English sparrow problems

[Ufatz]

Short of shooting them is there any step I can take to discourage these little buggers from taking over our place? We have dozens of bluebirds,song sparrows,wren,chickadess etc.etc. around our little homestead but now the sparrows are moving in. I took down the martin house (no martins have ever come!) yesterday, but I suspect they will simply start moving into the songbird houses. Thanks for any help.

[Steve Foss]

Ufatz, if your wren houses have the right-sized holes, English (house) sparrows won't fit in them unless they gnaw them out bigger. I've seen them do that, but not very commonly, so your wrens should go unmolested. I don't have the hole size for wren houses in front of me.

Martins need access to open water because they drink on the fly, and they love to perch on electrical wires. If your house was within a couple hundred yards of water and near wires, I don't know why you didn't get Martins. If you do put the house up again, you'll certainly have to contend with the sparrows, as you know. My grandmother used to put the old glass coke bottles, the small ones, in the holes of the Martin house after the birds left in the fall so the sparrows couldn't get in, and when the Martins arrived in the spring she'd hustle the ladder out and pull the coke bottles. Worked every year, and they lived on a southern Wisconsin farm, which was thick with those pesky sparrows.

The bottle philosophy should work on the bluebird houses, too, though you'd need smaller bottles.

[Dotch]

Hole diameter for the wren house plans I've seen range anywhere from 7/8" - 1 1/8". An old guy who got me started on bird houses when I was a kid always told me the hole should be the size of a quarter, which happens to be ~ 7/8". For the houses I've built and grown (gourds) since, we've used 1" holes and have no problem with sparrows. Do have some problems occasionally with woodpeckers and deer mice enlarging the holes over winter, which will allow the sparrows to use the house. That's the nice thing about birdhouse gourds tho: they're a renewable resource...

I think the bottle idea will work to keep the sparrows out until the bluebirds get there. Keep in mind that male house sparrows are very aggressive and will take out eggs, babies, and in the case of tree swallows, actually kill the female swallow on the nest. Have not found any evidence they've killed bluebirds here but perhaps others have. In response to the sparrow problem, I initiated a program at home a year ago to take house sparrow numbers down including use of a pellet gun, traps and eliminating food sources. On an albeit small livestock operation, that's not always the easiest thing to do. Also got some ideas from several websites and am attaching one here that gives plans and suggestions for sparrow trapping as well as other bluebird information. Hope it gives you some ideas.

http://audubon-omaha.org/bbbox/nestbox/nestbox.htm

[BLACKJACK]

If you really want martins, you have to do some sparrow and starling control. Both are very aggresive and will out compete martins. Look at the pictures of the starlings in another post and note the sharp beaks, in a battle, martins will lose. Sparrows wll kill young martins and break eggs. Both sparrows and starlings are introduced species and can be legally exterminated. Exterminating them will help all cavity nesting birds. The main reason for the decline in martins is the competion of sparrows and starlings.

If you want more info starting a martin colony, do a search for Purple Martin Conservation Association, they have some good info on what it takes to establish martins, including housing requirements, songs to attract martins, and problems that you will encounter.

By the way, I hosted 40 pairs of martins last year, shooting for 60 this year. And I've also trapped/eliminated 16 starlings this year so far.