The House Sparrows are endangered in England and we joke about sending huge crates of House Sparrows back to England. Our winter flock can swell up to 40 birds-they fight and others rush to see it. They quarrel. They really are like us.
As the Conservation Chair for Rainshadow Bird Alliance here in Port Townsend, WA, it's pretty clear to me that House Sparrows are one of the major threats to local native birds. I've had jr high and high schoolers (the very demographic we are trying to reach out to) tell me of Bewick's Wrens and Violet-green Swallow chicks killed by House Sparrows. Our town is amok in artistic bird houses with inappropriate entrance holes.
To address this, I reached out to a science teacher at the local high school, where every senior is required to complete a senior project to benefit the community. I then worked with a student to build 30 nest boxes with entrance holes that exclude House Sparrows but are good for Red-br Nuthatches, Violet-green Swallows, Bewick's Wrens, and Black-capped and Chestnut-backed Chickadees.
The holes are diamond/oval shaped, up to 2" wide but only 7/8" tall. (I've watched House Sparrows get in holes that are only 15/16" tall). We offered a free turn-in program to the community, giving them a new box (or retrofitting with hole covers) in exchange for their current inappropriate boxes. And educated the community as well. I'll be posting about this project at some point soon. I also advise people not to put out seed in summer, which, around here, serves only to feed cowbirds and House Sparrows.
Thanks for this response! Sparrows and woodpeckers chipped away and widened the entrance to our House Wren box and displaced the wrens. I usually only provide suet and thistle (nyjer) which limits sparrow activity thankfully.
Yes, here it's the flickers that widen the holes, often seemingly just for fun, as they don't use them. We now make the front top half of the box with the hold double-thick to buy some time. Another guy has made steel hole frames, but that's tricky to do with these oval shaped holes we're using. Yes, I'm just doing thistle now, which has mostly chickadees and Song Sparrows as costumers.
As a descendant of European colonizers--and a Christian, naturalist and wildlife rehabber, to boot--in the words of The Borg, "Resistance is futile." Your enemy interlopers have your people addicted to gambling and booze. The myth of the noble savage is a bust.
The House Sparrows are endangered in England and we joke about sending huge crates of House Sparrows back to England. Our winter flock can swell up to 40 birds-they fight and others rush to see it. They quarrel. They really are like us.
The Eurasian Tree Sparrow drove Mao Zedong insane. True or false?
We are co-existing with the European Starling as well. Thanks for introducing me to Tony Fitzpatrick’s work! Wonderful
As the Conservation Chair for Rainshadow Bird Alliance here in Port Townsend, WA, it's pretty clear to me that House Sparrows are one of the major threats to local native birds. I've had jr high and high schoolers (the very demographic we are trying to reach out to) tell me of Bewick's Wrens and Violet-green Swallow chicks killed by House Sparrows. Our town is amok in artistic bird houses with inappropriate entrance holes.
To address this, I reached out to a science teacher at the local high school, where every senior is required to complete a senior project to benefit the community. I then worked with a student to build 30 nest boxes with entrance holes that exclude House Sparrows but are good for Red-br Nuthatches, Violet-green Swallows, Bewick's Wrens, and Black-capped and Chestnut-backed Chickadees.
The holes are diamond/oval shaped, up to 2" wide but only 7/8" tall. (I've watched House Sparrows get in holes that are only 15/16" tall). We offered a free turn-in program to the community, giving them a new box (or retrofitting with hole covers) in exchange for their current inappropriate boxes. And educated the community as well. I'll be posting about this project at some point soon. I also advise people not to put out seed in summer, which, around here, serves only to feed cowbirds and House Sparrows.
Thanks for this response! Sparrows and woodpeckers chipped away and widened the entrance to our House Wren box and displaced the wrens. I usually only provide suet and thistle (nyjer) which limits sparrow activity thankfully.
Yes, here it's the flickers that widen the holes, often seemingly just for fun, as they don't use them. We now make the front top half of the box with the hold double-thick to buy some time. Another guy has made steel hole frames, but that's tricky to do with these oval shaped holes we're using. Yes, I'm just doing thistle now, which has mostly chickadees and Song Sparrows as costumers.
The genie is out of the globalism bottle. Embrace the "new wild." American house sparrows are here to stay. And I'm cool with that.
Never. I'm an Indigenous conservation biologist. These black-bearded interlopers from Europe will be resisted at every step!
As a descendant of European colonizers--and a Christian, naturalist and wildlife rehabber, to boot--in the words of The Borg, "Resistance is futile." Your enemy interlopers have your people addicted to gambling and booze. The myth of the noble savage is a bust.
The genie is out of the globalism bottle. Embrace the "new wild." American house sparrows are here to stay. And I'm cool with that.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qsQT-PbpBmY