>
> Ray--
>
> someone more knowledgeable than I on this list can give you
> the correct measurements for the swallow hole...that's critical.
> If you make it exactly the swallow measurements, the house
> sparrows can't get in...so, my guess is the hole is too
> large in your swallow box..
>
> someone (Russell?) please give Ray the correct dimensions for
> a swallow box hole.

Swallow boxes with horizontal slit openings seem to work very well
around here. Once, I was waiting in line to go to a movie, outside
under the canopy out in front of the ticket booth. The overhang was
part of the building, and underneath had an exterior wallboard for a
"ceiling". One corner of one panel had separated away, just sagged
a very little bit. The slit was much less than an inch high. While
I waited I saw both future parents of a violet green swallow brood
fly up and wriggle in. They can fit in remarkably tight places.

As far as remarkable nest cavities go: This spring I had occassion
to be in Kennewick, and was waiting at the airport to fly home.
While there I watched a pair of starlings building a nest in the
hinge of the rudder of a Horizon airplane, parked on the runway. Ticket
person said they do that all the time-- when all their work flys to
Seattle they just start again on the next plane.
>
> Will Violet Greens lay two clutches during one season?
> >
> my friend Brian in Spanaway has a pair of Violet Greens that
> are on their third clutch!!
>
^^^^^
I have wondered about this. My birder's handbook says they only have
one clutch per season. Yet I too would bet that the second nest,
which is going strong in one of my nest boxes, is from the same pair
as earlier this spring. Of course, I can't prove it-- maybe a new
couple has started late. When you watch a pair a lot you get to
think you know them as individuals, but of course they are not banded
so I really don't know. Has anyone ever really researched this?

> If no, should I allow the House Sparrows to nest in that box, or remove
> > the nest to discourage them altogether?
> >
> I'd remove the nest and make the hole smaller...

Unless, like me, you would like to sharpen your skills with a
slingshot. I'm still picking off the males from the top of my
swallow boxes. For true larceny, get a sparrow trap, bait it with
nest material, and set it directly under the swallow box. You will
get the male every time (once I caught a swallow this way-- so watch
the trap). The Slater museum, at UPS, would like any trapped house
sparrows, so I'm told.

Jerry Broadus
P.O. Box 249
Puyallup, WA. 98371