Sparrow Spookers

Earlier posts on this topic are probably found under Passive House Sparrow Control
See http://www.sialis.org/sparrowspooker.htm for more information.

From: mtalentino"at"alltel.net [mailto:mtalentino"at"alltel.net]
Sent: Thursday, April 13, 2006 8:22 AM
Subject: spooker

at this moment the male EABL is pecking and pulling at the mylar strands on the sparrow spooker. female is in the box on the nest with the 5 eggs. not sure if they have hatched -

the male ripped away a strand of the mylar and has taken to the branch of a tall tree about 30 feet up.

maybe he doesnt like this new device adorning his castle.

i have to leave town for 10 days. i need to get a neighbor to keep an eye on things. hoping the spooker does its job.

Mike Talentino
Twinsburg, OHIO

I too saw a male pulling on the mylar right after installation. He actually yanked a few strands off. Pretty soon he was perching on it. Even so, I figured better to have him worried about the mylar than worried about whether a house sparrow was going to peck his head off.

I have yet to hear of a case where a sparrow spooker was NOT accepted by bluebirds after egg laying commenced. Sometimes it helps to put it up when it's not too windy.

Bet from CT
http://www.sialis.org/sparrowspooker.htm

Barb Munson wrote:
I went to fabric to buy mylar to make a sparrow spooker They showed to this very stiff plastic that stencils are made from. What is mylar and where do I buy it? I did buy one of the big shiny balloon and cut it up into strips but it is not very good. It is working but I would like something more substantial.
My blue bird babies are now 6 days old. How old are they when they fledge and when do I quit checking on them so they don't fledge early?
I've have my repeating trap out 4 days and still haven't caught anything.
This morning when I went out to check on it it was upside down on the ground. I had put it on a pation side table.

Barb - So. IL

The mylar balloons don't work very well, so I'm told - too lightweight, and tend to curl. Better is the stuff that party banners are made of.
Better yet - and it's free - I use WalMart Ripple Potato Chip bags, washed off and cut into strips. They're blue on one side, shiny mylar on the other. One bag yields 3-4 spookers, and about 10 servings of potato chips. [:-)

Cher

I buy the mylar banners at the dollar store and cut it into strips the
length that I need. Can't beat the price and it's held up two seasons now!!

I have my BB box on the North side of my house but it still gets some direct sun in the morning and in the late afternoon. It's been blessedly cool (for Texas in the summer) for the past several days. I believe I have 5 more hatched (there were 5 eggs but they all hunker down when I look). My husband went out and checked on them this AM and was severely chastised by the mom and dad. I got a small Mylar balloon on a plastic stick and cut it in strips and mounted it on the back of the BB house. I'm hoping this will work as a stop gap as a Sparrow spooker until I can make a more endurable one from Bet's plans. It hasn't fazed mom and dad BB. I was wondering about putting my husband's sunshade (it's silver and will deflect the sun) for his car up to protect the box from the direct sun. I'm not sure quite how to do it though. Any suggestions? We have two fences posts I can drape it between and that might help for the afternoon sun. I could move the house closer to our house to get it out of the sun but I'm afraid to move it too close. Thanks for any suggestions.
Denise
Cresson, TX

Denise of TX wrote: I got a small Mylar balloon on a plastic stick and cut it in strips and
mounted it on the back of the BB house. I'm hoping this will work as a stop gap as a Sparrow spooker until I can make a more endurable one from Bet's plans. It hasn't fazed mom and dad BB. I was wondering about putting my husband's sunshade (it's silver and will deflect the sun) for his car up to protect the box from the direct sun. I'm not sure quite how to do it though. ....

Denise, mylar balloons tend to curl up, which is why I use Happy Birthday signs (available in party or dollar stores or in the card aisle). Cher uses foil potato chip bags.

