Sparrow trap

[marty]

I thought I saw a trap once that attracted sparrow and once you got one - others flocked to it. Does anyone know of one? All our normal winter birds seem to be holding back because our feeders are being invaded by sparrows. Any links or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance!!

Marty

 

[MossRoad]

There are several sparrow traps out there as you describe. It will catch many sparrows, but you are supposed to leave one in the trap to attract others. Do a search on the internet for sparrow trap and you will get hundreds of links.

Just beware if you set it and have a neighbor that likes sparrows. They might turn you in and you'll find that it is illegal to trap them in many areas and can have a heafty fine. Good luck.

By the way, I agree that they can be pests, but they are only taking advantage of your free handout. You could litterally trap hundreds of them and never make a dent in the population in your area.

My guess is in another few decades there will only be crows, gulls and sparrows left. Survival of the fittest...

 

[DocHeb]

You're getting sparrows because you're putting out sparrow feed. The mixed seed that is sold is primarily milo and other low cost fillers. Sparrows love it. I use a sunflower feeder and go through ~$66 of oiler sunflower seed a year (3 - 50 lb bags from the feed store). I don't get any sparrows, but I do have Cardinals, Nuthatches, Chickadees, Tufted Titmouses, House Finches, Blue Jays, Yellow Shafted Flickers, six kinds of woodpeckers and occasional mourning doves. Although there are numerous sparrows and pigeons around, none come to the feeder.

I keep the squirrels away by using a piece of 5" stove pipe at the base of the feeder. Its pretty funny to see them shimmy up the 3/4" galvanized pipe, only to slide back down when they try to grab the baffle.

I have a separate thistle feeder that will have 6-8 Goldfinches at a time during the summer.

We have a lot fewer birds this year, compared to last year. The experts say that West Nile Virus made a real dent in the songbird population.

 

[Steven]

heres one <A target="_blank" HREF=http://henryfields.com/item_disp.asp?pn=12680&sid=600282&EID=GHF140>http://henryfields.com/item_disp.asp?pn=12680&sid=600282&EID=GHF140</A>

 

[Von]

Here's one on Ebay for $22.50, its Item # 2081799409.

 

[marty]

Von,

Thanks - I'm giving that one a try.

Others, you were right I bought the mix seed last summer because the sunflower seed always go bad. Now I taught the sparrows to eat sunflower seeds too.

 

[TresCrows]

I have been concerned about the same thing. I fear this virus may finish off some of our native birds. I suppose no one else has read the "expert" reports that trace this particular viral strain to the Jordan area. There are several strains of this virus and the one decimating native populations in the US is apparently Middle Eastern orgin but of course the sudden nationwide apperanece of this virus in the last year is completely unrelated to terroists. Obviously some middle aged southern white guy in a white van is surely the culprit. I imagine that several illegal foreign males on student visas have been stopped with viles of West Nile virus in their pocession but profiling them harms their right to have a little fun. Does anyone else see through the smoke? I don't believe in terrorists anyway. J

 

[beenthere]

Doc
I agree with your thoughts on the 'sparrow' lunch seed. I don't have any sparrows or black birds, or squirrels at the feeders. Similar to you, but I provide a slightly different menu, and only feed safflower seed and niger (thistle) seed. The goldfinch, chickadees, nuthatch, cardinals, finch's, and woodpeckers are there all the time.

When I fed sunflower seeds, the squirrels, blue jays, and the blackbirds were too active in the feeders. They don't like safflower seeds and the birds I want to feed like it very much.

 

[Bird]

We put out the mixed bird seed for awhile, but an awful lot of seed got scratched out onto the ground, and we finally went to nuthing but the sunflower seed and still had all the birds you named plus doves, bluebirds, Blue Jays, mockingbirds, and even occasionally starlings and grackles. And we just let the squirrels have their share, too, and didn't even try to keep them out.

 

[GlennT]

I guess our sparrows must be a bit strange; they seem to love black-oil sunflower seeds. Sparrows intermingle with cardinals, tufted titmice, a ground dove or two, an occasional mourning dove, several types of finches, cedar waxwings (when they're migrating),and scrub jays, as well as unidentified birds that happen along. At times there are so many birds that the ground seems to be moving. We also have a couple of white-tailed does that check the ground under the feeders for seeds, one of our Plymouth rock chickens comes down from the coop once a day to check for lloose seeds, and the feeder is the first place our donkey heads for if he escapes from the pasture. Plenty of photo ops under the feeder.