How to Euthanize House Sparrows After Trapping

So you’ve trapped a house sparrow. Now what do you do with it?

For US conservation purposes, you should euthanize house sparrows to prevent it from harming native wildlife. House sparrows should never be relocated. Humane methods of dispatch include cervical dislocation, using a pellet gun, CO2 and the blow method.

Before you exit, we know this is not the news you want to hear. But we ask you to continue to read and learn. You don’t have to take action right away.

Eventually, however, you might find the strength or motivation, especially after discovering a dead chickadee or bluebird from a house sparrow attack. And in this case, you’ll have the information and knowledge you need to get started.

In this article, we’re going to talk about each method of euthanizing house sparrows. All of these methods are humane – the very word euthanasia (good death) implies this.

We will also discuss methods we recommend for beginners, things to be aware of, and methods that are not humane. Furthermore, we will talk about what to do with house sparrows after they are euthanized.

Pellet Gun to Euthanize House Sparrows

Using a pellet gun is a humane way to euthanize house sparrows. However, falconers and raptor centers may not take house sparrows dispatched with this method unless lead-free pellets are used.

Using a pellet gun is a great option when starting out with house sparrow elimination because there is minimal handling of the bird, it’s quick, and you can potentially eliminate several in a short period.

Another upside with a pellet gun is that there’s no trapping stage involved.

But there are some drawbacks to using a pellet gun:

• You need to have good aim even with a scope or you will only temporarily scare off the house sparrows.
• You absolutely must positively identify that the bird you’re aiming for is a house sparrow or European starling.
• Finding the right pellet gun can be difficult. We recommend a semi-automatic pellet gun
• It may not be feasible in residential areas. You will need to check with your city.
• Dispatched house sparrows cannot be given to falconers or raptor centers if lead pellets are used.
• House sparrows are very smart and learn to recognize your face.
• You have to be extremely patient and very still for long periods of time.

Despite these cons, it truly does not hurt to have a pellet gun handy. There are times when a house sparrow just isn’t tempted by the bait in the trap, but it poses a threat to your tree swallows, bluebirds, chickadees and other cavity birds. Having a pellet gun in this situation is a nice back-up tool.

Another time a pellet gun can be extremely useful (when it’s not your first go-to), is if you have native cavity birds nesting high up in a tree. Once a pair of house sparrows discover it, they become relentless, and it is impossible to set a nest trap in a tree. In this case, the pellet gun can save your nesting birds.

As you get more practice with a pellet gun, a lot of the cons won’t be as much of an issue, and it will be an easy, convenient way to euthanize house sparrows.

Blow Method to Euthanize House Sparrows: Great for Beginners

The blow method, aka bag’n’whack method involves putting a house sparrow in a mesh bag and smacking it against a very hard surface such as a cement ground. We recommend this house sparrow euthanasia method to beginners since one barely has to see or handle the bird. There is no mess or gore involved.

Blow Method Benefits

• Instant! The house sparrow is euthanized in a split second.
• For beginners, euthanizing a house sparrow can be emotionally difficult. The blow method allows you to be very distant from the bird during the euthanizing process. You barely have to see or touch the bird, even during the disposal process.
• It is clean! There is no guts, gore and very little to no blood (blood may happen if you do a second blow).
• Falconers and raptor centers are more willing to take the carcass as food for their birds because it is clean.

Caveat about the Blow Method as a way to euthanize house sparrows:

The American Veterinary Medical Association has only approved this method as a humane way of eliminating young pigs. However, because the blow method immediately euthanizes house sparrows, many still consider this an extremely humane method for dispatch.

Blow Method Instructions

To help you better understand how the blow method works, we’re going to break it down here in this section. But we also have a great demonstration video that demonstrates with a sock – no house sparrows are harmed in this video.

Wear Gloves while handling wild birds. Wash your hands thoroughly. It is not a bad idea to wear a mask too since bird flap and flutter and carry many microorganisms.

