keep watch on the hole at all times. To me it's like hunting.
3. If you can't watch it any longer then you must take it out in fear that a new arrival may wander in the hole. Try again another day during peak times. Eventually the little you know what is going to get it.

That's it please be careful and don't bother doing this if you can't follow the things NOT to DO. I apologize for any mispelling or structure since I've typed this all on my Iphone. If anyone wants to see a Sparrow in a glue trap please let me know and Ill post tonight.
4.

Courtney-NC · Tue Apr 21, 2009 5:01 pm

I'd like to see it, as well as the particulars of how the trap is placed.

Thanks!

Louise Chambers · Tue Apr 21, 2009 5:08 pm

Just for newcomers who might read this thread, it is only nonnative House Sparrows that can (or need to be) controlled by trapping, shooting, etc. All our native sparrows don't pose any threat to martins or any other songbirds, for that matter. None are cavity nesters.

I think we need to state that regularly since there will always be new people reading and learning.

Louise

flyin-lowe · Tue Apr 21, 2009 5:23 pm

What about also making a plate with a little smaller entry holes that a PM can't get in for the glue trap. I have used them with some success in the past however I do not have an established colony and the times I have them out is prior to the subbies arriving and again only when I can watch it closely.

Guest · Tue Apr 21, 2009 5:43 pm

To reiterate what Louise stated, the Sparrows I am trapping are non-native and are not protected by law.

I've read the etiquette of the form and I don't feel it would be wise to post a picture of the Sparrow on the glue trap. If you'd like me to email it to you separately then please send a response to [email protected].
I am attaching a picture of the brand, and the size of the trap in comparison to a size 8 woman's shoe. I lay two traps, since I have an made my compartments 6 X 12 in an S&K home. The first trap is laid horizontally an inch or so inside the compartment right at the hole. The second trap is laid on top of the nest that has been started as a back up. One occasion I had one of the sparrows in both traps. Sooner or later you will catch them. If they get away they won't be coming back. My colony can rest tonight, along with the blue bird house on the opposite side of the yard housing 5 eggs.

Allan Day · Tue Apr 21, 2009 7:23 pm

I took your advise and used the glue traps in my natural gourd. I got a female Starling ten minutes later. It is quite nerve racking when you have Martins, I'd watched closely and knew they had shown no interest in this gourd.
It was on the bottom facing away from the water, it was the starlings favorite and I think the Martins knew it.
It was easy as pie. She got stuck in the trap and tried to fly out, but obviously, the trap could not go through the hole.
Next year, I'm trapping a month before my Martins show. Thanks for the great idea.

James Johnson · Tue Apr 21, 2009 7:33 pm

I no longer use glue traps. Cavity traps are more effective, less likely to do harm to native birds, and over time are more economical than glue traps. I have saved money and had less stress by investing in and using cavity traps to control HOSPS.

Courtney-NC · Tue Apr 21, 2009 7:35 pm

The problem is that some manufacturers do not make traps that fit their product, so you have to get creative, especially with certain gourds.

Scully · Tue Apr 21, 2009 8:02 pm

Before we went to SREH maybe five years back I believe I glue trapped four starlings. In each case the other of the pair deserting our site after that. It is a truly nerve-wracking procedure when martins are present.

I only placed them in gourds where the starlings had already stuffed the cavity with material, making it less likely a martin would enter.

I recall I have glue-trapped house sparrows at least twice, and mouse-trapped them twice also. In my experience, sparrows have no hesitation about entering a cavity that has been shimmed down in some way so that martins cannot enter.

I personally would not try to lethally trap house sparrows in a cavity without also shimming down the entrance. To glue or snap-trap a martin would be devastating.

Mike Scully

Guest · Tue Apr 21, 2009 8:19 pm

I called S&K and they are testing a trap for their houses. Once it is ready for the public then Ill be making the switch. I strongly believe if you are going to build and sell a house then a trap needs to be designed to support it. With the sparrow population it is a must have for colony survival.

Guest · Tue Apr 21, 2009 10:09 pm

As FlyinLowe said, it's a good idea to reduce the opening size of cavities that you're using as traps. I do this routinely, and there are no worries about our Martin friends getting into the traps or onto glue boards.

I highly recommend this practice. It's really simple to do. Think about this: if you're hiding in the house watching because the darn English House Sparrows are smart enough to avoid you (and they are), then how fast can you get out there if a Martin happens to land on the cavity being used as a trap?

Likely or not, the worry goes away if you reduce the opening size. Best of luck reducing your pest problem. And remember, let's be careful out there!

-Steve

Guest · Wed Apr 22, 2009 6:27 am

Thx Steve. What material do you usually use to restrict the hole size? Also do you do it it on both sides of the hole? How much would you cover up? 1/4 inch if you were doing both sides of the hole?
My holes are cresent.

KathyF · Wed Apr 22, 2009 7:44 am

bradleydot wrote:Thx Steve. What material do you usually use to restrict the hole size? Also do you do it it on both sides of the hole? How much would you cover up? 1/4 inch if you were doing both sides of the hole?
My holes are cresent.

