finally got BlueBirds!

[Mamma D]

after several years I finally got s a pair of BlueBirds in my nest box!! I have had a duo of boxes in this location for must be 6 -7 years ...usually get Tree Swallows & Chickadess ...which are great but yippie for Bluebirds!

[badger]

That's awesome! My neighbor has bird boxes everywheres and we see bluebirds alot!

[mike692]

I seriously need to start killing house sparrows. I killed almost a hundred a couple summers ago and had BB's raise two broods and the tree swallows and chickadees one each. I have a pair of bluebirds hanging out now, but they keep getting run off. I wish they weren't so timid.

[halfton]

Mamma D
Good to hear about you finally getting some bluebirds.
Put up a few more houses about a 100 yds apart. If you have a small living area you can put one house out of site of the other house and sometime have a couple of pairs using your yard.

Russ

[halfton]

www.birds.cornell.edu/bluebirds/

mike692
I don't know how you killed those house sparrows but I use housesparrow traps to catch mine.
It is called a huber trap. The above website has info on different traps.
I got my houses set up to were I can switch out my regular bbhouse and install my trap house. When I see a male housesparrow sitting on one of my bbhouses claiming it ,I wait till after dark and put my trap box in place of it. The next morning he flies in and checks it out and he is trapped. I switch back to my regular house. I kill the sparrow ,put it in the freezer and will be using them for eye appeal in this coming years mink sets.
If you go to www.ohiostatetrapper.org/forum/viewthread.php?tid=5815 it shows my trap set up. I just caught two male sparrows sunday morning after watching them sit on my houses all day saturday. They are in the freezer now waiting for trapping season.
Hope this can help you.

Russ

[mike692]

Great post Russ! Thanks! I used to shoot the males off the nest boxes, but since my neighbor pastures horses back there now that's not a good idea.

This is the trap I use;



I got the idea from a Brit that used to frequent Trapperman. All you do is throw some cracked corn down and set the trap on top. At the end of each day you leave one bird alive inside as a 'call' bird. They are deadly traps. I've caught quite a few rodents in them too.

[halfton]

mike692
I like the setup of that trap. I could use it over at the farm and catch them there also. I get around here I will have to make me up a couple. They probably catch a few starlings also don't they.
I can see were it would probably do real good in the winter with snow on the ground.
Do you have any pictures of it in use?
Thanks for another idea of getting rid of sparrows.

Russ

[mike692]

Well I used to have some pics of it full of sparrows, but I can't seem to find them right now.

They work good in snow, and bare ground. My favorite place is my duck or chicken run. They're used to feeding in those areas anyway so my catches are always good.

I've never caught a starling in them, but I understand a similar trap with larger openings can be used for them. I catch a lot of chipmunks when they go in the trap to feed on the birds.

[Mamma D]

House Sparrows are notorious to BBs, but I have never had a pair nest in my boxes. My boxes aren't near any farm fields & that seems to make a difference regarding the Sparrows ...they are drawn to grain & manure ...several summers ago however, I lost a nest of hatchlings to squirrels/chipmunks ...and I think I had a snake take another brood, teaching me the value of a steel pole & sometimes a baffle ...I have a mini trail consisting of 6 sites done in pairs ...this site has finally attracted BBs!! All the other sites have had BBs, although not every year