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Iv been looking at traditional and none traditional ways of catching birds for food. Wild birds large and small would be welcome during the winter months if times were hard.
The found three videos,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nZCa_ucHk...0ZFaFhRASZ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4hiwEhXoogU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZYuz8tkCn...0ZFaFhRASZ

Iv also seen the ultra fine "Mist net" bird netting thats used outside the EU thats actually designed to catch/trap birds. Its sold as crop protection.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/14x4m-Agricult...3ccf02a596
There are better deals on ebay depending on the size of mist net you buy.
if you feed them they will come into your garden, then shoot them with an air rifle or a crossbow, or wait until they roost and knock them off their perches with a big stick.
We used to use the first trap to catch birds when we were kids, its an age old, well tested design
Bird lime is a traditional method, the birds stick to the branches and can't escape, you climb up and harvest them.

In the UK it is illegal to shoot birds using artificial light, but on a clear night with a full moon you can see wood pigeons silhouetted against the sky and they are reluctant to fly. I have shot 3 from one tree before the rest flew off.
Most Birds can be caught, shot and trapped quite easily and offer a wide ranging supply of meat. Some birds of the Gull and marine species have toxic livers and so should not be eaten (the Liver that is) Rook used to be a popular food in my area and "Rooking" was always carried out just after the young ones had flown the nest but not strayed too far. Personally I would not eat a Rook or a Crow by choice, but if starving I would enjoy every bit and fight for the bones. Blackbirds, Sparrows and any other small bird are all fair game in my eyes.
I think in a survival situation we would eat any bird we could catch without any exceptions, if i'm just hunting for the pot i'll stick to pheasants and wood pigeons.
4 & 20 Blackbirds baked in a pie as the old English rhyme goesBig Grin
(19 August 2013, 10:28)Tartar Horde Wrote: [ -> ]4 & 20 Blackbirds baked in a pie as the old English rhyme goesBig Grin

the very fact that there is a rhyme makes me think that this was an old English dish.

don't forget things like ducks and geese and even swans.....moor hens and coots are small birds but if you caught a few???

unfortunately I don't live in a wetland area, even if it feels like it sometimesBig Grin we do have some Canada geese which have taken up residence in the area.
I have seen havent tried it yet. Where u thread seeds, nuts and or fruit on some fishing wire and tie it to the tree the bird eats the food along with the wire and the bird is stuck.
yep rum soaked raisins on a bit of fishing line works well-as so i'm told.
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