Simple PVC/House-Front Trap

by Pat Hunter

My husband, Larry, and I want no credit for this trap. We just want people to get the information, play with the basic idea and see if it isn’t a very easy and inexpensive trap to make. I am sure it can be improved upon, but we feel it can be made with material on hand for very little money. We received real food feedback from a number of veteran birders, both Purple Martin and Bluebirds, at the Jackson Bluebird Festival in Jackson, MI. We are going to field test it with a pipe about bluebird nesting height and see if we can take it on the trail. It is light weight and can be attached to a drive post, or pole, anywhere. It would probably even be self standing on days with no wind (a five foot high version). It is so simple and so inexpensive to make anyone can afford to have one. In addition, it is very easy to move from place to place.
We do think that a few of the things we did need to be followed, but most allow a lot of room for change.

1. As with any trap it must be monitored. (We did catch one other bird besides the 12 starlings and that was (Mr. Bluebird). Another bird has destroyed his nest (we suspect (Mr. Starling) in his box by the garden and he was out house shopping. The bluebird was immediately released and flew to a PVC box nearby and landed on the front of it. The bluebird looked back at us as if to say. "What was that all about?"

2. Spray painting inside of the elbow and also inside of the pipe for 10 inches or so is probably the key reason this odd looking trap works. There is no glare or way of determining what is inside of this neat new box Mr. Or Mrs. Starling have just found. Lucky them and lucky us!!!!!!!!

3. There needs to be a way of releasing any good bird without stressing it. That is the reason one side of he box is hinged and opens all the way.

4. There needs to be a small grab hole in which the landlord can get the starling without it escaping. Larry and I empty the catch box as a team. I put my hands over the hole on top as Larry reaches into make a retrieve. Bluebirder Allen Bower, sug gested when we had it at Michigan Bluebird Festival that we tack a piece of inner tube over the small hole, and after it is secured , cut a slit from which to reach into the box.
5. The top hole, used to remove the starling, must not be allowed to move by being banged against by the starling. We lost birds this way! I knew they were jumping up and hitting the lid that we slide open to remove them, but we didn't realize it wasnt pinned or secured. The wind dried the wood and eventually they got their freedom (it still upsets me), but it was a lesson we needed to learn, and hopefully, oth ers wont have to experience.

6. We don't know how important the size of the entry hole is but Larry used a 2 1/8 inch hole. A 2 inch hole might work just as well. Maybe even better. Time will tell.
In talking to PMS\NA member Chris Slabaugh, in Jackson, MI, he related that Andy Troyer had tried a similar idea, but that he had used black pipe instead of white. Heat built up and caused a chimney effect. The hot air actually rushed up and out of the hole. It may be that something similar will happen in the hot day in summer. At this time we do not know. It is my understanding also that a 6" pipe was used, but am not one hundred percent sure of this. We used a 10' length of 4" thin-walled sewer pipe ($4.00) and a thin wall sewer elbow ($1.30). The rest of the materials Larry had on hand. This trap was very inexpensive to make.

The catch box can be what ever a person wants it to be: bigger, smaller, heavier, or lighter. Larry is trying to think of something that would simplify the catchbox, but so far, he has not came up with anything. He has considered milk crates and the storage cubes that teens use in their rooms to organize books, etc. There has to be something! The main thing, we feel is that it has to be something in which air can circulate throughout to keep any bird cool and from cooking. Our catchbox is a little top heavy and needs to be secured, so we use it either attached to the martin pole (wired) or we wired it to the out side of the Troyer V-Trap that is close by. It might stand alone on a calm day, but it will not if there is much wind. Some may want to put a house around the elbow, but this will add more weight. One could probably drive a T-post and secure it to that and still move it quite easily, if the landlord desired.

The starlings do perch on top of the wood front and also hang on it for extended periods of time before taking the plunge down the pipe. At this time, I have only been able to witness one starling going down the chute. Most get in the trap in the early morning hours before 7am. The day we caught four starlings, it was miserable day-windy and cold. The last starling went in around 1 am. We had the trap facing into the wind and laughed as we watched them and really feel the wind may have helped them make the decision. This is just another reason it is nice to have it light and portable. You can use the wind to your advantage as well as moving it to other locations at you whim.

The end results of successful trapping!!!