How to Use Hironbec Pendulums to Protect Nesting Tree Swallows from House Sparrows

Hironbec Pendulums were invented by Rene Lepage of Quebec to protect Tree Swallows and their nests from destruction by House Sparrows. This video, created by the Salmon Creek Tree Swallow Project, and edited and narrated by Chris Gates, shows how Pendulums work, and when and how they should be introduced to Tree Swallows.
Persons wishing to order Pendulums should visit www.hironbec.com, the website of Mr. Lepage.
There is additional information on Pendulum operation available for download at the Sparrow Damage page of the website www.treeswallowprojects.com

[@M00Nature]

I am amazed at your dedication to the tree swallows. Bravo! Thanks for all you do for our native cavity nesters.

[@kevinheide7300]

😱 my mother, who was a birder her whole life, would have been ecstatic about this tippy entrance device. We have moved into Washington State recently and I have not seen that many English Sparrows so far, but I believe they re out there. This is wonderful.....congratulations to the inventor, what a device! Wonderful....

[@daviddexter4958]

Have two of them and they work perfectly at keeping the sparrows out!

[@notsohandytim5090]

daviddexter: Did you get them recently? If so, where? 🤔

[@daviddexter4958]

I got them from Canada you have to send them the money and they will send you the pendant they are very honest people you can get two for the same shipping price as one. 😊

[@limbuprakash7986]

Absolutely brilliant idea

[@notsohandytim5090]

At the university I went to this presentation would easily suffice in satisfying the requirements for a Masters Degree. I've been agonizing over this House Sparrow takeover of my property. If I can justify the cost, this will be my next effort. Thank you David for sharing. 🤔 Whoops! Bummer! hyrunbeck web page went off line. 😮‍💨

[@ABalance420]

great video!

[@TimTools99]

Thanks for the video. I put up some boxes this year for BlueBirds and a pair of tree swallows moved into one of them. They are beautiful birds. I was only able to watch your video up until 12:10 and then it quit loading. I will try later to see if the rest of the video will play.

[@robrecht1917]

I'm sold! I know what I'm going to get for next Spring seeing as it is too late now ( beginning June... )

[@justmejo9008]

Thank you for this 🤗 We have lost many chickadees over the last couple summers. Very heartbreaking

[@petersnka4743]

Most birdhouses are death traps for chickadees and swallows. I agree and only put up houses 1/8 inch metal guards to keep the HOSP out. They are cheap on Amazon.

[@justmejo9008]

@@petersnka4743 thanks for the tip of Amazon .. I will order for next year

[@SweetStuffOnMonarchLane]

@@petersnka4743 Can you explain further what you mean by 1/8" metal guard?

[@uhill74]

I have lost chickadees swallows and bluebirds to these devil birds.

[@jameslomenzo1139]

You have to use a Van Ert trap that goes on the inside, Google it and you can see who sells it for around $17.

[@ProtectSwallows]

Good video thanks . Most of you watching this video are willing to trap house sparrows.And you will have to trap if you have Blue birds as the hole size needed for Blue Birds will not keep house sparrows out . If you do not want to trap then use a hole size that will keep house sparrows out , The 7/8 oval will keep all house sparrows out and still allow Violet green swallows in . The 15/16 in my area will keep most house sparrows out but not all , Tree swallows fit into the 15/16 oval . Or to keep the hole size/ shape simple the 1 and 1/8 round hole is the largest hole size you can go to and still keep house sparrows out .

[@back40woodhoundsenior93]

I use the 12 gauge method

[@djs2356]

Thanks !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@goldistocks609]

Genius

[@yes350yes]

Interesting gadget, but I know how smart house sparrows are and I would think they too would eventually learn to adjust their weight one the pendulum to get into the box

[@elizabethlove4856]

Very good so informative. Thank you! We definitely have a problem here in Massachusetts in the US. sparrows are such brutal cruel birds. So many birds die because of them. Heart breaking. I see so many uneducated people saying “I don’t care what people say, I think HP are cute and I like ALL BIRDS .. 😢💔 THEY WONT HAVE MANY BIRDS LEFT, if they don’t get rid of them but they don’t care.. This seems like they only good option. I only have a repeating sparrow trap it does work well but I think this is a much better option.

