[wisb] Re: House Sparrow in Chickadee nest box

  • From: Anna Keaney <anna.ftw@xxxxxxxxx>
  • To: Anne Moretti <amoretti@xxxxxxxxx>, WisBirdn <wisbirdn@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • Date: Fri, 17 Feb 2012 12:01:41 -0600

Thanks for the tips, folks. I ended up doing what Anne suggested: got the
metal portal at Wild Birds Unlimited and put it on. I checked and no one
has started nesting yet: they've just been checking it out, apparently.
This is our first spring with the box, so I'm hoping _someone_ nests in it.
Last summer we had a House Wren (very loudly) make a dummy nest in it, but
that's it. Come on, chickadees!
Anna Keaney
Madison, Dane

On Fri, Feb 17, 2012 at 11:52 AM, Anne Moretti <amoretti@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

> Anna,
>
> The easiest thing to do if the hole has been enlarged, is to buy a 1-inch
> opening metal portal that can be screwed to the box around the opening. You
> should be able to find these (in various sizes) at the Wild Birds Unlimited
> store in the Madison/Middleton area. House Sparrows need a 1 1/2 -inch
> opening, as do Bluebirds, which is why they are considered such pests.
> Whatever you do, don't allow the House Sparrows to nest! They are very
> aggressive and will kill other birds if they want the box badly enough.
>
> Anne Moretti
> Dousman
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: wisbirdn-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:wisbirdn-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]
> On Behalf Of Anna Keaney
> Sent: Friday, February 17, 2012 9:04 AM
> To: WisBirdn
> Subject: [wisb] House Sparrow in Chickadee nest box
>
> We put up a nest box a week or so ago and have seen both chickadees and
> House Sparrows going inside it. I'm not sure either in particular has
> claimed it yet (although today the sparrow was in it a couple of times).
> This box was bought last summer as a chickadee-wren box, but I think our
> woodpeckers have widened the hole, drat them. I've been reading different
> things saying take the box down entirely, or just replace the panel with
> one with a smaller hole, or just check the nest and remove it if it's a
> sparrow nest (this is hard to do because the box opens from the bottom, not
> top)... I thought I'd ask if anyone had any "best practice" info on this?
> Thanks!
> Anna Keaney
> Madison, Dane
>
>
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