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

Jump to latest Follow Reply
Hmmm, I never even considered pesting Sparrows, but since I have been fairly successful in my pesting of chippers, tree rats and rats I don't often have targets.

Now all I need to do is make sure that I can identify the "House Sparrow" well enough so I don't pest any other "innocent" species.

A pester without legitimate pests for targets targets is torn. I only shoot paper to zero and check zero.
 
Upvote 0
The experts have spoken
1f605.svg
:

sparrow = POP!

squirrel = WOP!
Click to expand...

Finally somebody acknowledges my expertise in the field of popwopology...

Thank you, kind sir.

Justin
 
Upvote 0
Hmmm, I never even considered pesting Sparrows, but since I have been fairly successful in my pesting of chippers, tree rats and rats I don't often have targets.

Now all I need to do is make sure that I can identify the "House Sparrow" well enough so I don't pest any other "innocent" species.

A pester without legitimate pests for targets targets is torn. I only shoot paper to zero and check zero.
Click to expand...




You absolutely should!!! They are terrible little birds! However once you shoot a few the rest would learn and become wary and difficult to shoot so it’s actually a great challenge especially if you want headshots at over 20 yards. 
 
Upvote 0
My thoughts are it's the result of a high projectile weight to bird weight ratio. My 24g HP slugs make a loud POP sound on sparrows but just a WHOP on pigeons. A typical sparrow weights about 460g so that's a 19:1 ratio. A pigeon weighs about what, a pound, so that's a 292:1 ratio.

Plus what others have mentioned about the lung cavity getting compressed then quickly ventilated.
 
Upvote 0
From Cornell:

In head-to-head competition, house sparrows readily out-compete native species for nesting sites by evicting other nesting birds, destroying their eggs, killing nestlings and sometimes even killing the incubating female. Adding to the competition is the fact that once a male house sparrow establishes a territory, he remains there year-round and starts defending that territory early in the season, often preventing later-arriving species, such as bluebirds and swallows, from nesting.

From wiki:

The house sparrow is host to a huge number of parasites and diseases, and the effect of most is unknown. Ornithologist Ted R. Anderson listed thousands, noting that his list was incomplete.[176] The commonly recorded bacterial pathogens of the house sparrow are often those common in humans, and include Salmonella and Escherichia coli
 
Upvote 0
Hmmm, I never even considered pesting Sparrows, but since I have been fairly successful in my pesting of chippers, tree rats and rats I don't often have targets.

Now all I need to do is make sure that I can identify the "House Sparrow" well enough so I don't pest any other "innocent" species.

A pester without legitimate pests for targets targets is torn. I only shoot paper to zero and check zero.
Click to expand...

Male hosps are distinguished by the dark bib on their chest. For females, I keep a picture of one with my gun for a positive I.D. before squeezing the trigger.
 
Upvote 0
Starlings

Loud, aggressive, screeching, ugly, nasty, birds that will raid your bird feeders, use the smallest opening to gain access to roost in your house, & strip a farmer's field of grain in no time at all

They flock in large enough groups to clog the jet engines of aircraft; which is why airports use air cannons to chase them

Start shooting them & you will also learn that they're smart, send out lookouts in advance of group arrival & learn your shooting location quickly.

Some say they also know their predator's DOB, 10xSS numbers, mother's maiden name & cell phone passcode

Photos here

https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/European_Starling/id

Lovely creatures, they are!
 
Upvote 0
Sparrows are my number one pest, I use chicken scratch as the bait, (50lb bag 10 bucks) I have four bait stations around the yard and the furthest is 48 yards, I been shooting them 20 years at this location , They are smart and learn the direction of the pellet, You have to change it up a little and use comflodge , I do pick up the dead one as the others get very nervous with the shot ones laying around, The sparrow is the true winged rat it can get into anywhere there is food , If you like your pretty little song birds you better kill all the sparrows in your scope cross lines......

I just always thought the feathers were dense and tight on the sparrow is what made the POP,,, I have defeathered a few sparrows to feed to my turtles in times when the Euro doves were thin, The sparrow has a lot of dense feathers for such a small bird..

So in all my rambling I am going to say its the feathers on the sparrow that make the POP,,,,,

I think you can take that to the bank.

Mike
 
Upvote 0
Sparrows are my number one pest, I use chicken scratch as the bait, (50lb bag 10 bucks) I have four bait stations around the yard and the furthest is 48 yards, I been shooting them 20 years at this location , They are smart and learn the direction of the pellet, You have to change it up a little and use comflodge , I do pick up the dead one as the others get very nervous with the shot ones laying around, The sparrow is the true winged rat it can get into anywhere there is food , If you like your pretty little song birds you better kill all the sparrows in your scope cross lines......

I just always thought the feathers were dense and tight on the sparrow is what made the POP,,, I have defeathered a few sparrows to feed to my turtles in times when the Euro doves were thin, The sparrow has a lot of dense feathers for such a small bird..

So in all my rambling I am going to say its the feathers on the sparrow that make the POP,,,,,

I think you can take that to the bank.

Mike
Click to expand...


I like the chicken scratch idea! Bird feed especially no waste bird feed is heck expensive! I have a gang of doves that come every morning and think they will also like the chicken scratch. Just maybe some feral pigeons and euro doves will also show up..... 
 
Upvote 0
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom
Back
Home
Forums
Resources
Menu