Homemade Bird Trap - Build Plans & Specs DIY

If you ever wanted to trap live birds, here's the best way I know. I say it is the best because it's effective and you don't need to spend on the $50 price (or more) tag on the commercially made models.

It is a multi-catch (or repeating) funnel trap. That means you only need to set it once and it will trap birds continually without you having to reset it.

A variety of traps have been used to control sparrows, but the funnel or half-cone trap has been the most popular and, generally, the most effective. The improvements in the Homemade Bird Trap are the adjustable guard rails and the built-in spikes on the guard rails and funnels.



Cheap and Effective Homemade Bird Trap

The homemade bird trap is made with ordinary wire screen and simple basic materials. Two working bird traps with housing and accessories may be made from a single wire screen panel sized 3 feet x 7 feet.




Total cost to build, not one, but two bird traps is around $5.


The Bird Trap is totally DIY and easy to build:

  • There is no welding involved to make this bird trap.
  • There is no need for special fasteners to assemble the housing and its parts.
  • There is no need for special tools. Only ordinary pairs of pliers and cutters are required.
  • Since the trap has no wooden parts, there's no drilling, gluing, or the need to nail or screw.

This homemade bird trap is super lightweight and portable. Here's a video of two homemade bird traps side-by-side:




How the Homemade Bird Trap Works

In the photo below during initial construction, two half-cones or funnels face each other. Label 1 is the funnel entrance while Label 2 is the funnel exit into the cage. Label 1 has a large opening and gradually constricts to Label 2.


The purpose of the big entrance is to entice the birds to enter while pecking on bait scattered on the landing board leading to the funnel.

The homemade bird trap has a guard rail near the end of the funnel (half-cone). When a bird enters the funnel, it is met by the guard rail towards the end of the funnel.




The tendency for the bird then is for it to "fly up" as all flying birds do. When it does, it is automatically trapped. The guard rail prevents birds from casually hopping back into the funnel opening.


Label 2 in the photo below shows the funnel exit with built-in spikes above it. The guard rails (Label 3) also have spikes. The spikes discourage birds from perching on these parts of the trap, thus preventing them from escaping easily.


To set the trap on an elevated platform, a landing board is placed beneath it. The landing board has few scattered bits of bait around it just enough to lure birds to land.

When they do, more bait at the funnel entice them to come in. Label 1 is the funnel entrance, Label 2 is the funnel exit and Label 3 is the guard rail.


A unique feature of this homemade bird trap is the capability to adjust the position of the guard rails. Adjustment is made by moving to or away from the funnel exit.

By adjusting the position, you're able to restrict the size of of the funnel opening that allows the bird to be trapped into the cage. Restricting the opening will allow entry only to smaller birds like sparrows and discourage the medium-sized birds.


Trapped birds may be retrieved or removed from the trap on-site or elsewhere. The bird trap is light and portable. The convenient carrying handle allows you to bring it anywhere.


Shown above is a pair of Pycnonotus goiavier birds caught on the second day the trap was set.




In summary, here's a video clip of the overview:



Build Specs and Plans for the Homemade Bird Trap

Here is the list of tutorials or step-by-step procedures to complete the Bird Trap.
(Click on the links below for details on how to build the bird trap.)

Homemade Bird Trap - Materials and Tools
Homemade Bird Trap - Building the Housing
Homemade Bird Trap - Making the Funnels
Homemade Bird Trap - Making the Guard Rails
Homemade Bird Trap - Making the Access Hole
Homemade Bird Trap - Making the Door and Lock
Homemade Bird Trap - Making the Carrying Handle and Restraints
Homemade Bird Trap - Setting the Trap
Homemade Bird Trap - Painting the Cage
Homemade Bird Trap - Making a Perch for the Cage

Other Related Articles

Homemade Bird Trap - Pre-Baiting Sparrows
Homemade Bird Trap - Retrieving Trapped Birds
Homemade Bird Trap - Disposing Trapped Sparrows
Sparrow Trap by Day, Rat Trap by Night
Damage Caused by Sparrows




Go ahead, post your comment below!

JOE C. said...

THIS SPARROW TRAP IS AWESOME!
i finished it this morning, set it up and i caught 12 birds in less than 3 hours. 3 of them were house finches, which i let go, but the rest were the scourge of my bird feeders and i dispatched them as they deserved. i'm hoping to get rid of all of them eventually.
i love the internet.
why do all your web pages take so long to load?
that's the only problem with this site.

Blackdove said...

Thanks for dropping by Joe. I'll check on the page loading time.

Anonymous said...

Its all the advertising

Blackdove said...

Anonymous, were they the last to be displayed in the page? Anyway, thanx for the feedback.

Tgull76 said...

I am going to make one this weekend and will let you know how it works!! Trying to rid our home of English Sparrows. Can't wait!! Thanks!

Birdrid said...

the fastest way to remove unwanted birds are glue traps - they work brilliantly and once one becomes tangled she calls her friends to join her. Release the birds they will not return.

Unknown said...

This sure looks like it will do the trick. I am over run by Sparrows.These plans are not showing how to make the original trap. Are you just supposed to bend it or cut it and wire it in shape. Help and thank you.

Jenny Cambers-Smith said...

Thanks for this - I've made a trap with drop lever and caught precisely nothing so far, so I plan to add your funnels and guard rails now. Also tried mist net around their nesting area, but only caught 8 before they worked out to how to get around the edges. Great detail in the notes - must have taken you ages. Cheers!

Anonymous said...

So far at 111 sparrows!

Blackdove said...

Thanx, Jenny Cambers-Smith! Yeah, writing and doing the graphics do take time. :)

MidMoBird said...

What about desired birds?

MidMoBird said...

What about desired birds?

Blackdove said...

111 !!! That's a LOT of sparrows!

Blackdove said...

You may catch DESIRED birds this way too! They won't get harmed when you do trap them.

Anonymous said...

Starting 3rd year with this trap. To date, 417 sparrows (33 so far this year). Plus other released birds. And believe it or not, 1 squirrel and 1 chipmunk!

babylonboots said...

Great series! On behalf of the local bluebirds, thankyou.

Anonymous said...

I built the sparrow funnel trap caught five so far very satisfying to rid myself of these varmints thank you for sharing your build plans

Blackdove said...

babylonboots, you're welcome!