[@kayzee2675]

I know - those people make me crazy. I beg people to take down their boxes if they aren't willing to keep the sparrows out, because they are simply aiding and abetting the extinction of our beautiful little native song birds.

[@johngrasing1715]

Does this work with bluebirds?

[@uhill74]

Put the spooker up as soon as the first egg is layed. This way it doesn't risk them rejecting the spooker and it keeps the demon birds away for just enough time. Trap hosps in the meantime all year.

[@chesterfieldunderwoodsman1094]

do you recommend the perch on TS boxes?

[@TwindianTime]

No perch

[@SharonStclair-qt7my]

where can I get these?? Anyone know

[@angelamolinagaffney383]

Please remember to put SNAKE deturant on the post of nest box & other predators deturant from getting to the chicks. Better to be safe than sorry. Thank you, very much! 🙏✌️❤️

[@jameslomenzo1139]

I trap and shoot every house sparrow I can, they are not going to break, kill my bluebird, Tree Swallow, purple martins. In fact they don't even show up here anymore.

[@LindaCorman-ze5yp]

Would this pendulum work for bluebirds?

[@rjh6380]

Doubtful as bluebirds weigh about the same if not a few grams more then house sparrows

[@MarkNSmyth]

I would have thought swallows can use a smaller hole than sparrows

[@maryjeanmuir2513]

The entrance to the tree swallow house should be elliptical. The vertical measurement not over 15/16 of an inch. The horizontal measurement not impt...... may be two inches. I have ‘hosted” tree swallows for over 30 years. This shape recommended by late Robie W. Tufts, a Nova Scotia ornithologist .

[@andrewhansen4179]

I use that entrance shape too for my Green backed swallows. No English sparrows in my immediate area so I don't know if the elliptical design would keep them out. The swallows do seem to have an easier time entering and exiting the box with elliptical entrance holes, something that helps them survive Coopers Hawk and Sharp shinned hawk attacks....which I have witnessed a few times. Another suggestion I have to all swallow enthusiasts is to keep all open buckets or any other type of trapping dangers closed during the time the young leave the nest. The young can sometimes fall to the ground and get trapped in these spots.

[@SweetStuffOnMonarchLane]

That's very interesting, do you have house sparrows on/around your property?

[@ProtectSwallows]

I agree , in my area Vancouver island , the 15/16 oval hole works well to keep house sparrows out but does allow Tree swallows in . Yes i agree , an oval hole larger than 1/5/16 will not keep house sparrows out.

[@notsohandytim5090]

I was pondering this hole shape and size for a solution. Thanks for sharing. ☺

[@notsohandytim5090]

@@ProtectSwallows: So your 1/5/16 refers to what? 🤔

[@VanderlyndenJengold]

House Sparrows are in decline in the UK. Can you send them back, please?

[@turbofanlover]

Canadian, here. They're all yours. Take them. House Sparrows are nasty things that I will trap and kill any chance that I get......but I'll be happy to ship them back to you, instead.

[@BackyardBirdsUS]

Why are they in decline there? Habitat changes?

[@roqu7629]

How I wish we could send them back. All they do is increase here. WE have several hundred I would love to ship there!!!

[@VanderlyndenJengold]

Yes, they're in decline here because of habitat loss. Intensive farming. Animals that were familiar 30 years ago to me as a child are now in huge decline and endangered. That's pretty astonishing. At some stage we'll probably mend our ways yet it will be too late for a lot of wildlife. I find it a shame I can't show kids the stuff I grew up with. Sparrows are well liked here outside the farming fraternity; I'm generalising of course yet they're cheerful chirping and presence is looked on favourably. Here, they tidy up our waste and thus used to live in greater proximity with humans. They're not known as the thugs they obviously are over there. If I were in The USA or Canada I'd probably feel as you. I'd use this Hironbec thing to protect the Bluebird. If it's any comfort your grey squirrel, which some idiot brought here, is a menace. Kills lots of indigenous wildlife such as birds and our native Red Squirrel. Most introduced species seem to end up a nuisance. We, in England, imported a hell of a lot of species. Our aristocrats, and our imperialism, are the main culprits as they introduced exotic animals on their country estates. I wish we could charge them to clean up the mess they've created.

