How to Build a Trap for a Small Bird

You may be considering trapping a small bird to keep as a pet, save it from a predator, or heal its injuries. Before you build your trap you need to know where you'll put it. You can catch a small bird in the backyard of your home, or even out in the woods.

Things You'll Need

  • Small pocket knife
  • Medium sized rock
  • String or rope
  • Small stick
  • Thick stick (at least 5 feet long)
Show More

Instructions

  1. Build a Bird Trap

    • 1

      Search the area for any signs of smaller birds. Usually birds look for barren trees or clear poles to use as resting places.

    • 2

      Prepare the large stick. First use the knife to sharpen the ends into points. Then drill a small hole through the stick, close to one end.

    • 3

      Search for a smaller stick, at least five inches long, that can be inserted into the drilled hole. Set aside.

    • 4

      Secure the rock tightly by tying a knot around it. Lace the free end through the hole you drilled in the bigger stick. Now tie a slip loop about the size of your fist at the end of the string you passed through the hole.

    • 5

      Tie an overhand knot in the string right where it falls in front of the hole on the noose side. This will prevent the noose from slipping through the hole.

    • 6

      Slide the smaller stick into the hole you have made, but ensure that the stick does not go all the way through it. Rest the noose on the smaller stick. The idea is that when a bird lands here this stick will fall and the noose will close around the feet of the bird and trap it.

    • 7

      Plant the stick firmly into the ground and wait for a bird to land on it.