hiya!

from what i have heard, birds are pretty much unrelocatable (if that's a
word). i have read quite a bit about different strategies to discourage
exotics from using native nesting sites, especially in the second-cavity
nester arena (bluebirds, swallows, martins). the only sure-fire way to keep

starlings and house sparrows out is to exterminate them, which is a touchy
subject for a lot of people. there are other ways to discourage them,
though. if you have nest boxes up for other birds, you can monitor who is
building what and where, and then tear out any unwanted nests. this isn't
illegal, because i am pretty sure that house sparrows, starlings, and
pigeons are the only birds that are not protected by law. there are also
adjustments you can make to entrance holes to discourage them.

i have heard of countless purple martin landlords who say things like "well
i'll just catch them and then drop them off far away, in a habitat that
would be better for them," and lo and behold, the birds are home before they

are!

*sipc coffee* mmmm.....it's snowing again here in mass. more snow inmarch
than in february. weird.

justin brown
justinlb at earthlink.net

"Jon. Anderson and Marty Chaney" wrote:

> Hi folks,
>
> Got to stay home with my coughing 8-year-old today. Since it was a
> beautiful morning, I set up the mist-nets and banded a few juncos, a
> spotted towhee, a second-year fox sparrow, and caught a House
> Sparrow. I don't get too many HOSP here in my yard in West
> Olympia, but had seen a pair hanging out at my daughter's bird house.
>
> I thought I might discourage this Passer by re-locating him. So, when
> I went to the office in 'uptown' Oly, about 2 miles away as the weaver
> finch flies, I took him along and released him near the downtown
> MacDonald's. Figured that he'd be happy there, wolfing down old
> French Fries and hangin' with the downtown House Sparrow crowd.
>
> He sported a bird band, so I thought that if he *did* come back in
> the next few days, maybe I'd be able to spot him. That was at 10 a.m.
>
> At 1:00 p.m., I looked out at the feeder, and darned if he wasn't there,
> chowing down on millet and black oil sunflower, happy as you please!
>
> Guess my next step is to nail a plywood 'patch' over the nest-box hole,
> with a smaller-than-house-sparrow entrance hole drilled in it....
>
> Jon. Anderson
> Olympia, Washington
> festuca at olywa.net