Controlling house sparrow population

[BayBuzzard]

Anyone else doing it?

I am using two cages, and one bird box trap.

 

[BayBuzzard]

Two males in the trap, already a productive morning. Will leave them in there as bait for the day.

Have released a song sparrow and a junco so far. That should be it for the ‘good’ birds today.

Hopefully, we fill the trap with a dozen males

 

[Battlepants]

Curiosity has the best of me on this one - why? Not passing judgement, just don't understand the point here.

It seems to me like a moot point to catch and relocate (or kill) sparrows as their sheer numbers will just move to where ever food is found. I'd probably just try to go the route of securing my chicken feed away from them and not putting out bird feed, hoping they move on.

 

[BayBuzzard]

I am not currently feeding chickens, I only took action when they killed the first bluebird that showed up. Their numbers are significant, but not insurmountable.

I have done this before. Eventually, word gets out, and they adjust their behavior.

It is unfortunate ‘innocent’ animals have to be culled. But this bird is a viscous animal that kills our most beautiful birds without impunity. Animals have always had to be controlled, and this is no different to me.

As for the feed, it will be secured, but the less invasive species trying to get at it the better.

I can appreciate your sentiments, and thank you for sharing that point of view.

 

[raingarden]

Sparrows are purposely not protected by the Migratory Bird Act. They are basically an invasive species.

 

[MGG]

I live right next to a grain elevator, and unfortunately there are tons of sparrows. My poor birds have paid the price, they've gotten worms, mites, and lice from them. The grain elevator actually paid for half of this when we approached them about it, since the sparrows are here for the spilled grain.
My dad and I built this, it's called a ladder trap. We've already caught over 150 sparrows in it and it's only been out for a week. Soo glad to thin them out.

 

[Battlepants]

What do you do with the resulting carcasses? Are they worth eating? Or just turning them into fertilizer?

 

[MGG]

What do you do with the resulting carcasses? Are they worth eating? Or just turning them into fertilizer?

I've been giving them to a friend that's a falconer, she freezes and then feeds them to her birds. I wouldn't eat them, those things carry all sorts of nasty stuff, lol.

 

[Windrider]

It is a crime that the two most abundant bird species in North America are invasive non-natives; the House Sparrow and the Starling. Our natives are in decline and the non-natives are a big part of the problem.

I help my university maintain a Bluebird trail (it is the Western Bluebird here) - monitoring nest boxes and thinning the invasives. I can't even begin to count the hundreds of sparrows we've killed (we use an ether bucket). But we've had great success bringing the bluebird back to our area, with more nesting pairs every year.

 

[Mamatomany123]

I had sparrows who started tearing the bird netting top off my run to get in for the feed. We started shooting them with bbs. Now,you need to be a good shot to ensure they don't suffer but after killing a few the others learned not to come by anymore. And it wasn't just about them eating the feed. They carry nasty diseases that I dont want spread to my girls. We've since replaced the top with a solid roof and hardware cloth but they don't even come into my yard anymore.