A trap design for capturing individual birds at the nest

We describe traps designed for the trapping of particular individual parent birds during the nestling phase of the breeding cycle. These traps have be en used successfully with large cup-nesting birds (egrets) and small cavity -nesting birds (House Sparrows). The common features shared include a dropp ing wire door that prevents escape and an electronic radio-release triggeri ng mechanism chat allows the researcher to control the precise moment of ca pture from a considerable distance away The radio technology is modified fr om commercially available units developed for remote-control toy craft. The sparrow trap includes a mechanical motion-amplifier, adapted from a standa rd rat-trap. Both traps have been successfully field tested many dozens of times and currently result in captures on approximately 90% of attempts.