A manual trap for capturing hole-nesting birds

Hole nesting birds can be difficult to capture at natural nest sites because cavities are inaccessible due to the height of a cavity or burrow above the ground or because of tree decay. For this reason, we created a manually operated, portable trap (similar to Jackson 1977) that was successfully used to capture Tree Swallows (Tachycineta bicolor), and subsequently Bank Swallows (Riparia riparia), as they emerged from their cavities.