Just curious, does anyone know why the house sparrows have such loud pop?

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qball

qball

Member
Apr 13, 2020
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CA, United States
Hey gang 



Asking just out of curiosity: why do the sparrows have such a loud pop when shot? 


The reason I ask is no matter what i shoot them with they always have that loud pop! I mean loud! I’ve shot them with 25 @600fps, POP! 22 at only 600 FPS, POP! Then I switched to 177 at 800fps and POP! Shot them the other day with my PP700 @600 FPS with 7.4 grain pointed pellet from 15 yards and still POP!

Besides hitting them in the head which is barely larger than a peanut any center mass shot even at 6FPS produces a loud POP! Did I burst their lungs? Entire body cavity? I just thought I was shooting too hot but 6 FPE still POP them. 


anyone knows why they POP so loud? 
 
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The sound signature makes me think it’s the lungs popping. They’re hardy birds for their size so maybe their “husk” compresses instantaneously as the pellet arrives, compressing the air in the lungs. Then when the tissue is perforated by the pellet on its way through, the decompression is heard as a pop.

Their internals are always such a mess that I lost interest in trying to verify by way of an autopsy.


 
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Maybe because their bodies are small enough that the pellet is causing an over-pressure situation in a "contained vessel", so to speak, resulting in a "pop" sound. This happens when high-velocity PB rounds enter the human head (the over-pressure...don't know about the sound).

Or maybe it's just a sound unique to smacking small, feathered critters with a pellet. A "pop" instead of a hollow sounding "wop" that one gets when sniping a squirrel or rat.

Justin


 
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Maybe because their bodies are small enough that the pellet is causing an over-pressure situation in a "contained vessel", so to speak, resulting in a "pop" sound. This happens when high-velocity PB rounds enter the human head (the over-pressure...don't know about the sound).

Or maybe it's just a sound unique to smacking small, feathered critters with a pellet. A "pop" instead of a hollow sounding "wop" that one gets when sniping a squirrel or rat.

Justin

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ok, not gonna ask how you know the human head part.....
 
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I have shot chipmunks in the head with my whisper quiet .22 Veteran shorty and they make a loud pop and some times their eyes are bulging out or popped out of their head from the energy released from pellet. Thump is crazy loud. It shocked me how loud the pop was the first time I shot one with a PCP.

I think the pop is because the air rifle is quiet and the energy is released into a small animal displacing blood air and flesh Instantaneously. Kind of like shooting a bottle of water or dropping a book perfectly flat to the floor. You get a nice “POP”.

I am no scientist but I have always loved physics and science / engineering MM
 
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Can someone,anyone tell me why shoot sparrows. I have hunted a large lot of things in my short life but never saw the need to kill a sparrow.

Is it just got to kill something. Is it like shooting a glass object to see if the bullet will break it? 

Just confused. I feed the birds and so much enjoy seeing them. I never once thought about killing one just because have a gun.

Thank You

God bless

Bobby
 
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Here's a theory...

A bird or squirrel or whatever..contains a LOT of water. Water is difficult to compress. When the pellet strikes, it tries to compress the water in the target vitals but really can't..not enough pressure. So, instead of compressing the water it pushes it out of the way...in a rather violent manner. Wound cavity. So physics says for each action there is an equal opposite reaction. The wound channel expands rapidly, then collapses just as fast. Creating a wet sounding POP or WOP or.."wet tissue clap". The elastic nature of animal skin allows the wound channel to stretch and inflate like a balloon and snap back instead of just bursting like say an orange or other fruit.

Someone queue the music...Styx - Too Much Time On My Hands.
 
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Dear qball,

Most shooters don't realize birds are full of methane, resultant from their vegetarian diet. This is one reason one shouldn't use "exploding pellets" with match stick tips, etc,,,the results can be tragic. Observe (caution, this is really graphic and not for weak stomachs!)

It was 1989, matchstick tipped .22 pellet @ 700 fps...



I warned you...

Kindly 'Ol Uncle Hoot
 
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Can someone,anyone tell me why shoot sparrows. I have hunted a large lot of things in my short life but never saw the need to kill a sparrow.

Is it just got to kill something. Is it like shooting a glass object to see if the bullet will break it? 

Just confused. I feed the birds and so much enjoy seeing them. I never once thought about killing one just because have a gun.

Thank You

God bless

Bobby
Click to expand...


The sparrow is a pretty destructive little creature that is why they are labeled a nuisance. They build their nests in every nook and cranny available and on farms that includes inside and atop machinery, gutters water ducts and buildings. They fly through fans installed to keep farm animals cool, destroying them and thus cause serious problems in that way also. Their droppings not only end up in the the animals feed but on the farm animals themselves.

I have seen pigeon droppings completely destroy the overhead electrical lines powering the transit trains in my area costing tens of thousands of dollars to repair. They are a big problem everywhere also.

Just remember one persons pet is dinner or a serious pest down the road, in another part of the country or world.
 
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Can someone,anyone tell me why shoot sparrows. I have hunted a large lot of things in my short life but never saw the need to kill a sparrow.

Is it just got to kill something. Is it like shooting a glass object to see if the bullet will break it? 

Just confused. I feed the birds and so much enjoy seeing them. I never once thought about killing one just because have a gun.

Thank You

God bless

Bobby
Click to expand...




hey Bobby



great question! I and all serious hunters and responsible airgun or real gun owner will never condone killing for the sake of killing. The house sparrow that we are talking about is invasive and not only incredibly destructive to properties and crops they also kill local song birds and take over the entire area. They are adaptive and just about all urban areas where shooting them isn’t allowed there aren’t any other birds left. They come in gangs like the Vikings of bird world and just kill and take over. A quick google search will get you more than enough to read about. Most people don’t know they are invasive and feed them then wondering why the other song birds are all gone in a year. 


in short I’m defending my bird feeders, my fruit trees and all the local song birds that visit my feeder. My kids love watching all the different native song birds and we have at least a dozen different species! I even have a big flock of local wild doves visit every day.......even though they are tasty and in season right now. 


edit: they decimated my fig crop on my one and only fig tree this past summer! I was livid, even the wife was mad as hell!😓😣
 
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I am a huge purple martin landlord i have 60 house and have on the average 350 fledglings there main predators are starlings and house sparrows i have seen a house sparrow fly into the martin nest and drag week old babys out of the nest are go in and peck a hole in each of the eggs thats how i got into pcp the first summer i killed 350 sparrows now i just shoot my spinning targets for fun because i have put a dent in the population i do say dent i still kill 100 or so every year


 
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I am a huge purple martin landlord i have 60 house and have on the average 350 fledglings there main predators are starlings and house sparrows i have seen a house sparrow fly into the martin nest and drag week old babys out of the nest are go in and peck a hole in each of the eggs thats how i got into pcp the first summer i killed 350 sparrows now i just shoot my spinning targets for fun because i have put a dent in the population i do say dent i still kill 100 or so every year

Click to expand...


house sparrows and starlings are the spawns of the devil himself! 
 
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