Bradley,
I think "Scully" posted that you could use a lid off a sour cream container or butter dish and cut a 1.5" hole in the middle, or smaller. Read this thread for the ideas posted here:
http://www.purplemartin.org/forum/viewt ... c&&start=0

You can secure the new "plate" to the front of the door with duct tape.

Guest · Wed Apr 22, 2009 8:35 am

At first this sounded like a good idea but my question is, if a martin gets stuck, is there an easy way to free them, or are they just stuck so bad you can't. I would be horrified if I trapped a martin and then couldn't free them without tearing their feathers. I know you talk about closing the holes more, but that won't catch a starling (as some people use them for), maybe HOSPs. But martins are very similar in size, are they not? I guess Im not "getting it" here....

Louise Chambers · Wed Apr 22, 2009 8:43 am

Mary,

Glue traps are not always a good choice, and most of us already use in-cavity traps, bait traps, and nestbox traps. But for times when you cannot get a stubborn HOSP or starling with one of those, glue traps are an option. But, as everyone says, their use requires a lot of caution.

Note what Scully said earlier in this thread:

Before we went to SREH maybe five years back I believe I glue trapped four starlings. In each case the other of the pair deserting our site after that. It is a truly nerve-wracking procedure when martins are present.

I only placed them in gourds where the starlings had already stuffed the cavity with material, making it less likely a martin would enter.

For HOSP, shimming the entrances down is strongly recommended. For starlings, use only in a nest the starlings have claimed and stuffed heavily with nest material.

If a martin is trapped, the outcome would depend on how badly it was stuck. It would lose feathers at best. If there is a chance of catching a martin, don't use a glue trap. The steps followed by Bradley and others minimize chances of catching martins. Using SREH and other traps is usually the safest way to go.

Louise

Guest · Wed Apr 22, 2009 9:18 am

Louise, thanks for clearing that up.

I'm hoping my starlings have gone for good...having nested elsewhere (with any luck). I just wanted to be prepared should they return, or if I should get any HOSPs. Actuallly, I havent seen one HOSP here in SW Florida since we started landlording, but I like to be prepared for any eventuality, especially now that we have babies.

Hubby made a funny looking starling trap but they never go near it LOL, i think theyre on to him. He took a clear plastic rubbermaid jug and screwed it to the viewing opening near the top of a vacant gourd, and has some spring loaded deal in a round-holed entrance. That way we could see the starling in the jug if any got trapped. I suppose he should have waited until one started nesting first, and that's why I read the forum everyday..."trying" to absorb all this great info

Oh well, keeps him busy if nothing else..

Thanks again.

rdhd · Wed Apr 22, 2009 5:45 pm

Guest · Thu Apr 23, 2009 9:26 pm

I tried the glue trap today. Watched the sparrow go in and I waited a few minutes. I lowered the pole and he came out of the gourd and flew off! I looked inside the gourd and he had been stuck. He had left about 10 of his longer feathers in the glue! What really amazed me about this is ten minutes after I had raised the gourds back up he was back and looking for a new one to live in.

Dan Drew · Fri Apr 24, 2009 12:39 am

I have also had very good luck with glue traps. By the way, they are also available at Lowe's. I have made a couple of "observations" over the years which I'll present here... to be confirmed, refuted, or otherwise criticized. No one has yet mentioned these ideas in this thread yet:

1. After years of "watching" it almost seems to me that martins (as well as the other species) seem to know when a cavity has been "claimed" and taken over by sparrows; and they all seem to "defer" to the sparrows' decision... even though martins will explore and/or breed in a gourd just 18 inches away. I have assumed this is the reason I have never had an accidental entrapment by a martin... nor a house finch or chickadee or tree swallow.

2. I have learned from old timers that there is an "alternative philosophy" about WHEN to intervene with the glue trap. This "other tactic" is to allow the sparrow pair to proceed through nest building, brooding, and a few days of feeding chicks before interrupting things with the glue traps. The (evil) idea is to keep them busy for about four weeks before "dispatching them." By waiting, you will be intervening at a time when they are NOT going to desert the nest (if not entrapped) and pick another one of your martin cavities. Both male and female will be committed to those chicks and you will have the best chance (several tries if you need them) to catch and dispatch both parents as well as the chicks. When successful, this "later intervention" also eliminates subjecting your martins to the infamous "sparrow's revenge" which occurs when you simply tear out a sparrow nest or botch an attempt to trap them. The significant "negative" aspect of this strategy is that it occupies one of the cavities you were counting on for a martin pair.

So there! I report, you decide! ~Dan Drew

Guest · Fri Apr 24, 2009 9:51 am

My friend also got feathers too on a couple of ocassions. He's caught a lot though to make up for it. He lives in town and has a lot of sparrows. I told him it's a must to get rid of them if he ever wants have a sucessful colony and get blue birds. It's his first year with PMs and he's hooked. Just got 2 martin pairs this week. The last sparrow I caught was outside the hole with his feet inside stuck in the glue trap. I quickly lowered the pole and grabbed him. I pulled his feet out with little effort. I disposed of him humanely.