At my house in Lacey I've had four swallow boxes up for the last two
months. Between the tree swallows, the violet-greens, and the house
sparrows, not a one can decide which box will do for them. Each pair likes
to spend about 3 days in peace at a given box adding material, going about
with great hope for the future, defending their property with gusto...and
then...well then, another pair of swallows shows up and kicks them out to
the next box over. Even worse is a fairly dumb house sparrow that doesn't
give up on the boxes even though he can't fit inside any of the holes.
Fortunately I think that after a month tormenting the swallows, they no
longer take Mr. Sparrow seriously, but my everyday life is now consumed with
devising strategies to get the birds to stay. To stay put---where they are,
that is. Maybe too much choice is a bad thing for swallows.

Joe Dlugo
Lacey, WA.
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