Female House Sparrow.
The English House Sparrow (HOSP) is one of two birds in North America that are non-native and not protected by Federal Law. The other bird is the European Starling (EUST). Both species of birds were introduced to our continent and remain today predators to our native birds and are territorial, aggressive, and take cavities away from our native nesters, including Bluebirds, Tree Swallows, Chickadees, and others. The House Sparrow attacks our native species, including incubating females and their eggs, nestlings, and will kill and build a nest over the corpses of our native species. The 1.5″ entry hole on our man-made Eastern Bluebird nestboxes keeps the larger birds out, such as the European Starling, but the House Sparrow can access our nestboxes to cause havoc. Given the widespread problems caused by House Sparrows, the North American Bluebird Society (NABS) advises that it is the responsibility of every nest box trail operator to ensure that no House Sparrows breed and fledge from their boxes. It is better to have no nest box than to have one which fledges sparrows. The non-native (English) House Sparrow is the biggest threat to the survival of our native bluebirds. See my Tab from the main page of this site regarding the 2-Hole Test regarding House Sparrows and Bluebirds fighting over nestbox territory.
Male House Sparrow--much easier to ID with the dark markings than the female.
See this YouTube video online called House Sparrow Mini-Documentary (in HD). Hopefully, this video will help you ID these birds seeing them in video action with their song and behavior at a feeder–click on link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=umyHo31BLbQ
When HOSP attack (WARNING-GRAPHIC): This is from the Sialis.org site: http://www.sialis.org/hospattacks.htm
"This Place Is For The Birds!"..... Bluebirds, that is, not House Sparrows! We have this up to welcome our visitors!
Please Help Bluebirds and Other Native Birds Survive and Thrive: A House Sparrow Advisory
Dear Property Owner,
If you have a birdhouse in your yard, your good intentions in attempting to provide birds with a place to nest should be applauded. However, many nature lovers don’t realize that by allowing a birdhouse to stand unmanaged, they are indirectly harming the very birds the house was meant to benefit, by providing a breeding ground for the worst enemy of bluebirds – the House Sparrow.
The once common bluebird underwent a dramatic decline during the 1900′s. A major cause was the introduction of the house (English) sparrow (Passer domesticus). The avian equivalent of pests like rats, gypsy moths and crabgrass, House Sparrow populations exploded. They are harmful to native species such as Bluebirds, Purple Martins, Chickadees, and Tree Swallows, making it virtually impossible for them to successfully nest. (If you’re not sure what a House Sparrow looks like, they can often be seen in the garden section of a Home Depot, or around fast food restaurants.)
House Sparrows are persistent, aggressive and destructive predators. They may destroy eggs and nestlings; and kill adult birds caught inside the box, sometimes building their own nest on top of the corpse. House Sparrows will not only prevent native birds from nesting in your birdhouse, but they will also breed there. One pair of House Sparrows could theoretically multiply into more than a thousand birds over a five year period. Soon House Sparrows take over all available boxes. It is better to have no box at all than to allow House Sparrows to reproduce in one.
Bluebirds rely on pre-existing nest sites like nestboxes. Please help native bird populations rebound in our area by taking steps to keep House Sparrows and European Starlings (another aggressive bird that was introduced) from breeding in any birdhouses on your property.
Because House Sparrows and starlings are not native, and are considered nuisance species, they are not protected by federal law. House Sparrow nests, eggs, young, and adults may be legally removed or destroyed. If you are not willing or are unable to do this, please consider taking the nestbox down altogether. If you want to leave the house up as a decoration, but don’t have the time or desire to control this predator, please either plug the entrance holes, use a “fake” painted hole on decorative boxes, or remove the birdhouse floor.
One person indiscriminately putting out bird seed can also radically change neighborhood wildlife. Please do not feed birds bread, or seed that contains a lot of millet or cracked corn, as this attracts House Sparrows. Thistle, safflower, and black oil sunflower seeds are enjoyed by many native birds, but are not preferred by House Sparrows. Dumping food on the ground can attract rats.
If you would like more information on how to attract native birds or manage House Sparrows, please contact Christine at 703.919.4302 or see http://www.sialis.org or http://www.virginiabluebirds.org/predatorspests.html. Thank you so much for helping reduce the population of House Sparrows and starlings, and thereby enabling native birds to survive and thrive. 