Supplies:

• Mesh laundry bag*
• Garden gloves dedicated to bird handling
• Plastic grocery bag
• Socks weighing up to about 1 ounce total (for practice). Use 4 quarters as a reference weight

Blow method steps when using a repeating elevator trap or tunnel trap:

NOTE: Only euthanize one house sparrow at a time using this method. Attempting multiples could lead to misfire and unnecessary pain.

1. Put gloves on.
2. Turn your mesh laundry bag inside out, and stick your arm through it – very similar to if you were picking up dog poop with your hand through a plastic bag.
3. Reach into the repeating elevator trap and grab the house sparrow. Make sure the house sparrow is correctly identified. TIP: You might worry about your grip strength and hurting the bird. When thinking about how hard to grab, imagine yourself picking up dog poo with a plastic bag, you want to hold it tight enough to pick it up, but not so tight that it’s disgusting and you squish it.
4. Once you have hold of the house sparrow, remove it from the trap and with the bird still gripped, pull your hand rightside out of the mesh bag so that the house sparrow is inside, and your hand is now free. As you do this, take your other hand and grip around that section of the bag so that the rest of the bag closed off to the house sparrow.
5. Pull the drawstrings so that the bag is pulled shut all while holding the bottom of the bag closed off so that the house sparrow is confined to that section of the bag.
6. Give the gripped section of the mesh bag a twist to keep that bottom section closed off.
7. Wind up your arm and slam the bag with decent force against a solid surface such as a cement ground or wall. We encourage you to watch the video demonstration to understand the motion.
8. You can do a second smack for insurance, but beware. The second smack can lead to some lost feathers and a small amount of blood.
9. Once the house sparrow has been euthanized, put your hand through an inside out grocery bag
10. Open up the mesh bag, and reach in for the house sparrow with your bagged (and gloved) hand.
11. Pull the house sparrow out. You won’t have to even see it.
12. With the house sparrow now in the plastic bag, pull your hand through while the house sparrow is still gripped so that the bag now turns rightside out.
13. Leave the bird in the bag and pull your hand out.
14. Tie the bag shut.
15. For disposal, you can freeze the house sparrow carcass and coordinate with a raptor center or local falconer. Or, according to the USDA, you can dispose of a double-bagged wild bird in your regular trash.
16. Wash your hands thoroughly when you are done.

For practicing you would follow most of the same steps, with the exception of removing the practice object from the trap. You should use a soft object weighing about 1 ounce because it is important to get a feel for how light a house sparrow weighs.

Practicing is a great way to gain confidence and get a feel for the type of force you’ll need to apply.

Blow method steps when using a Van Ert nest box trap:

For these steps, we will only talk about the steps for removing the house sparrow from the nest box into the mesh box. The actual process of the blow method, once the house sparrow is in the mesh bag, is the same as the steps above (5-15)

1. You can either put the mesh bag over the nest box while it is still mounted, or take the whole nest box down and put it inside the mesh bag.
2. Use the drawstrings to seal off the mesh bag.
3. Be sure to properly identify the bird within the bag. When in doubt, release it. Do not mistakenly euthanize a protected, native wild bird
4. Open the nest box and let the house sparrow fly into the mesh section. If you hold the mesh bag up a little, this will entice the house sparrow to fly up and into the bag.
5. Drive the house sparrow into the bottom corner of the bag, then twist off the section of the bag just above the house sparrow.
6. Keep the twisted section gripped as you undo the drawstrings, open the bag and remove the nest box.
7. After the nest box is removed, draw the strings shut again.
8. Follow the steps in the section above for the actual blow method process. We also encourage you to look at the demonstration video.
9. Wash your hands thoroughly.

Using CO2 to Euthanize House Sparrows

Carbon dioxide gas (CO2) is a humane way of euthanizing house sparrows because it is painless and fairly quick. Carbon dioxide functions by both sedating and preventing pain while also ultimately eliminating the house sparrow.