[@therealchickentender]

While you're at it have them do something about the stoats and rats and starlings killing many NZ native birds species. But here in the States many species I saw all the time as a child, as yo mention, are now much less numerous. House sparrows certainly don't fall into that category. They hang out at fast food restaurants incessantly, scruffy little gregarious things, begging for french fries and often getting their way by the graces of people that don't know any better.

[@erikaerika7788]

VERY NICE ..LOTS OF US TRAP AND KILL THE HOUSE SPARROWS... elevator trap works great...

[@senatorjosephmccarthy2720]

A Seneca Aspen .177 pellet pusher will prove efficient at dealing with the invading house sparrows.

[@IowaKim]

My Gamo Swarm Maxxim G2 .22 works great, combined with a repeating sparrow trap and Van Ert birdhouse traps. Good to have options. I like the looks of this pendulum too. Retired engineers like gadgets.

[@kayzee2675]

This is a great idea. I do so hate house sparrows. I have begun going out after dusk with a light weight laundry bag and putting it over the box the sparrow have taken and startling the sparrow out of the box and into the bag. I then kill them. This seems to have worked to discourage them from my boxes, even tho most manage to escape my attempts to bag them. Once I had killed a couple they pretty much abandoned trying to use my boxes. Knock on wood. I have had them destroy bluebird mothers, eggs and hatchlings. They are Awful things.

[@agile1111]

Brilliant idea but won't work for bluebirds obviously. However I do have chickadees on occasion that want to nest in my front yard box which also has attracted HOSP. I have video on my channel of an attack where a male HOSP almost killed fledglings. This device would protect them without me having to install a very tight 1 1/8 inch hole restrictor.

[@FalconfromRF]

Hiponbec Penduum excludes bluebirds as well as house sparrow from using nestbox and makes it suitable only for tree swallows. As compettition amongst native cavity nesters can occur, too, it can be useful if you want to make nest box specially for tree swallows. For bluebirds best alternative for sparrow trapping is two-holed nest box.

[@agile1111]

I will be testing the bluebird theory this spring to see if HOSP are stopped long enough for bluebirds to chase away. The problem is this device uses the weight of the birds to exclude birds who are heavier than your preferred species. The issue is that HOSP are the same weight as bluebirds so any protection is based on the HOSP taking too long to learn the device and how to bypass. But for sure this device will work great if your preferred birds are smaller like titmice, chickadees or tree swallows. I believe tree swallows are in the 25-27 gram range while HOSP and bluebirds are 30 grams. For comparison chickadees are 15-17 grams.

[@davidmacgilvra3327]

Hironbec Pendulums were designed specifically for protection of tree swallows from house sparrows, and as noted in these comments it uses relative weight to determine which species can pass through it into the box. From my personal banding experience during the nesting season tree swallows average between 18-21 grams. In the literature, house sparrows average about 28 g. and eastern bluebirds are still heavier at 30-32 g. The inventor of the pendulum has shown that it is sometimes possible to use pendulums to protect bluebird nests provided the bluebirds are allowed to learn pendulum use before house sparrows. As the bluebirds learn the pendulum weight must be set temporarily so the unit does not tip easily. I have not tried this myself.

[@SweetStuffOnMonarchLane]

@@FalconfromRF I know this is an older post, but I just ordered one of these to trap house sparrows to "permanently" remove them: www.sparrowtraps.net/ It has great reviews. I'm declaring war on them! I've used a homemade sparrow spooker with great success too!

[@joshuaengland6189]

I just use my air riffle

[@isaaco5679]

I've been dosing them with high velocity lead supplements. A cure all for sparrows and starlings.

[@daleheldberg6568]

24/7?

[@isaaco5679]

As often as possible. They do seem to get discouraged after a while. Although I am considering making a trap for when I'm not home.

