We should have known Floyd Van Ert was special when he attended his first BAN meeting more than 10 years ago, mounted “an experimental design” bluebird box he was working on outside the picnic shelter at Mahoney State Park and a bluebird flew right over and landed on it! Well, if the bluebirds liked Floyd’s innovations back then, they would love what he’s doing now.

Floyd makes the undisputed best sparrow trap around and he has garnered nationwide recognition for his traps.

The latest coverage of Floyd’s dedicated efforts to help the bluebird appears in the September/October 2008 issue of Iowa Outdoors from the Iowa Department of Natural Resources. The article is written by Steven Rinella, who is the author of the book The Scavenger’s Guide to Haute Cuisine. Rinella traveled the nation in search of odd items to create a 45-course wild game meal. His search for house sparrows landed him in Iowa where he met up with Floyd and learned how this invasive species harms native bluebirds. His story covers what Floyd is doing and why he is so dedicated to his efforts. The article and accompanying photos are wonderful and editing the article with bits and pieces of it here wouldn’t do it justice.