The downside of the CO2 method is that it can still take a few seconds before the house sparrow is eliminated. However, because of how CO2 works, during the time it takes, it is painless and a bit calming.

NOTE: This is not a recommended method to euthanize nestling and hatchling house sparrows.

Wear Gloves while handling wild birds. Wash your hands thoroughly. It is not a bad idea to wear a mask too since bird flap and flutter and carry many microorganisms.

CO2 House Sparrow Euthanasia Instructions

The best way to do this is to create a chamber and eliminate one house sparrow at a time. The supplies needed are:

• Garden gloves dedicated only to bird handling
• Small, airtight container
• CO2 cartridge*
• CO2 bicycle tire valve*
• Silicone tubing roughly 36 inches long x 1/4 inch diameter
• Drill
• Drill bit (size of outer tube diameter)
• Sock or fabric sack to easily contain the house sparrow

CO2 Chamber Instructions:

1. With the plastic lid on the airtight container, drill two holes in the lid, one on opposite sides of each other. One hole is for the tubing. The other hold is to let other air escape.
2. Place tubing in one of the holes.
3. Connect the bicycle tire valve to the CO2 cartridge.
4. Take the other end of your tubing and connect it to the tire valve so that it is securely in place.
5. When you need to replace your CO2 cartridge, simply disconnect the old cartridge from the tire valve and connect the new cartridge.
6. Double check your tubing when you prepare to use the chamber.

CO2 House Sparrow Euthanasia Steps:

1. Place your gloved hand through an old inside out sock (this particular sock should only be used for this purpose from now on due to the microorganisms birds carry), and take hold of the house sparrow.
2. Pull the sock to the right side while gripping the house sparrow as if you were bagging dog poo. The house sparrow should be in the sock, and your hand should be out of the sock.
3. Secure the sock by twisting it or tying it off so the bird cannot get out.
4. Open the lid of the chamber and place the sock with the bird inside. Then close the lid.
5. Very gently and slowly open the valve to let CO2 into the chamber.
6. Run CO2 for about 90 seconds for the house sparrow to become sedated and then expire.
7. It is best to leave the house sparrow in the container for a few minutes afterward.
8. To dispose in regular trash, double bag the carcass and throw it in your regular trash.

NOTE: This method would need altered for nestling house sparrows. They will need higher levels of CO2 and a much longer exposure, which a single cartridge may not be able to accommodate. Therefore, do not use this method for nestlings and hatchling house sparrows.

Cervical Dislocation to Euthanize House Sparrows

Cervical dislocation is considered one of the most humane ways to eliminate house sparrows and European starlings. It involves breaking the neck or severing the spinal cord. While this is a human method, there are challenges beginners can encounter.

If you’re new to euthanizing house sparrows, this may not be the best method to start with. And when you are ready to move to this method, we highly recommend you practice. It is a great method when you’ve perfected it, but it can be awful when it goes wrong.

Fortunately, we do have a video demonstration of how to do cervical dislocation that demonstrates it with a small stuffed animal. No birds are harmed in this video.

Important Considerations for Cervical Dislocation:

• You will hear the neck snap, and that may make this process a little harder at first.
• The bird may move even after it is done
• Accidents can happen when you’re starting out – decapitation, injury and the need to redo it.
• When euthanizing house sparrows and starlings, be 100% certain the bird you have is not a native protected bird.

Cervical Dislocation Instructions

Supplies:

1. Garden gloves
2. Needle nose pliers (optional) that spread wide enough
3. Very small stuffed animal or sock for practice (see video)

Cervical Dislocation Instructions (Hands Only)

1. Hold the house sparrow in your nondominant hand so that the head and just a little bit of the neck is exposed, while the rest of the body is gripped in place (slowly build your grip. You should feel it breathing, but it shouldn’t be able to move too much).
2. With your dominant hand’s palm facing up, place the neck of the bird between your index and middle fingers (head should be cradled between the two fingers), then place your thumb on top of the head.
3. Bend the neck back and forth all the way. Afterward, you should feel a separation and limpness between the head and neck. The bird may flicker and flutter immediately after.