Anyway, just wanted to let you know that the design where the strips are tied to a stick on the back of the box is the LEAST effective set up. It is the original design published about 25 years ago, but it is the only one I've heard of being defeated - I saw postings twice that an aggressive HOSP still went into the box. I just put a note to that effect on the spooker webpage at http://www.sialis.org/sparrowspooker.htm. I really recommend Design #2 or Design #4, where the streamers hang from something extended over and parallel to the rooftop, just brushing the roof.

Bet from CT

From: Steve and Cindy Groene [mailto:hausgroene"at"comcast.net]
Sent: Tuesday, July 04, 2006 1:26 PM
Subject: Sparrow Spooker problem

I ran into a problem w/ the sparrow spooker. I put one up during the first nesting after the chicks had hatched. No problems. I left the actual spooker up but removed the mylar after the first group fledged. Yesterday, the first egg was laid for the second clutch in this box. Same male, new female. I put the mylar up after I saw the first egg. Never saw the BB female go inside the box after that. This morning, I went out to check and see if I had a second egg. No egg at 9am. I came inside and watched the female fly over to the box and hover and fly back to the tree, several times. She would not go inside the box. I went out and cut off the mylar. I had barely gotten back inside and turned around when I saw her fly inside the box. I checked 45 min later and there was the second egg. I’m a little worried about putting the mylar back up until the chicks hatch.

Cindy

From: EHDerry"at"aol.com [mailto:EHDerry"at"aol.com]
Sent: Tuesday, July 04, 2006 1:31 PM
Subject: Re: Sparrow Spooker problem

Cindy: I think Bet reported this problem with one of her females. I believe she solved the problem by putting up one strip of mylar at a time. Once the female accepted the first strip she added a second and then a third.
I am sure Bet will respond to your problem, but due to the holiday and because I was online when your message came through, I thought I should respond asap.
Try putting up one strip and watch to see if the female accepts that before adding a second strip.
Judy Derry
Lockport, NY

Cindy, I know it can be scary when a new female with an egg to lay is hesitant to go into the nestbox. But if you have an ongoing HOSP problem, the alternative is just as scary. Is it unusually windy there today? That can scare a female who's not used to a spooker. Why is it they always seem to lay their first eggs on windy days, and babies always seem to want to fledge in a storm?????

Here's what I would do - go out now and put the mylar back on, now that you know she's laid her egg for the day. Give her more time to get used to it. Watch carefully for signs of her going into the box today.

Tomorrow morning, if there's not another egg, try catching up all but one of the mylar strands with a rubber band - so just one strand is fluttering instead of all of them. Continue to watch. She should work up enough courage to fly past the single strand. After she's laid the next egg, hopefully with one mylar strand still hanging down, then go let down the strands again.

Keep this up until she gets used to the sight of the spooker. It doesn't usually take them long. But if you keep taking it down every time she hesitates, you'll be training her to refuse to go in the box when the spooker is up.

Keep us posted on how this works. I haven't known it to fail yet.

Cher

Hi sorry, have been out of town. I have never had a bluebird here not accept a spooker, nor heard
of a bluebird not accepting a "normal" spooker, although sometimes they may initially seem “worried”
by it, and the males occasionally try to yank off the mylar. Usually both birds end up perching on
the spooker after a while.

As you can see, putting it up DURING egg laying is the best way to find out whether it is accepted,
because you either do or don’t get an egg the next day, plus it gives them a lot of time to get used
to it.

It seems sort of bizarre that a female that nested in a box with a spooker would then reject it on
the next brood, but stranger things have happened.

I like the ideas of putting up one strip at a time, or tying them up, and then letting them down
little by little, ESPECIALLY if it's really windy (good idea to put it when it's NOT windy).

I have some questions Cindy:

What is the configuration of your spooker Can you say which of the designs here:
http://www.sialis.org/sparrowspooker.htm it most resembles?

How long are the mylar strips? Are they OVER the roof? Or do they reach in front of the hole?
Do they just brush the roof, or are they longer?

