Why The Elevator Sparrow Trap Exists (Elevator Safety Video)

This episode gives you a great overview of the repeating elevator house sparrow trap.
IMPORTANT: In North America, house sparrows and European starlings are an invasive species that routinely k!11 native songbirds, especially native cavity nesting birds like bluebirds, chickadees, tree swallows, purple martins and even woodpeckers. This video is for education and conservation purposes.
Learn about safety measures with the repeating elevator trap, how to disengaged it, why it's critical to monitor the trap, how to bait it, and more.
RESOURCES:
1. Informational Coloring Book on Bluebirds - Katharine spent a year writing and illustrating all of the topical figures for when it comes to hosting bluebirds. This 90+ page coloring book gives you so much information about hosting bluebirds, protecting from threats, selecting the right feeders and food, and so much more. Order your copy here*: amzn.to/4dGeLlA
2. Video on Identifying House Sparrows: This should be a mandatory video to watch before you start trapping invasive house sparrows. It shows you all the combined markings that will let you know if you have a house sparrow or if you can easily rule it out. You don't have to identify all little brown birds, you just have to know when you have a house sparrow or not: • How to Tell House Spar...
3. Repeating Elevator Sparrow Traps - you can order these at www.sparrowtraps.net
You can also make your own. Here are the videos on how to make your own:
Part 1: • How to build a sparrow...
Part 2: • How to build a sparrow...
4. Blink Outdoor Cameras: Blink Outdoor cameras are motion activated video cameras that have become very popular in the birding community. They are mobile, have a decent battery life, rain proof, weather proof and super easy to use. They can also help aid you when monitoring your traps. DO NOT SOLELY RELY ON A BLINK CAMERA THOUGH WHEN MONITORING ANY TRAP.
Blink Outdoor Cameras can be found on Amazon* and go on sale quite often. You can find them here: amzn.to/3ylXRZi
5. Van Ert Trap Videos and Information:
a) Buy a Van Ert trap at vanerttraps.com/
b) Van Ert Bird Safety Video: • Easy Van Ert Trap Inst...
C) Van Ert Tips for Success: • Van Ert Trap BIRD SAFE...
D) Installing a Van Ert Trap: • Van Ert Trap Tips for ...
Visit www.nesthollow.com for more resources on managing native songbirds in North America, especially native cavity nesting birds.
*These links are affiliate links, which means that if you click them and buy something, Nest Hollow is given a small commission. You are not charged extra for this. The affiliate money earned is modest at the moment, and only helps support the expense of making these videos, hosting the website, going out to get photos and testing products. We thank you for your support.

[@jm3814]

This elevator trap was my only salvation this year. I saw a male house sparrow inside a birdhouse that a pair of Tree Swallows were using to nest. I went outside to check inside the house, and he had killed the female. I was heartbroken and MAD. I had tried the Van Ert trap numerous times and saw him inside the house many times while it was set and he never tripped it. I used the elevator trap now for the past few weeks and have caught and eradicated all the house sparrows in my yard. It certainly helps to keep 1-2 in the trap for a limited time to attract more. 2 years ago, I caught almost 30 and found all my yellow and red finches started to revisit my yard again so I know they are the best tool to fight these nasty birds. Great advice about monitoring the trap often and I also use a twist tie wrap overnight or when I was leaving my home for over an hour or so. Works great! I have caught a few natives, but I release them immediately and no harm done. I found that millet and pieces of bread have been best to attract them. Best advice is to educate yourself before using this tool on what House Sparrows look like by studying pictures closely. It is now easy for me to differentiate between sparrows. Also, they have a very distinct chirp! That is helpful also. I use your pillowcase method of disposal and it works flawlessly. Great info!

[@nesthollow5159]

I am so so so glad the elevator trap worked for you in that situation. Often, after you get the trap (especially in the breeding/nesting season) it can be hard to catch them. In this case, after that sparrow got your tree swallow, I am sure you were relieved to have caught it! It is so nice too when you see a variety of native birds returning to your area. Last winter, I saw more than 10 bluebirds in the yard, and my neighbor one street over said she counted 30. And I thought to myself - that is the reward from all this dedication. It's really awesome to hear your story. I'm just so sorry to hear about the tree swallow. It is a terrible terrible thing to see, especially when you know it's been the same bird family that's been nesting with you for years - you had a special bond and reverence for that wild bird only for it to be cut short :(

