The Bluebirds are here, and the Swallows about to arrive. Time to eradicate the small flock of House Sparrows that built up over the winter. Usually I turn to a PCP for such purposes, but I have the springers shooting well enough that I thought I would give them a try. For hunting I prefer break barrels because I can load a pellet and leave them uncocked until a sparrow shows up. My two choices are an FWB Sport or a tuned R9 carbine. I might just go for the FWB because it is easier to close quietly after cocking. Anyway here are the rifles and the groups. Not much difference between them at 25 yards, and both should get the job done.
Springers for sparrows
- Thread starter Michigander
- Start date
Very nice groups. Easily minute of sparrow. Hope you have some nice weather and a whole lot of fun with those springers. Amazing how so many pcp guys get bored with the accuracy and go back to springers just to have some fun.
Great way to enjoy the Spring.
Great way to enjoy the Spring.
Upvote 0
I have a couple of upper-middle-class PCP’s, but I really get a kick out of plinking and pesting with springers.
Upvote 0
Nice guns...! If noise is an issue, R7 power is more than adequate for small birds. The ultimate in quiet barrel closure is something with a manual breech lock - HW 35, Walther LGV, Anschutz 335, Webley Eclipse, Haenel 3, etc.
Begging forgiveness in advance for my preachiness: the bird lover in me asks that you double-check your targets are House (English) sparrows! The little vandals do love to steal nests, but my eyes aren't good enough to distinguish them from the many native sparrow species.
Begging forgiveness in advance for my preachiness: the bird lover in me asks that you double-check your targets are House (English) sparrows! The little vandals do love to steal nests, but my eyes aren't good enough to distinguish them from the many native sparrow species.
Upvote 0
I agree. I am a bird watcher and House sparrows can be difficult to distinguish between other sparrows unless you have a good scope with 7X or more at the distances mentioned. Especially female house sparrows. Them and Starlings are nuisance birds and should be thinned out in my opinion. In PA there is no limits on either one, but you still need a small game license. Blue birds, Purple Martins and a few other song birds are bothered by both species. Neither are native to North America.
Upvote 0
Yes, English/House sparrows can be hard to distinguish from field sparrows.
Let’s Get This House Sparrow Thing Out In The Open (daggerpress.com)
Let’s Get This House Sparrow Thing Out In The Open (daggerpress.com)
Upvote 0
Good point, Mike. As the above link states, the male House Sparrow is not likely to be confused with other birds if you get a good view of the front. The gray cap and black bib are very distinctive. If you are not entirely confident in your bird identification abilities, only shoot male House Sparrows, and only after you have gotten a good view of the breast and head.
They are almost impossible to get rid of by any means other than shooting, I have tried simply clearing out the nests, but they will have a new one built in a day. They will kill Tree Swallow adults, kill nestlings of both Bluebirds and Swallows, and build their nests right on top of other nests containing eggs.
The male looks like this (courtesy Cornell Lab of Ornithology):
They are almost impossible to get rid of by any means other than shooting, I have tried simply clearing out the nests, but they will have a new one built in a day. They will kill Tree Swallow adults, kill nestlings of both Bluebirds and Swallows, and build their nests right on top of other nests containing eggs.
The male looks like this (courtesy Cornell Lab of Ornithology):
Upvote 0
Thanks, very interesting and great advice! (I'm a Cornell fan too BTW, be sure to download their phone app, tons of fun.)
Just to be clear, I have no issue with clearing house sparrows! My brother-in-law is a Ph.D wildlife biologist, and also uses an air rifle - a D34 that I bought and rebuilt for him - to deal with them around his farm's bluebird and martin nests.
They are not too closely related to native sparrows by the way, but taxonomicallly a type of European weaver finch.
Just to be clear, I have no issue with clearing house sparrows! My brother-in-law is a Ph.D wildlife biologist, and also uses an air rifle - a D34 that I bought and rebuilt for him - to deal with them around his farm's bluebird and martin nests.
They are not too closely related to native sparrows by the way, but taxonomicallly a type of European weaver finch.
Upvote 0
I have Tree sparrows, chirping sparrows, harris sparrows, white striped sparrows, but darn few house sparrows. They [house sparrow] have developed a lead allergy around my bird feeders, they were many but now are few. My Kozak longs for their return, of the grey capped house sparrows. the cats say they are delious. but the starlings taste like crap according to the cats. the kozak handles the front feeders while the HW 50, 22 cal has the back feeder duty. the HW50 has a pellet in the breech, just cracked off the latch, all I have to do is cock and aim,, blapppp
I always make sure of my Quarry before converting it to cat food
I always make sure of my Quarry before converting it to cat food
Upvote 0
If you cant decide on which rifle, take a vote from the Sparrows...lol.. I am sure they wont care!!
Upvote 0
English House Sparrows and Starlings do not have long life expectancies around here. They are both known to compete with our native birds for nesting sights and will actually kill some. We have been hosting Purple Martins for over 30 years and every year it's a battle to keep these two invasive birds out of the Martin houses. My favorite way of controlling them was with an FWB-300 mini. Unfortunately arthritis is taking it's toll on my body and the mini is no longer easy to handle.
Upvote 0
Bird Feeders @ 35 yds. Fwb 300s mini ideal for job on sparrows.
Oh....yes...I have a similiar setup with my RWS 75TO1, head shots with ease, we also have a lot of cowbirds and starlings, makescthe job so much easier !!
Upvote 0
I have a pair of Beeman R7's in .177 and .20 that work very nicely. Also helps that I have a very nice second floor window I can shoot from that's about 20 yards from the feeders my father has in his back yard.
The .177.....
The .20...older Huntington Beach era
The .177.....
The .20...older Huntington Beach era
Upvote 0
I live in a condominium with lots of neighbors. Not practical to do any pesting. The house sparrows love to nest in my awning and make tons of noise. I found this tape and the sparrows hate it. I put two strips up about once a month (it wears out) and it drives them away. Not as satisfying as a pellet diet but better than sparrow crap on my deck.
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Bird-X-Irri-Tape-Bird-Repellent-Ribbon-TAPE-100/202347262
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Bird-X-Irri-Tape-Bird-Repellent-Ribbon-TAPE-100/202347262
Upvote 0