"Decoy" House Catches Pest Birds

"Decoy" House Catches Pest Birds BUILDINGS Houses 31-3-21 George Reisner had a problem with starlings taking over his purple martin bird houses. To solve the problem he built a "decoy" bird house that traps pest birds in a big plastic downspout. "It lets me quickly dispose of any undesirable birds and release the good ones," says the Jewett, Ill. man. The fake wooden bird house is located about 200 ft. from his martin houses, and is mounted on a pole about 10 ft. above the ground. There's only one hole leading into the bird house, and it has a small aluminum "teeter totter" mounted just inside it. A length of 8-in. dia. pvc pipe attaches to a hole at the bottom of the house. When the bird lands on the teeter totter, it drops to the bottom of the bird house and into the pipe, sliding down to a wire mesh cage at the bottom of the pipe. It has a hinged door on it for removal of birds. "It's mounted close to our house so I can watch the birds come in," says Reisner. "The only problem is that some birds started carrying in nesting materials and wedging them against the teeter totter, which kept it from working. "I painted some imitation holes next to the real hole to help attract birds but that was a mistake, because when birds fly up to them and can't get in they go somewhere else." Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, George Reisner, 7409 E. 2050 Ave., Jewett, Ill. 62436 (ph 217 683-2318).

To read the rest of this story, download this issue below or click here to register with your account number.