[@jm3814]

@@nesthollow5159 Yes I feel guilty for attracting these beautiful birds to my yard with birdhouses that they are later attacked in so I am trying everything I can do to stop the sparrows! I use fishing line and twine to make lines across and down the house roofs and fronts to deter. That helps but not always. My husband made me V shaped sparrow spookers and I add shiny strips of any kind of material that flutters in the wind (4th of July decor at local stores work great!) to them and they have worked flawlessly on my birdhouses. The problem is you have to wait until there is an egg laid in the birdhouse to ensure the Bluebirds and Tree Swallow birds will not be scared from the house also. I currently have 3 houses with 15 youngsters. The bluebirds fledged last week and I cleaned out the nest immediately and within a couple days the same pair started nesting in that same birdhouse with the sparrow spooker still attached. We also attached metal baffles to the poles the houses are on. We have learned the hard way there is more to just putting up a birdhouse and letting nature take its course when it comes to making them a safe haven for our birds! But the results are worth it! Thank you for your videos, they have been very helpful!

[@williamjaeger5940]

Another great video! Very informative! Thanks!

[@nesthollow5159]

Thank you so much 🐦

[@workingbulldogs]

Great video. I started using the elevator trap in April and have trapped and dispatched 30 so far. I also have a van ert trap

[@nesthollow5159]

That's fantastic!

[@nommindymple6241]

I've had that elevator trap for 3 months now and have never caught any house sparrows with it. I've tried 3 different locations (it's on a table) with multiple types of lures. No luck. But, a couple of months ago, I bought a Van Ert trap and it's been catching about 1 house sparrow every 3 days (until recently -- the house sparrows seem to have gone away).

[@nesthollow5159]

During the breeding season, it is hard to catch a house sparrow in a repeater trap unless you have a sparrow. Once you catch one in your van ert trap, transfer it to the repeater. Some people actually keep a male and female handy for this process (decoy bird) You've got to treat them well. A lot of people will keep them in a bird cage so they don't stress. You can also rotate out your decoy sparrows so that they don't stress - so after a week, you swap out for a new pair, and dispatch the originals. I'd keep the male and female separate if you do hang on to them. No legal issues since they aren't federally protected. It sounds kind of brutal, but it's all to help manage the population so the native songbirds have a real chance. I'm glad the van ert trap is working. Hang tight with the repeater. It can take time and be frustrating, but once it works, it's great.

[@Thajerkstar]

I don't understand. What do you do with the sparrows after you catch them? Do you really think you're going to kill your way out of your house sparrow problem? Maybe I'm missing something. You seem like a kind person, please explain.

[@nesthollow5159]