[@yansfor5306]

What do you do to make it snake, and cat resistant? I have not fed the birds this year due to cats and house sparrows. Now I need to see how I can get a lot of traps to catch the cats and traps to catch the sparrows. Apparently I can get a trap from a vet, animal shelter, or humane society. I'm not sure, but I need to call them to make sure. I called animal control and all they told me it's normal for cats to kill birds 😧 pretty frustrating to get that kind of answer. Do house sparrows eat mealworms? I'm trying to figure out what kind of bird food I can put out that they won't eat after I get the stray cat problem solved.

[@SweetStuffOnMonarchLane]

If you haven't gotten a house sparrow trap yet, these have great reviews and I just ordered one: www.sparrowtraps.net/ It was recommended by another commenter on another video I watched. They're not cheap, but I feel it's worth it to help our native songbirds. Have you tried putting your bird house up high on a metal pole? That's where we have our bluebird house and also have one of those black metal squirrel baffles on the pole. We have feral cats around and haven't had a problem with them so far. I don't know much about snakes, but it seems the height of the pole would discourage them..? I know house sparrows like corn, millet, and grains, and people food, like bread, so for sure don't put those out for bird food. I bet mealworms would be a good choice, although my bluebirds would not eat the dried ones. Hope this helps you, or someone else, in some way... Good luck!

[@yansfor5306]

@@SweetStuffOnMonarchLane I just saw your reply so sorry. I have not, but I will be putting the houses up on a pole. Thank you so much I just ordered a trap and im hoping I can catch a lot of them because they have been invading my backyard. Although I do get a few cardinals, blue jays, and chickadees there are just a lot of sparrows taking over and I think I just saw some trying to chase off some of the native birds. It's hard to see since I have bad eyesight even with my glasses. Can't wait for my trap to arrive. How to do you kill the house sparrows once they are trapped? How do you dispose of them? Maybe I can put them out on a small forest near my area, but I'm not sure how to kill them.

[@SweetStuffOnMonarchLane]

@@yansfor5306 Yes, the house sparrows are horrible birds! We've lived here 15 years and this is the first year we've ever seen them here. I am SURE it is because we had to have a bunch of trees (mostly dead, but a few very tall live ones that were too close to the house) removed, and so did our neighbors, plus Consumers Power came through and removed all the trees across our front yard. =( They much prefer buildings... weird birds. Make sure you put your bluebird house AWAY from your house because those sparrows will for sure want to use it even more if it's close to your house. I use a pair of binoculars and watch the bluebirds out my living room window... I can even see them without my glasses! It's a great investment if you're a bird watcher! Oh, and don't forget the black metal squirrel baffle on that pole. We weren't catching any house sparrows in our trap at first, then we got one male. The instructions say to leave them in there to attract others, so we did. By day 2 or 3 we hadn't caught anymore and we couldn't stand watching him go stir crazy in there, and I was afraid if a chickadee or other native bird went in there with him that he might hurt it, so we put an end to him. We noticed they loved the suet bits that had fallen to the ground from the native birds eating it above, so we put some suet as bait in the trap and caught another male plus a female right away. The instructions give you some options on how to kill them... the best way for us was to put them in a tall nylon laundry bag (not see-through), then you swing the bag around a few times and knock it against something hard, like a tree, or even a cement ground would work. It is a very quick death and no blood. We took them out to the woods or you could throw them away in your trash. I bet those cats in your neighborhood would even eat them. Another option he said was to see if a bird rehabilitator in your area could use them for food for their hawks, or whatever they are rehabbing. Definitely read the instructions that come with the trap. We ended up putting it close to our house by our other bird feeders so we could keep a close eye on it... DO NOT use it when you can't watch it in case you catch native birds in it... you have to release them, but it's good to just leave it in place so they get used to it. You will need something waterproof to set the cage on that completely covers the mesh bottom so they can't see through to the ground... I guess it spooks them. Ours is just a little off the ground...and my husband made a block of wood with a screw as a handle to fit into the entrance to block it when we weren't able to watch it. You could use anything you can find around the house for that... just so that "elevator" part won't drop down. Oh, and I wore a pair of gloves to grab them and put them in the bag. It is easier if you have someone to hold the bag because they are quick! I have a Roller Feeder that I keep sunflower seed in for my native birds... the sparrows don't seem to like that feeder, but I bet if they got used to it, they eventually would use it. I also have a nyger feeder. We have chickadees, tufted titmice, cardinals, juncos, nuthatches, bluejays, and several woodpeckers right now. Our bluebirds have left for the winter, but when they were here, I didn't feed them anything. We live on 2.5 acres, pesticide free, so they have plenty of bugs. One pair had 5 babies (in our front yard) and another pair had 3 babies (way in the back, more wooded area). I want to catch as many of those bluebird killing sparrows as I can before they come back in the spring! From what I've read and experienced, the house sparrows like suet and corn the best... others have had good luck with bread and popcorn, so use that type of stuff for your bait. They say the males are more attached to their nest site than they are to their female partners... in other words, if something happens to the female, he will still stay in the area he has claimed and just get another female, so I was happy to catch 2 males so far. We've only been able to use the trap about 4-5 days due to our schedules. I see a female hanging around my front yard bluebird house so we are just going to keep at it... hopefully we can get all, if not most, of them. I will probably be purchasing an air powered pellet gun as well. Strangely, when we tried shooting them with our regular pellet gun, we could see the pellets hit them, but it would just bounce off their feathers! Well, sorry to babble on... it's a subject I'm very passionate about! I appreciate you so much for helping the native birds, especially bluebirds! I hope I've helped in some way. If you have anymore questions let me know and I will get back with you. Sometimes I won't get a notification from KZbin, but hopefully I will! Take care and good luck!!!

