The House sparrow(s?) struke this morning with an attempted hostile
takeover of a Violet Green swallow box. I don't know if it was the
same bird all morning, but he was sneaky and persistent.
Although he was discouraged with BB fire, he repeatedly entered the
box and tried to shove the nestlings out the hole.
I heard their cries of protest and picked up birds not yet ready to
fly from the ground and put them back into the nest. I tried to
stay close by doing yard work in the vacinity, but as soon as I was
out of sight, he flew back in and did his dirty work.
I attempted to discourage him with a BB gun, but I failed to hit him,
andafter about an hour, went on the other side of the garage and
harassed another box.
the lesson learned is that the sparrow is much more successful with
the style of box that has a hole in the bottom. He can fly in much
too easily and it is a snap to drag the little ones out and toss them
into the bushes below. The other style has the narrow slot on the
front, that the sparrow supposedly can't get in - he can, but it is
harder . The parents sucessfully defended this box, because he has
to hang on to the outside before he can squeeze in and they dive bomb
and make it hard on him. Also, once he is inside, it is much harder
to get the babies out that little slot.
Clarice Clark
jbroadus at seanet.com
Puyallup, WA. 98371