Nests, eggs, young, and adults may be legally removed or destroyed. Nuisance species, they are not protected by U.S. 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.īecause House Sparrows and starlings are not native to the U.S., and are considered It is better to have no box at all than to allow House Sparrows to reproduce in one.īluebirds rely on pre-existing nest sites like nestboxes. Soon House Sparrows take over all available boxes. One pair of House Sparrows could theoretically multiply into more than a thousand birds over a five year period. House Sparrows will not only prevent native birds from nesting in your birdhouse, but they will also breed there. 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 are persistent, aggressive and destructive predators. (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.) They are harmful to native species such as bluebirds, purple martins, chickadees, and Tree Swallows, making it virtually impossible for them to successfully nest. The avian equivalent of pests like rats, gypsy moths and crabgrass, House Sparrow populations exploded. A major cause was the introduction of the House (English) Sparrow ( Passer domesticus). The once common bluebird underwent a dramatic decline during the 1900's. 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. If you have a birdhouse in your yard, your good intentions in attempting to provide birds with a place to nest should be applauded. Please Help Bluebirds and Other Native Birds Survive and Thrive: There is also a letter you can use for commercial establishments allowing HOSP to breed/roost/feed. Handout on Neglected Nestboxes Bluebird and Small Cavity Nester Conservationĭownload MS Word document you can customize, or you can use this for talking points.
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