What time did this female usually lay an egg by? I had one that didn't get it out till about 1 p.m.

What time of day did you put the spooker up - evening, morning?

I'm very interested, thanks for posting about this problem.

Bet from CT

Bet, I was initially stumped by this too, until I re-read Cindy's message and realized this is a different female than the one who had the last nesting in this box.

Cindy wrote me that she followed my suggestion about catching up all but one strand of the spooker, then letting them down one by one, and it worked. The female accepted the spooker. I'm sure she'll have additional information for you, but I thought that was good news.

Cher

Bet- Thanks for getting back to me. I got some great advice that has
worked. Cher is correct. This is not the same female but the same male.
She disappeared 5 days before the chicks fledged. Also, I left the spooker
on the nestbox, but took the mylar strips off after the fledging. The male
and female used it as a perch until I put the mylar back on. Here are my
answers to your questions. The male was not bothered by it at all since he
was used to it I guess.

I have some questions Cindy:

"What is the configuration of your spooker Can you say which of the designs
here:
http://www.sialis.org/sparrowspooker.htm it most resembles? "

I am using a modified #1. I have mylar strips hanging down parallel w the
roof and also along the "T". It worked the first time or maybe I got lucky.
I have definitely got a sparrow problem and I have ordered a trap from
Blaine. It might even be on my front porch as I type this. I need to go
look. I used the sialis website to build a spooker, or should I say my
husband built it, lol.

"How long are the mylar strips? Are they OVER the roof? Or do they reach
in front of the hole? "

The strips are over the roof, running down the long arm and across the "T".

"Do they just brush the roof, or are they longer? "

They are long enough to brush the roof but they rarely do because our
location is windy. They are frequently blowing out in front of the box but
the "T' does not hang over the box. They would reach the front of the roof
IF it were never windy. They do not hang over the hole.

"What time did this female usually lay an egg by? I had one that didn't get
it out till about 1 p.m."

Apparently she's a little bit of a later egg layer. My first female was an
early layer. This is my first season w/ a nestbox and my second nesting. I
have been waiting until after 11am to check the nestbox for eggs now that I
know she's not a morning person, LOL. As of today, there are now 4 eggs in
the nest.

"What time of day did you put the spooker up - evening, morning?"

I put the mylar on one afternoon after the first egg.

"I'm very interested, thanks for posting about this problem.

Bet from CT""

Seems we need a laugh around here so I'll offer this. I asked my husband to
put up a spooker and printed off the instructions from the sialis website.
My son and I went out of town for a week and I figured it would be a good
time for my husband to get some 'honey do's' accomplished. I came back to
find he had found a pathetic little stick (from a broken tree limb) in the
yard and tied two mylar strips to it and placed it on the back of the box.
It was the most pitiful thing I have ever seen. I didn't laugh in his
presence but I did ask him if he really thought I was going to like and
approve of that spooker. LOL.

Cindy Groene
South Lyon, MI

From: Bet Zimmerman [mailto:ezdz"at"charter.net]
Sent: Thursday, July 06, 2006 9:21 PM
Subject: RE: Sparrow Spooker problem

Thanks for the info! FYI, I have only heard of one or two cases of a spooker failing to deter a
HOSP and it was the original design (#3 here http://www.sialis.org/sparrowspooker.htm ) - i.e., the
one your husband tried to make. Personally I like designs #2 and #4.

Glad to hear the mylar did not go over the hole, I think that is too scary.

I think most bluebirds lay their egg by 10ish, you may have just caught her too early. Or she may
have been a big chicken. Sorry I missed your note that it was a NEW female.

Glad it has been accepted - it should protect the family 24/7 now.

Bet from CT

Subject: Need For Sparrow Spookers
From: "DSturm" <daaranch"at"netex.quik.com>
Date: Mon, 19 Mar 2007 12:19:06 -0600

Hello to all of you real bluebirders.

