how do i use it to catch sparrows quickly and effectivly? ive got it set currently and i put a small amount of feed around it so the sparrows get used to the area and there will be 8 of them feeding around the trap but none will fly up on it yet. i figure once the feed around it runs out maybe they will fly up on it?

A modified, Swedish, ladder type, crow trap works much better.

My friend Sandy had a sparrow sized gap, version of the Swedish Crow trap that worked fantastic. She usually caught around 12,000 to 15,000 sparrows and starlings a year in it. It was basically a wire box, 6' tall on the sides, sloping down to 5' in the middle, with a 3" framed gap in the middle. It's footprint on the ground was 6' by 6' The birds would land on the peaks on the sides, hop down the wire to the gap and drop in. They could not fly back out. She rarely baited it. She took out the dead sparrows and starlings once a day and the live ones continuously lured more in. She often would catch a few hundred birds a day during the fall.

Here's a video of a Swedish Crow trap. They are called ladder traps too.



Sandy"s trap didn't have the rungs and worked fine without them. The gap should be sized for what you're trying to catch.

I just quickly put a trap together, out of some existing chickenwire panels, for my friend Ralph once, where I just left the top flat with a gap in the middle, to catch pigeons and it worked to.

You need to make the door big enough to easily get dead or live birds out, if you want them live, but small enough that you can block the bait birds from escaping.

During the migrations, you will have to take birds out several times a day or it will get so full you won't catch any more.

Cowbirds and Cooper's hawks frequently got in Sandy's trap too.

Keith

so if i simply took some wire and bent it into shape with some wood around the edges then made that v with a gap it would catch sparrows? i would make it smaller though like 3 foot by 3 foot

3' by 3' by 3' might work, but bigger is better. The captured birds attract more birds. It's also easier for the birds to get out of a short trap. The gap works because they can't fly straight up and pass through, with their wings open, to get out. If you make the trap to short, they can jump out, with the wings closed. Bigger is also better because it looks harder for the birds to get stuck in.

You'll want a bigger trap because it holds way more birds too. In the Fall, you can get well over 100 sparrows and starlings in just an hour.

Keith

i just dont know if i could afford that, thats alot of wire. does it have to be 6 foot by 6 foot by 6 foot?

but if that is what is necesary to catch em i might have to buckle down and buy

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=UScexy_p1Y4

If you dont want something as big as Keiths version, check out these elevator repeating traps. They are much smaller and you can find vids on the internet. If you are halfway handy, its likely easy to build.

I have a big drop trap that I remote fired.
Basically it is a 2x6 metal stub frame 20x40 with sane net attached to the top.
I have a vertical support that holds is it at a 45 plus angle on the 40 foot side.
The support has a battery, a remote door lock actuator that trips the trigger to drop the trap.
I used a viper car alarm system for the computer parts.
Pre bait and water and wait…..

That’s the one I have, I’m looking for a simple trap to build that isn’t too expensive. Vinke, that is a neat looking trap but I am not that handy to be able to build one

What if i used cheap chicken wire? If I made a trap 5 feet tall and 5 feet long by 3 feet wide would that catch KeithC?

The M trap works well.,,,,, removing the birds is a challenge,,,,, USDA guy in WA used a tennis racket……

Chicken wire will work fine.

Keith