[@valeriefarschman2799]

There are baffles you can use on the bird house post to protect the birds from cats, snakes, or raccoons, etc. We use homemade ones on the Bluebird trail at a local metro park. Amazon has some for sale. smile.amazon.com/Songbird-Essentials-Predator-Defeater-Squirrel/dp/B075S76Z51/ref=sr_1_5?dchild=1&keywords=baffles+for+bluebird+house&qid=1623289773&sr=8-5

[@keltar4071]

Iguess cardinal and other natives birds are screwed.

[@ESowash]

David Spicer cardinals don’t use boxes or tree cavities

[@keltar4071]

@@ESowash carolina wrens do

[@SweetStuffOnMonarchLane]

@@keltar4071 I just ordered one of these traps that was recommended by another commenter on another video: www.sparrowtraps.net/ It has great reviews! We had house sparrows show up on our property for the first time this year and they harassed our nesting bluebird pair relentlessly until we put up a sparrow spooker. I'm going to nip them in the bud before they become more of a problem. I think the only way to put a dent in their population is to "permanently" get rid of them. If we all buy one or more of these traps, think of all the house sparrows we could get rid of! They're not cheap, but I feel they're worth it to help our native songbirds, including cardinals and others that don't use nestboxes. Also, just wanted to say in our area (Michigan) we've had house wrens go into our bluebird house and peck holes in their eggs. But, at least it's native bird against native bird...

[@uhill74]

Cardinals nest in bushes.

[@keltar4071]

@@uhill74 im not calling you a liar but here in baltimore maryland they like to nest in branches of tall trees usually about 15 to 20 foot up. Another odd thing they do in my area. I have a bike path and for some reason they like putting there nests on the branches directly above the path. Its right out in the open its weird because any other time they are trying to hide.

[@bevstongw9130]

U u

[@DirigiblePlum69]

Cruel device.

[@kittenkorleone2918]

House sparrow is not native and kills many native birds for nest sites. They are regarded as pests in the USA. There is no law here protecting them, starlings or pigeons. They can be killed at will. These gadgets are not cruel in any way.

[@misterkota1252]

Are you using a tin can on a string for a microphone? Can hardly make out a single word

[@misterkota1252]

How about ditching the tin can microphone and investing in a real camera. And that Digital Zoom isn’t doing you any favors.