I am in northeast Texas, in Keith Kridler's neck of the woods, and am just getting started with bluebirds as a health problem has me limited as to what I can do with my cows at the present time. I have been one of those 300 that Keith referred to in his email as those who read the list but not participate in postings. Guess that this posting has moved me from that group.

This spring I've built and replaced several bluebird nestboxes that I made and installed several years ago. Did not monitor them at that time but do know that a few bluebirds did use them. The nestboxes were constructed using Keith's plans available at the Texas Bluebird Society website. Also, built 4 of the nestboxes and given then to others. One of those ladies called me about 10 days later all excited about bluebirds starting to use one of her nestboxes.

The bluebirds have already claimed and built nests in at least two of the nestboxes here at the farm this year. One of the nests had 3 eggs in it as of yesterday afternoon. The "eggs in the nest" situation brings up the question, should I install "sparrow spookers" on the nestboxes when the bluebirds have started laying?

There is not a big sparrow problem here but a pair are trying to nest in my new purple martin house. Sparrows are persistent birds, I have torn their nests up but they are continuing to rebuilt. A few years ago I would tear sparrow nests out of the barn in the morning and they would be rebuilt by nightfall. Only after tearing them down five or six times did they get discouraged and finally leave. I am afraid that when I discourage them from using the martin house, they might try run the bluebirds out of one of the nestboxes.

I guess that installing the spookers would be the best insurance against sparrows but are the spookers necessary? I have never seen a sparrow spooker installed around this area but that does not mean that they are not being used here.

Given the above situation, does anyone have any recommendations?

Subject: RE: Need For Sparrow Spookers
From: "bluebirder2838" <bluebirder2838"at"comcast.net>
Date: Mon, 19 Mar 2007 14:02:29 -0400

Hello and welcome to the active status on the Bluebird-L!

In my opinion, tearing out the sparrow nests could lead to real trouble.
They might be encouraged to move on to other nesting sites that may lead to
egg destruction and death to a native cavity nester, eggs or nestlings.

You should investigate house sparrow behavior to understand that they often
compete, to the death, for nesting sites, and then decide whether you want
to be a passive sparrow control landlord, or an active one. For in depth
information on passive and active house sparrow control, please refer to the
website of one of our devoted bluebird fanatics, Bluebird-L member (and
archivist) Bet Zimmerman. Her website, sialis.org

(sialis-from the genus sialis for bluebirds) is a fantastic website for "all
things bluebird" so that we can click on it and find the most answers to our
questions. She has a well researched section on passive and active House
Sparrow Control on her website at this link: http://www.sialis.org/hosp.htm

You may also want to invest in buying a book on bluebirding, including one
that Keith Kridler co-authored, "The Bluebird Monitor's Guide". It's easily
available at amazon.com or perhaps even the Texas Bluebird Society, with
some of the proceeds helping bluebird conservation.

Please keep the List updated on your situation.

Donna from Marlborough, CT

Subject: Re: Need For Sparrow Spookers
From: Cher <bluelist"at"localnet.com>
Date: Mon, 19 Mar 2007 17:52:07 -0400

Sparrow spookers are a Bluebirders best friend . . . well, almost. I
wouldn't be without them. They work during a limited time period - after
the first egg is laid and up until fledging, and they don't take the
place of more active methods of sparrow control, but they're extremely
effective during the egg-laying, incubating, hatching and nestling stages.

I've been making my own spookers for years - ugly things they were, made
out of bits and pieces and found items. And they often fell down, or
twisted in the wind, making them useless. But there's now a commercially
available version at http://www.sparrowtraps.net. It's adjustable for
any nestbox size, shape, configuration, and any mounting solution.

I have no commercial interest in this product whatsoever - I merely
begged for it to be developed, and Uncle Blaine came through. I'm very
excited that there's now a version of the spooker available for anyone
who's not handy, or who wants something more durable and attractive than
the ones made by hand.