These are some really good questions you're asking. I have lofty answers for you, but your questions are very valid and thoughtful, and I wanted to take time to hopefully thoroughly answer them. I hope that this response is helpful. You may not love some of these answers, but I hope it helps at least teach the reasoning behind these efforts: First, I want to start by saying that this video is geared more for people who are actively hosting native North American cavity nesting birds, which are most at risk of being regularly, fatally attacked by house sparrows and European starlings. It's not really for most backyard birders who are just feeding birds. It's for the people who are working with tree swallows, bluebirds, chickadees, purple martins and the other native cavity birds and are looking for more information about how to protect them from invasive species threats. So this is definitely not for everyone. As for legality - house sparrows (any old world sparrow) and European starlings are not federally protected. Only native birds are. But it will depend on state and local ordinances on whether trapping is permitted. For your first question about what you do after you catch them - there are a few things, and none sound pleasant. I'm so sorry: 1. You can work with a falconer (they are also doing ecological conservation work through falconry) and give the birds to them. And they may take them alive. Aside from a falconer, some raptor and wildlife rehabilitation centers will also take them (live or unalived). 2. Some people opt to clip their wings and release (always in the same location they were caught. It is not legal to relocate). I don't recommend this tactic because it artificially inflates the population of birds of prey in the area. 3. Euthanasia. This is the sad one. It is the one that most cavity bird hosts cannot bring themselves to do until they've discovered a bird pecked or few pecked to death by a house sparrow. Euthanasia means "good death" so the very nature of it means it must be humane. Again, Euthanizing a house sparrow or European starling may not be permitted in certain locations, and it requires proper identification. Euthanasia sounds terrible, but I've had an experience where a nest was attacked but two baby bluebird survived. However, one of the baby bluebirds was so injured that it had to be euthanized anyway. So euthanasia was inevitable. And this can happen. Sometimes the injuries are so severe that a bird will not survive, but they don't outright die either, and then the native bird ends up having to be euthanized. So proactive management when hosting native cavity birds can prevent long, drawn-out suffering. You might be thinking "let nature take its course." That's exactly what conservationists want... but for native birds because native birds fulfill very specific ecological roles within their habitat that help the whole biological network thrive. House sparrows do not. And in the case of an invasive species, whether bird, snake, insect, plant, etc. - nature doesn't get to take its course. Instead, it can cause severe species decline and a breakdown of the local ecosystem. On islands, it's even worse, and invasive species have caused extinction events. The Guam Rail extinction is a great case study on how nature can't take its course against an invasive species: nationalzoo.si.edu/center-species-survival/news/conserving-last-guams-avifauna-recovery-guam-rail For your next question about whether it's possible to euthanize your way out of the house sparrow problem - well it's more about management and protection for most cavity nesting bird hosts. For those watching who are interested in turning their backyard into a natural habitat for wildlife, especially since they're suffering habitat loss, then controlling invasive species populations can really help. There are some people out there who have made dents in invasive species populations and have seen other bird species return and begin to thrive when they were originally declining. The story of the Greencastle Purple Martins is a very old case study of exactly that. There are also academic research papers that have shown that an increase in house sparrow presence leads to a decrease in bird diversity, and that a decrease in house sparrow presence can increase native bird diversity. Off the top of my head are a few. It's been quite a while since I've read them, but there are several more studies out there. link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11252-020-00963-x www.researchgate.net/publication/225962345_Relationship_between_the_presence_of_House_Sparrows_Passer_domesticus_and_Neotropical_bird_community_structure_and_diversity At the very least though, for most backyard bluebird hosts and trail monitors who are helping restore native cavity nesting bird numbers, trapping house sparrows is more about managing the abundance of them and protecting the native birds, not so much about eradicating them altogether. Some bluebirders would disagree and say they need eradicated, but that is a hard pill to swallow. And like you pointed out, probably not very possible, and I worry that total eradication could cause some other unanticipated problems. Most people (myself included) do not enjoy this aspect of caring for native birds. It's very hard, but when you learn about the longterm consequences of not keeping a species in check, it is important. Their introduction was our fault... not entirely. The people who introduced them ignored the warnings of naturalists and ornithologists who advised against it. But now, it's a matter of cleaning up past mistakes. I do not hate them or want to trivialize their lives either. It's more an ecological obligation in order to protect the native ecosystem and keep it going for years to come. These videos are here to teach so people do this the right way if they're going to do it. I hope this is helpful.

[@Thajerkstar]

@@nesthollow5159 Thank you so much for the thorough reply and for providing references. I intend to read up on it. To be honest, I had no idea that house sparrows were such a controversial topic. I really don't know how to feel about it. I work for the U.S. Forest Service, and I know how nuanced these things are. I love birds and all life. That is how I ended up watching birds on KZbin in the first place. I just think it's part of a larger conversation when it comes to our changing planet and ecosystems. How far are we willing to go to hang on to historical conditions? I don't have answers, just kind of a gut reaction and a sense that killing is rarely the answer. As you mentioned, everything is connected in ways that we can't even begin to understand until it's too late. Thank you for your kind answer. I have some reading to do!

[@chandbasha3206]

I want that sparrow trap cage

[@chandbasha3206]

I want bird trap cage How much price Tell me

[@nesthollow5159]

The repeating elevator trap (caged one) can be found at sparrowtraps.net. Last I looked, it goes for about $75 for the base model plus shipping. Definitely worth it if you have a lot of house sparrows.

[@erikaerika7788]

In texas a trap dispatched tons with my elevator trap😊now in orlando i have Zero sparrows in my area,,, i have nesting bluebirds and crested flycatchers ❤❤❤❤

[@nesthollow5159]

That's fantastic! And congrats on the great crested flycatchers! I saw a pair yesterday. I have a box for them, but I think they found a tree hole somewhere. Do yours nest with you every year?

[@tinman3]

Thanks I got my tray today. Now I have to get the courage to do you know what..😢

[@nesthollow5159]

The first time is always the hardest. The next 3 aren't easy either. But it does get better in time. You'll do just fine, and know that there are so many of us who remember exactly how you feel.