Sparrow control-off season

[C.C.Martins]

All,
Off season sparrow control question: will they inspect and enter a house out of breading season?

I trap and shoot during off season and store the martin houses. Trapping is hit or miss. If I set traps in a house, leave one up to attract, will they enter? Anyone had any luck?

Thanks!

[Cjs180]

I feed cracked corn all year and shoot them with a .25 caliber pellet gun that is extremely accurate. When we moved to our new house back in 2012 I shot over 60 of them. Now I manage maybe 20-30 per year. They will show up in waves and I can get 5-6 in a week then don’t see any for weeks or months.

I don’t know if they will enter a house during the off season.

[Conrad Baker]

I take my housing down after the season, and when I put them back up (usually in early January), I control them by shooting them with a pellet rifle. I think if you leave the housing up year round, they learn where the housing is, and are continuously trying to invade it. When I finally put it up, they kinda trickle in one or two at a time since it is new to them. That makes it easier to control them.

[Conrad Baker]

Deleted- double post

[C.C.Martins]

Ok, thank you. I too store everything off season and bait the back yard to trap and shoot. I was just going to put up one 3 room and set some traps. I suspect the sparrows look for potential houses all year and if so they investigate...and won't check out. Just have no experience in that.

[Cloudwalker]

Off season we put plugs in our house and remove gourds. We also lower the house because here in Iowa we have a lot of high winds. This year a neighbor put up a Martin house a yard from ours. It was nice to have him battle the sparrows and they seemed to leave us alone. But now we have a few annoying sparrows. But to stay on topic my husband and I have not had much luck trapping sparrows in the off season in our cage trap. Shooting with a bb or pellet gun is our go to when they land down in neighbors garden area. Also setting trap directly under the house baited with cracked corn we have caught several 10-15 sparrows this spring.

[C.C.Martins]

It was a thought, I don't want the house on their radar either but if I can coax a few in...
I prefer shooting, I hang a suet feeder in the back and open the window. At 10 feet, can't miss. Well sometimes.
This season sparrows are out in force, One pair chased a pair of subbies off of my neighbors gourds and successfully nested. His wife would not allow me to shoot. I tried waiting until dark and plug the gourd, worked but came up empty. Cleaned out the nest 3 times. Finally had enough after the male sparrow tangled with an ASY from another gourd; fought all the way to the ground. Narrowed the crescent to one inch with aluminum strips on the crescent sides and yes, put in a black glue trap. I know, I know but id had enough. where I sit, I can watch my gourds and his. Put their one egg in the middle of it. Caught female right away. Reset the trap with the egg, but male would not go in! For hours. Finally, pulled my truck up to his curb and shot it off the porch. She works nights, was asleep I hope.
The subbies are back as of this morning after being out of that gourd for a week and a half.
I could put a live trap but they feed the crud out of them.
I don't like sticky traps, even for mice. I find them inhumane but those sparrows had to go.