Cher ~ Finger Lakes region, NY State

From: Paula Ziebarth [mailto:paulaz"at"columbus.rr.com]
Sent: Tuesday, March 20, 2007 11:29 AM
Subject: Re: Need For Sparrow Spookers

Ripping out their nests does little to dissuade them in my experience. They will keep rebuilding and can easily head on over to the nesting EABL and destroy their eggs and/or corner the adults in the box and kill them.
Giving sparrow spookers a try would be a good idea to help protect the EABL, but you need to get rid of the HOSP so your PUMA will have a chance to nest also. I have an inbox trap that fits most of my PUMA compartments. If I can't catch them this way, I sometimes pick them off the side of the housing with a bb-gun or set a bait trap (DRST or ST-1) under the PUMA rig and put lovely nesting material (e.g. string, dried grass, fuzzy stuff) in bait compartment. HOSP go in to get the nesting material and are trapped.

Paula Z
Powell (Central) Ohio
South Bass Island (Northern) Ohio

From: Cher [mailto:bluelist"at"localnet.com]
Sent: Wednesday, March 21, 2007 10:13 AM
Subject: Re: Need For Sparrow Spookers

Just for the record . . . Uncle Blaine isn't MY Uncle - LOL - that's just his "handle". I suppose he has a lot of little blue nieces and nephews flying all over the country, though. He's hard-working, ingenious, and an all-around good guy to boot.

Cher ~ Finger Lakes region, NY State

From: Bet Zimmerman [mailto:ezdz"at"charter.net]
Sent: Thursday, March 22, 2007 10:26 AM
Subject: Sparrow Spookers

If you don't have House Sparrows (HOSP), you don't need Sparrow Spookers.
If you DO have them, in my opinion it is a lifesaver, and protects the nest 24/7. I have never lost an egg or nestling to HOSP when using a Sparrow Spooker. They have been used for 25 years with great results.

Info on how to make your own at http://www.sialis.org/sparrowspooker.htm.

Cher and I both provided input to Blaine (who also makes the DRST ground
trap) on the spooker, as none were commercially available before. In my opinion, the installation mechanism he came up with is really clever (it unobtrusively attaches to the back of a box, and then you can pop a spooker on whatever box is chosen by a bluebird), as is the mechanism he came up with for putting in the horizontal rods and adjusting it all to customize it for any style bluebird box. It's also very durable (weather wise.) (I also don't have any commercial interest in them - I just want to protect
bluebirds!) http://www.sparrowtraps.net/spookers.htm For any set up, IMO, it's important that the mylar flutter and brush the top of the box, and extend OVER the top of the roof (not just tied to the pole in the back.)

In my opinion, a Sparrow Spooker is THE most effective passive control mechanism currently available to protect adults, eggs and nestlings from HOSP attacks. It is a great option for people who are not comfortable with active controls.

I DO recommend that you wait to install it until the first egg is laid, and remove it as soon as babies fledge, for a couple of reasons:

You don't want HOSP to become accustomed to it.

You don't want to scare bluebirds away.

Once they have laid an egg, bluebirds WILL NOT (in my experience - have not heard yet from others who experienced abandonment) abandon a box that has a sparrow spooker installed. But nervous landlords get reassurance that it has been accepted because you'll see whether or not there is a new egg the next day. That's why it's useful to put it up DURING egg laying - because the eggs are protected while the are not being incubated, AND it gives the bluebirds extra time to adjust AND you get confirmation of acceptance when a new egg is laid.

The problem is what to do BEFORE an egg is laid to protect adult bluebirds.
I find fishing line helps reduce HOSP interest in a box. Info here:
http://www.sialis.org/hosp.htm#monofilament

My two cents.

