Tips for Inbox Trapping of House Sparrows
By Madame WingNut
Ø When approaching nestbox, if you see nest material up near hole or vent, you have a House Sparrow (HOSP) nest. Quickly block hole with hand, plastic grocery bag, or small rag and you may get lucky by trapping HOSP inside.
Ø Set an inbox trap in any box that has HOSP activity. HOSP activity is: HOSP seen in or on a box; male HOSP chirping enthusiastically right beside the box (easy to catch this guy); HOSP nesting material in a box; HOSP roost evidence in a box (white dry feces, about ¼” long white chow mein noodles).
Ø Stealth – Hide trap from view of the HOSP, set it as quickly as you can, and walk away. Do not make eye contact with the HOSP that may be watching you.
Ø Make sure trip mechanism can spring freely shut and add some enticements. I leave about top 1 inch of HOSP nest along with any eggs they have laid (God forbid!) when I set a trap. I then stick a long strand of grass out of the hole and spread out some nesting material on ground in front of box. If there is nesting material in box, a very effective way to get them to go back in is to place small plastic craft eggs or even a couple rubber grapes in back of box so they can see them when they look in. They know they didn’t lay them and want them GONE. In they go and they are trapped quickly.
Ø Check to make sure box side vent is not too wide – i.e. if HOSP can fit through there, he/she will escape through the vent. You can block the vent by stuffing small crumpled plastic grocery bag in there or even HOSP nesting material. Best way to handle this is to install a vent cover. I use sections of paint stir sticks in the field to screw on box to block vent if it is too wide.
Ø When monitoring, check boxes that have had HOSP problems in the past first and set your traps. That way, you can come back around at end of monitoring trip to see if you have him/her.
Ø If you have a trap set, check box every hour or two (at most) to see if you have him/her. I very often set traps, run an errand & come back hour or two later.
Ø Very effective way to capture pair of HOSP is to check known problem boxes near dusk. Sneak up on box and block hole to see if one is in there. Set trap and check again about an hour after sun up. Remember that if HOSP enters box at dusk, it intended to roost in box overnight any way, so you are not causing undue stress by trapping him/her in there overnight.
Ø Fool proof (almost) way of extricating HOSP from tripped trap box is to back out door screw most of the way and then put mesh laundry bag over entire house, cinching tight at the pole. Now open box and smack it. HOSP will fly into your bag. Grab him/her through the mesh with one hand and deal with it through bag, or reach in with other hand, ID & dispatch. I always gingerly reach up into nest again to see if the mate might be in there too. This is what we call a BOGO (Buy One, Get One Free). You are welcome to do a little BOGO dance in the field if this happens. It is the equivalent of a pro football player’s touchdown dance.
Ø If you capture female, reset trap right away and male is usually caught shortly thereafter. He is more bonded with the box than the female.
Ø If you capture the male quickly and know he has a mate (nest up to the rafters or eggs), reset and you should catch female quickly also. If trap has been sprung for a while and she realizes box is unsafe, she will likely abandon the box. After male is captured, you can remove entire nest and scrape out the box, marking this HOSP nesting attempt finished on NestWatch and feel pretty confident that any native nester investigating the box is safe (for time being).