Post by harrishawk08 on Jan 18, 2005 20:45:27 GMT -5
alright guys this may sound like a pretty stupid question but has anyone tried to breed house sparrows see as there arnt that many around my house are possibly another stupid question how can i attract they ;D
You just left yourself waaaay too open on this one ;D I won't comment on breeding them, but you might be able to attract them with the right breeding plumage and a good nest. On the serious side, I haven't heard of anyone bothering with them, as they are considered an introduced pest species. Rich
Post by BlueTiercel on Jan 18, 2005 22:16:38 GMT -5
That was a funny one Rich. anyway, i don't know why anyone would ever ever want to lure those things around or increase there numbers..they need much killing. Leave them at the strip malls and parking lots where they belong, go there to kill them with your hawk... I hear starlings can make good practice for the beganing shotgunner but not house sparrows as they genereally dont fly far from people.
"every dream you keep inside, another part of you has died"
They make great hawk snacks. They are all natural, and they are free.
Make yourself a funnel trap and throw a bunch of wild bird seed in there with a few slices of bread and put it in your back yard.
Make sure you have a field guide handy though as other birds protected under the MBTA will also be caught and must be released.
I take a few dead sparrows out to the field with me and they are just big enough to make a good reward, but not heavy enough to make your bird fat and want to stop flying. Well unless you don't wrap the hunt up within an hour or so.
As with all wild trapped birds, check them all for frounce before feeding to your bird. A quick peek in the beak will be enough.
Post by harrishawk08 on Jan 19, 2005 22:27:04 GMT -5
BlueTiercel said:
That was a funny one Rich. anyway, i don't know why anyone would ever ever want to lure those things around or increase there numbers..they need much killing. Leave them at the strip malls and parking lots where they belong, go there to kill them with your hawk... I hear starlings can make good practice for the beganing shotgunner but not house sparrows as they genereally dont fly far from people.
well if you must know i want to have a good stock of the buggers frozen and a few dozen as baggies for went i start with my Kbird also the main reson i want to have them captive breed is so i can avoid so of the stuff they can carry
if your going to breed some for food just use African zebra finches. the breed easy enough, Okay just joking ,,,,,,sorta finches can cost as much as 20 bucks and to have enough to keep your bird fed,,,, well I' d rather put the time into my birds. but a symple trap works best, and after that just fallow OOby's post.
Post by Falcon Boy on Mar 23, 2005 11:17:30 GMT -5
you're right about zebra finches. I was going to do that myself. Went to the store, birds $15 each. They weigh less than sparrows too. Plus the cage, food, water, nesting crap, etc.... too much work for little reward. Traps and bb guns and .22's are cheaper and more fun ;D
Falcon Boy Apprentice Falconry Administrator
Ethics make the individual, not the other way around.
I also take Oobys view on them. Just wondering if you would be willing to tell us how to make these funnel traps. I have tons of them around me, hours of endless fun with the BB gun, but I would like to trap large numbers at once.
Post by toddgriese on Feb 24, 2006 20:19:05 GMT -5
Becareful on feeding sparrows or starlings to your hawks, I have been told that WNV (West Nile Virus) can be transmitted to your bird if the food item has WNV.
If you wanna breed zebra finches, you need a big aviary setup with a ton of birds in it. They breed really well like this. I have a buddy that used to breed them like that and everysingle pair in there was producing young, that makes for a ton of babys.
Post by chris kimble on Oct 3, 2006 2:59:00 GMT -5
I've been wanting to breed sparrows for a long time. I always thought it would be nice to have a supply of live manageable sparrows around.
A few years ago I came up with a plan that would allow me to start my own breeding colony of sparrows. A plan that I have shared with a few falconers, and I've heard widely varying comments about it. Some think its great, some think it would be a waist. Frankly I dont care either way. One day I will do it. But perhaps someone here that has some time on their hands can get it done before me, so I'll throw my idea out there.
The biggest problem with sparrows is that despite their ability to live and breed anywhere under just about any condition, they are surprisingly easy to kill! They simply dont last long once in hand. What you need are sparrows that are raised in captivity and thus are "immune" to the very things that stress and kill wild birds. Of course raising the babies by hand is a little far out there...so you need a foster parent.
Thats were my plan kicks in. Anyone whos dealt with domestic finches is familiar with the Bengalese(Society) finch. They are commonly used as foster parents for higher dollar finches that arent as reliable at hatching there own eggs. The high dollar eggs are pulled as they are layed and once the clutch is layed the eggs are placed under a society finch whos eggs are at a similar point in developement. The society finches then hatch and rear the offspring as their own.
Sparrow eggs incubate at approximatly the same temps and for the same amount of time as finch eggs. In fact starling eggs do too.
So all you need is a few pair of society finches that are breeding regularly, and in the spring replace their eggs with sparrow eggs! Then you will have your first generation of sparrows from wich you can start a full scale sparrow breeding operation!
Call me crazy, I dont care...I think it would be fun!