Bet from CT

From: DSturm [mailto:daaranch"at"netex.quik.com]
Sent: Thursday, March 22, 2007 2:44 PM
Subject: Re: Sparrow Spookers

Bet (and all who have replied to my post)

Thanks for the information on the need for sparrow spookers, where they can be ordered and where plans are available. I had searched the internet and found the plans. Bet, thanks for all the information you have make available on your site.

I have one of Uncle Blaine's sparrow traps but was not aware that he was making sparrow spookers. Being somewhat handy with woodworking tools and having them available, I am making my own spookers using fiberglass dowel rods attached to wooden circles. The fiberglass rods are available from Tractor Supply. They are normally used for electric fencing posts. I originally found the rods when searching for something other than wooden dowels to use for purple martin perches. The wooden circles are what is drilled out of a piece of wood when using a hole saw like that used to drill out a door for a door handle. I use two of the circular pieces of wood and two short dowels attaching them to a wooden post made from a short piece of 1x2. By using two dowel/wooden circle combinations and attaching them to the post with a long metal screw, I can adjust the angle of the rods to fit any size nestbox. I figure the cost of the material for one of these spookers is perhaps 50 cents. I can't see spending $20 plus shipping for Uncle Blaine's spookers. That is several times what a nestbox is costing to make.

The only problem that I am having is finding mylar tape. Attaching any tape to the dowel rods is a snap if the plastic (or pvc) clips are used. Since I cannot find mylar tape, I am going to use regular flagging tape which should last for a while.

Does anyone know if the tape Uncle Blaine supplies with his spookers is mylar? Does anyone know where mylar tape is available other than perhaps from Uncle Blaine?

If I have put something in this post that is a "no-no", please let me know what it is and I will refrain from that in the future.

From: Cher [mailto:bluelist"at"localnet.com]
Sent: Friday, March 23, 2007 10:01 AM
Subject: Re: Sparrow Spookers

There will always be those who are do-it-yourselfers, who are handy and inventive and want to make things themselves to save money. And there will always be those who, faced with the prospect of trying to figure out how to make something themselves will get bogged down and just not bother.

I don't see anything wrong with posting how to make your own spooker - I've been doing it for years, and I still DO tell people they can make their own.

However, as one of the Bluebirders who *asked* - begged, really - Uncle Blaine to come up with a commercial design for a sparrow spooker, and who knows how hard he worked to adapt his design to our specifications while keeping the cost VERY reasonable for everything included in his ingenious, adjustable, sturdy, version, I feel he deserves a pat on the back. There have been a number of posts recently that have taken on a slightly sneering tone about the commercial nature of this product. I don't think that's necessary. If anyone doesn't want to purchase a ready-made spooker, they don't have to. There are many places to find out how to make one.

And you CAN order just the rolls of mylar from Blaine's site - for a VERY reasonable cost. He's never going to get rich from making Sparrow Spookers, people. He's just trying to do something he loves, and put bread on the table for his family at the same time. Some people might feel that's an admirable thing.

Cher ~ Finger Lakes region, NY State

From: Bet Zimmerman [mailto:ezdz"at"charter.net]
Sent: Friday, March 23, 2007 4:53 PM
Subject: RE: Sparrow Spookers

Good for you! Blaine does sell the tape, and it is mylar. You can also use Happy Birthday Signs (cut them into strips) that are available at Dept.
stores(near the card section) or party shops. They are nice because they don't roll up. I DO recommend using weather proof mylar, since it flutters and lasts. Aluminum foil does not work well.

Bet

PS Flagging tape is NOT as effective as mylar! The shiny-ness seems to make a big difference. Also you want something that flutters freely, and doesn't curl up.

Unfortunately I am NOT handy. I really wish I could make my own boxes and supplies. My homemade Sparrow Spookers are pretty hideous :-) But I was proud of the emergency one I made out of a potato chip bag (at Cher's suggestion), duct tape, a branch, and coffee stirrers. It actually lasted through fledging.

