Comments on: Advisory: House Sparrows http://woolwinehousebluebirdtrail.com CONSERVATION of EASTERN BLUEBIRDS and NATIVE CAVITY NESTERS in SOUTHWEST VIRGINIA USING MONITERED NESTBOXES. TAKE A WALK ON MY TRAIL and say along with me "WOO-HOO FOR BLUE!" Sat, 07 Apr 2012 19:48:01 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.com/ By: Woolwine House Bluebird Trail http://woolwinehousebluebirdtrail.com/letter-to-my-neighborshouse-sparrow-control-and-inquiry-for-help/#comment-813 Sun, 22 May 2011 20:37:19 +0000 http://virtualprojectpoint.wordpress.com/?page_id=338#comment-813 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: J&S Borsos http://woolwinehousebluebirdtrail.com/letter-to-my-neighborshouse-sparrow-control-and-inquiry-for-help/#comment-812 Sun, 22 May 2011 13:50:47 +0000 http://virtualprojectpoint.wordpress.com/?page_id=338#comment-812 We have just been invaded by the sparrows who are playing havoc with the swallows that we built houses for. Rats indeed.

]]> By: Tom Cubbage http://woolwinehousebluebirdtrail.com/letter-to-my-neighborshouse-sparrow-control-and-inquiry-for-help/#comment-303 Fri, 24 Apr 2009 22:20:49 +0000 http://virtualprojectpoint.wordpress.com/?page_id=338#comment-303 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: Altair http://woolwinehousebluebirdtrail.com/letter-to-my-neighborshouse-sparrow-control-and-inquiry-for-help/#comment-296 Tue, 31 Mar 2009 23:08:46 +0000 http://virtualprojectpoint.wordpress.com/?page_id=338#comment-296 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: Woolwine House Bluebird Trail http://woolwinehousebluebirdtrail.com/letter-to-my-neighborshouse-sparrow-control-and-inquiry-for-help/#comment-295 Sun, 29 Mar 2009 17:55:37 +0000 http://virtualprojectpoint.wordpress.com/?page_id=338#comment-295 This blog wll be updated more often during the 2009 nesting season. April, May, June, and July. Christine

]]> By: Nadine http://woolwinehousebluebirdtrail.com/letter-to-my-neighborshouse-sparrow-control-and-inquiry-for-help/#comment-291 Fri, 20 Mar 2009 12:49:07 +0000 http://virtualprojectpoint.wordpress.com/?page_id=338#comment-291 Greatings,
Thank you! I would now go on this blog every day!

Have a nice day
Nadine

]]> By: Woolwine House Bluebird Trail http://woolwinehousebluebirdtrail.com/letter-to-my-neighborshouse-sparrow-control-and-inquiry-for-help/#comment-290 Thu, 19 Mar 2009 13:51:00 +0000 http://virtualprojectpoint.wordpress.com/?page_id=338#comment-290 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.

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