Rev.0.4, 06/09/07. Eastern Bluebird photo by Wendell Long.
This page and photo taken from the www.Sialis.org site.
RETURN TO THIS SITE’s HOME PAGE: http://woolwinehousebluebirdtrail.com/
We have just been invaded by the sparrows who are playing havoc with the swallows that we built houses for. Rats indeed.
By: J&S Borsos on May 22, 2011
at 3:20 PM
Thanks for the note here about your sparrow problem. If you positively ID’d them as the House Sparrow, the non-native, overpopulated sparrow species we bluebirds are constantly fighting against, it is my recommendation to not allow them to procreate in your nestboxes. Many bluebirds get sparrow traps and either destroy them or trap them in bulk in the larger traps made for this purpose and take them live to raptor rehabbers. You can use the passive method of making sure the nests are House Sparrow nests being built and remove those nests once the eggs are laid. Do not allow the House Sparrow to breed in your nestboxes. House Sparrows are nastier and will attempt to kill adult bluebirds, their babies, peck any eggs, or even kill an incubating bluebird or tree swallow female that is refusing to leave a nest of eggs due to her wanting to protect her nest of eggs or babies. Then the House Sparrow will build its own nest over the corpses of the killed birds. Not fun stuff to see. Do all you can to eliminate the House Sparrow. The male House Sparrow will bond to a box; not to a female. If you remove a nest of eggs, he might find another female to fertilize to use that box! Fight them, if you can, and keep them from bringing more House Sparrow babies in an already overpopulated non-native species that is taking natural and manmade cavities from our native birds. Good luck. Feel free to ask more questions here, if you wish.
House Wrens, another “brown” bird that likes nestboxes, can also cause havoc for bluebirds, however, they are a protected species and should not be evicted from nestboxes. The only “nests” we are allowed to remove are dummy nests built by the wrens to keep other birds from using the boxes. They usually stuff these boxes with sticks (easy to ID) and to the ROOF of the box. If you see sticks that stop just below the entry hole, more than likely it’s a live House Wren nest, and they should not be evicted since it’s a native bird. Don’t remove the sticks if you think it’s a dummy nest until you can determine for sure it is truly a dummy nest (sometimes this is hard to determine). I use a telescoping mechanic’s mirror with a flashlight illuminating up towards the ceiling of the nest box to see if I see soft grasses or hairs on the bottom of the nest inside those sticks or any cottony material to hold the sticks together to determine a real nest to a dummy nest. House Wrens will peck bluebird eggs….or….they have been known to throw out bluebird babies on the ground so they can use the box. It certainly not the nicest thing to see. It’s their aggressive, territorial way of behavior, for a nesting location. House Wrens are prolific. House Sparrows are even more prolific…usually the first to claim a nestbox in the spring and have sometimes 5 broods per season!
By: Woolwine House Bluebird Trail on May 22, 2011
at 10:07 PM
My sister in South Carolina gave me an authentic Bluebird nest fr my 70th birthday. Today I have visited my well sited house and and removed the start of a Sparrow nest four times. I have a rag stuffed in the hole now. Maybe that will encourage the Sparrow to build elsewhere. When I was age 15 and my father wanted to keep a Martin house free of sparrows he gave me a Red Rider B-B gun. We lived in the country then.
By: Tom Cubbage on April 24, 2009
at 11:50 PM
Wow, I’ll never look at sparrows the same way again! Can’t wait to see more of the beautiful photographs you provide. You are doing an excellent job!
By: Altair on April 1, 2009
at 12:38 AM
Greatings,
Thank you! I would now go on this blog every day!
Have a nice day
Nadine
By: Nadine on March 20, 2009
at 2:19 PM
This blog wll be updated more often during the 2009 nesting season. April, May, June, and July. Christine
By: Woolwine House Bluebird Trail on March 29, 2009
at 7:25 PM
This form has been customized to educate the wonderful folks who have given me permission to install my boxes on their properties and other people I know who may be interested in helping our protected cavity nesters from the House Sparrow and Starling invaders who are overpopulated and kill our cherished birds.
By: Woolwine House Bluebird Trail on March 19, 2009
at 3:21 PM