I never could have come up with a design like Blaines - the connector itself for the horizontal rods probably cost more than 50 cents. Personally, I like the clean look and durability, and the easy on/easy off feature. We were connecting ours with black rubber hoses and hose clamps - not pretty.

If Sparrow Spookers are properly constructed and installed, whether they are homemade or purchased, they DO WORK like a charm.

From: DSturm [mailto:daaranch"at"netex.quik.com]
Sent: Friday, March 23, 2007 8:52 PM
Subject: Re: Sparrow Spookers

Bet,

You are absolutely correct about flagging tape not being as effective as mylar. Mylar will reflect sunlight and the flagging tape will not. Also, mylar, being somewhat stiffer, will crackle in the wind at times. I am not saying this from experience but from knowledge gained by internet searches.

I ordered 3 rolls of the tape from Uncle Blaine then found it on the net for a better price. Uncle Blaine's tape is the way to go if you don't want or need more than 25 feet. However, overdoing things as I normally do, I now have enough on order to make at least a couple hundred spookers. The tape is called "bird tape" (or ribbon) and is available from nursery supply companies. It is available in several colors and color combinations. I will use some of it in my garden to keep the birds away. Testimonials say that it is the stuff to use and works.

dsturm from NE Texas

From: Anne-Marie Palermino [mailto:ampalermino"at"msn.com]
Sent: Wednesday, April 18, 2007 6:05 AM
Subject: Re: Sparrow Spookers

... I just ordered sparrow spookers and was wondering if it is better to install them after the EABL or other desirable birds have chosen the nest or can I install them upfront?. I ordered several mounts so that I transport the spooker from one box to the next.
For years, I did not have to worry too much about HOSPS. I did a little bit
of active trapping and it sufficed to solve the problem. This is the first
year the HOSPs try to nest at the same time as the EABLs, may be due to the
warm winter and weird spring we had. It is a real headache. Thanks for
all your tips.

From: Cher [mailto:bluelist"at"localnet.com]
Sent: Wednesday, April 18, 2007 8:34 AM
Subject: Re: Sparrow Spookers

Ann-Marie,

If you've purchased the commercial version of the Spooker from www.sparrowtraps.net, it comes with two mounting brackets. This is handy if you have two boxes, and don't know which one the Bluebirds are going to choose to nest in, because you can install one bracket on the back of each box, and be ready to install the body of the spooker as soon as the first egg is laid. It should *not* be done before that for two reasons -

1) Before the Bluebirds are committed to a nesting site, the addition of a spooker could scare them away and cause them to nest elsewhere. Once they are committed, however, with an egg in the nest, they will overcome any initial fear of the spooker. It usually only takes a few minutes for this to happen.

2) It is feared that overuse of the spooker will cause the HOSP to become acclimated to it, thereby reducing its effectiveness.

Cher ~ Finger Lakes region, NY State

From: denisefarmer"at"comcast.net [mailto:denisefarmer"at"comcast.net]
Sent: Wednesday, April 18, 2007 11:13 PM
Subject: RE: Sparrow Spookers

I would put the mounting brackets on and test it, then remove just the spooker. The sppooker is supposed to go up after the first egg

Denise Farmer
Parkville, MD

I have to be at an important interview for a local travel magazine today to promote my new business today and leaving these HOSP I can’t seem to get rid of scares me.  I’ve worked the past two days on my porch with the shotgun next to me, which keeps them at bay while I’m out there.  I spent a lot of time studying sparrow spookers last night on Sialis.  I actually found some mylar gift wrap in a closet, decided to take two hangers and shape them into triangles as the “frame” to hang the mylar over the TRES and EABL boxes (4 eggs in that one now) as a quick homemade deterrent until I can trap or shoot the HOSP.  I’m thinking maybe attaching them to paint stirrers or something as a lightweight post to hold the triangle.  Will come up with something before I leave today.  Wish me and my birds luck.  

Autumn in Kentucky

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