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I’ve read about this method but haven’t tried it myself. I bought a pre-made spooker from Uncle Blaine and it is doing the job so far, knock wood.
So sorry you are experiencing this awful situation. I have no useful suggestions but my heart goes out to you.
That is just heartbreaking. :( So sorry. I hope your BB pair is nesting again soon and good luck in ensuring the HOSP won’t have a chance to repeat this in future.
I am following your thread with interest! It’s great to think of all those potential new BBs and TRES in the offing, with your help. :)
Thank you, Chris!!! I had a second box up with a Van Ert trap in it (closer to the house, which I thought would attract the HOSP and deter the BBs) but I never saw or heard the HOSP again after I took down my feeders. I am a bit baffled because I’d love to think that they’ve moved on, and yet I don’t have confidence that is actually the case. I took that second box down eventually.
ANOTHER UPDATE: I unfurled the first pair of ribbons on the spooker this afternoon, and mama BB entered the box after about 20 minutes of anxious chittering from a nearby tree. There are still 4 eggs in the box, i.e. incubation started yesterday. Fingers crossed.
I can’t emphasize how much I appreciate the support and advice of this community to newbies like me! Thank you all.
UPDATE: I just went out to check box and place spooker, and flushed a BB out! I checked and there are 4 eggs. Was mama BB just roosting for the evening or does this mean incubation has started?
Good news: I placed spooker, ran back to house, and watched, and a BB flew back into the box after only 5 minutes or so. So, I definitely was panicking and not giving it enough time. Blame it on me being new to this darned HOSP stuff…
New question: I will now have to unfurl ribbons day by day. If mama BB is incubating, is there a danger that I will flush her out of the box too often and cause her to abandon the nest?
Thank you both! This is my first time using a spooker. I am putting it on after the new egg is laid in the early morning (8am or so) so they have 24 hrs of exposure before the next laying. I may be removing it too soon but I worry that it will cause them to abandon the nest (though this doesn’t sound very common?)…how long should I give them? I haven’t had time to check the nest this afternoon except I did see a BB exiting it this afternoon…yesterday was egg 3, so today should be number 4 and tomorrow number 5 (assuming clutch reaches that size). Keep in mind, this is with ALL the streamers rolled up, so I would then have to gradually release the streamers. So stressful! I just want to do the right thing.
I saw a HOSP pair this spring in my yard for the first time in the six years I’ve been here. It is very much not their usual habitat: rural property, next to the woods on the outskirts of town, no farms nearby. We had an unusually warm winter here and I wonder if their population/habitat temporarily (I hope) expanded as a result.
I’ve had the DRST baited (millet, feathers) and out for weeks since I first saw them (and took down my feeder which had high quality seed), moved it to various places in the yard, but have not trapped a single bird or even seen or heard them around for weeks.
I am hoping, like you, that they have just moved on (especially since the BBs so far won’t accept the spooker, see my other post). An ornithologist writing in the NY Times recently said that in his yard, when they show up he temporarily removes his feeders and they are soon gone due to lack of an easy food supply.
Thanks for your insight; I agree it seemed too good to be true! I’m glad it’s working for him, at least. :)
Chris, thank you so much for your kind words, and advice. They are deeply appreciated.
The Van Ert trap arrived today and I set it up in the Gilwood box that’d been up in the yard. I am actively monitoring it. I moved this closer to the house to act as a decoy box, and have a Gilbertson box I can use in the old spot. I took down my feeder as well. The HOSP were by looking for the feeder but thus far have not returned to the box. I have also ordered a sparrow spooker for later use (hopefully).
Today, another pair of BBs was investigating the post and roof of the Gilbertson box (I haven’t attached the box because I don’t want them to get attacked too). They came to investigate the Gilwood box but I shooed them away.
I have my sights set on that male HOSP and I won’t relent until he is gone. I saw him fly clear across the yard to harass the new male BB who was perched in a tree. I also found a dead female cardinal this morning…who knows if he was responsible, but I feel the HOSP have brought death and destruction to my formerly peaceful backyard!
Thank you, Carol!! It all happened so fast. I literally just saw the HOSP yesterday for the first time and wasn’t even sure that’s what they were, it was just a glimpse. I’ve lived here six years and never seen one here before, but I was just reading your and others’ threads about how abundant they are this year. :( I will certainly learn from this and be on my guard now. And after what I saw today, I don’t know if the “hard rap” approach would faze me, I was and am so angry. I know that HOSP are just doing what they have evolved to do…but they aren’t going to again in my yard if I can help it.