Cervical Dislocation Instructions (Plier version)

1. Grip the bird in your nondominant hand with a firm enough grip strength that the house sparrow cannot move very much. the head and neck should be exposed, while the rest of the body is within your grip.
2. With your dominant hand, spread the pliers wide enough to be able to fit around the neck.
3. Grip the neck firmly with the pliers. Be careful that it is not excessively tight.
4. Bend the neck all the way back and forth. You should feel an internal separation of the head and neck. You should also feel the body go limp. You may also feel some convulsions.

Inhumane Methods of House Sparrow Dispatch

Methods of house sparrow euthanasia that are excessively cruel, take too long or cause a lot of pain are inhumane and must be avoided. Inhumane ways to euthanize house sparrows include drowning, electrocution, decapitation and thoracic compression.

Non-exhaustive List of Inhumane Ways to Dispatch House Sparrows:

• Drowning
• Thoracic compression (no longer accepted by certain wildlife organizations)
• Decapitation
• Electrocution
• Freezing live birds

Indirect Methods of Euthanizing House Sparrows

Indirect methods of euthanizing house sparrows mean you are not the one directly eliminating the bird. Examples of indirect methods are wing clipping and giving live birds to falconers and raptor centers.

Clipping house sparrow wings

The goal of clipping house sparrow wings is to limit their maneuverability. This potentially makes them less aggressive and more susceptible to predators.

When clipping their wings after trapping, you can rerelease them in the same area they were found. Never relocate house sparrows. Relocating house sparrows can cause ecological problems in other locations. And even though their wings are clipped, relocation could entice more predators to the area.

When clipping house sparrow wings, you would clip the first 4-5 flight feathers of their wings. The best type of scissors to use for this process is hair-cutting scissors. But make sure this pair of scissors is dedicated only to wild bird handling. Never use it for anything else.

Drawbacks of wingclipping:

• When trapping several house sparrows, this process is time-consuming and may not be feasible in the long run.
• Released house sparrows with their wings clipped have been reported by birders to attract more predators to your yard, especially birds of prey. If you’re trapping and eliminating house sparrows to protect your native resident birds, this is not ideal.
• There is some debate over how humane this method actually is since it can limit mobility.
• Avoid accidentally clipping blood feathers.
• Once flight feathers grow back, if the house sparrow survives, it is still a problem in the area.

Giving House Sparrows to Falconers and Raptor Centers

If you are nervous about euthanizing house sparrows, another potential route to take is to contact local falconry chapters and raptor centers to see if they will take live house sparrows.

Unfortunately, most raptor centers will not take live or dead house sparrows and European starlings due to the diseases they carry. However, it’s never a bad idea to ask.

Falconers, on the other hand, might be more willing to take live or dead house sparrows and starlings. Search for local chapters, or join local Facebook groups in order to contact falconers near your area.

How to Dispose of Euthanized House Sparrows

According to the USDA, you can dispose of house sparrow (or outdoor bird carcasses) by double-bagging it and tossing it into your regular trash. If you don’t want the carcass waisted, local falconers may be interested. Simple keep the birds frozen until you can deliver them.

House sparrows eliminated by led pellets cannot be given to falconers. These carcasses can be disposed in the trash instead.

References

Siegrist, J. (2018). Humane Euthanasia Assessing Techniques. The Purple Martin Update. Retrieved 2023, from https://www.purplemartin.org/uploads/media/27-2-humaneeuthanasi-749.pdf?fbclid=IwAR3KlFulU-4wz6hYwrC5X76qmoNNnWCL_5gmQjBFYEhcO4eH1OSTUGMOGss

USDA. (2022, June). Found a dead wild bird? here’s what to do next – USDA. Retrieved February 7, 2023, from https://www.aphis.usda.gov/publications/animal_health/fs-hpai-dead-wild-bird.508.pdf

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