jimf@ihlpf.ATT.COM (JF) (05/23/88)
Good news! The bluebirds are back nesting in one of my bluebird boxes and some of the sparrows have moved on, maybe finally discouraged by my ripping out their nests. The last 2 days I have seen sparrows harass the bluebirds just once, but so far the bluebirds seem to be winning. The female is sitting on the nest so she must have eggs. The kingbirds and bobolinks are back. Bobolinks sound goofy. We have empty fields of high grass near us, and the bobolinks seem to like that. We have a tiny sparrow (a chipping sparrow I think) on a little nest in an arborvitae by the front walk. She had 4 blue eggs with black spots. Then I noticed a house sparrow egg in there too, brown and white speckled. Then yesterday I noticed 3 of the blue eggs on the ground, 2 of them with little peck indentations. Looks like the house sparrow is trying to drive out the chipping sparrow. I put the one blue egg that was intact back in the nest and the mother has returned.
jimf@ihlpf.ATT.COM (JF) (07/22/88)
Finally, the bluebirds won out. We have 2 nesting pairs. One box has Mom sitting on 5 eggs. The other has 4 freshly hatched babies! This box is less than 50 ft. from my garage. The sparrows gave up after I ripped out their nests at least 30 times.
majumdar@poisson.usc.edu (Amitava Majumdar) (07/23/88)
In article <5387@ihlpf.ATT.COM> jimf@ihlpf.ATT.COM (JF) writes: >babies! This box is less than 50 ft. from my garage. The sparrows >gave up after I ripped out their nests at least 30 times. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Way to go. What do we have here folks? The quintessential bird-lover?? Strange are the ways of nature. Some sense of achievement!
jimf@ihlpf.ATT.COM (JF) (07/27/88)
Bluebirds like a box about 4-7 feet off the ground. The hole should
be small enough that starlings can't get in. (Sparrows can get in,
however.) You can find instructions on building bluebird boxes in a
library, or you can probably buy a box at a hardware or nursery store.
Since I got flamed by several people for this posting
>Finally, the bluebirds won out. We have 2 nesting pairs. One
>box has Mom sitting on 5 eggs. The other has 4 freshly hatched
>babies! This box is less than 50 ft. from my garage. The sparrows
>gave up after I ripped out their nests at least 30 times.
I thought I should post the following.
I also put up some wood duck boxes (they too are running out of
good habitat). The starlings immediately took over. I ripped their
nests out maybe 10 times and then they gave up. Unfortunately, I
never got any wood ducks this year, but maybe next year.
Sparrows are aggressive, over abundant and they drive other
birds away. Bluebirds are uncommon nowadays and lack good nesting sites
and habitat. Sparrows can and do nest anywhere and everywhere. They're
an import from Europe which has gradually driven out a lot of other
bird varieties in the last century by monopolizing nest sites and
habitat. I rip their nests out of the bluebird boxes I built for
the same reason a person pulls weeds out of their flower garden!
This morning there were 3 sparrows surrounding the box,
trying to get in, driving the bluebirds away, etc - basically trying
to kill the babies. They'll probably succeed, since their personality
is to dominate all nesting sites and prevent other birds from
successfully nesting. Earlier this year this same pair of bluebirds
had 4 eggs in another box I built. I counted as many as 7 sparrows
fighting the bluebirds. If the mother left the nest, the sparrows
wouldn't let her back in. Eventually, the sparrows got in the box,
broke the eggs and built their nest right on top of the bluebird nest.
Actually, rather than just rip out their nests, I'd rather exterminate
the sparrows altogether if I could figure out an efficient way to do it.
Why did the state of Illinois kill all the fish in the Rock River to
get rid of carp and then restock with bass, walleye, etc? Why do most
state parks have bluebird boxes in them? Sometimes Nature gets out of
whack and needs a little prod.
I don't think obviously uninformed bleeding hearts should be
making value judgements out of total ignorance. You flamers should
built sparrow and starling boxes.chris@leadsv.UUCP (Chris Salander) (07/29/88)
Exterminating sparrows: I have seen ads in magazines for "sparrow nets". I would imagine they are variations on "mist nets". They are cheap and reusable.
john@oravax.UUCP (John Gregoire) (08/01/88)
In article <3626@leadsv.UUCP>, chris@leadsv.UUCP (Chris Salander) writes: > > Exterminating sparrows: > I have seen ads in magazines for "sparrow nets". I would > imagine they are variations on "mist nets". They are cheap and > reusable. The advertised nets are meant to drape over fruit bushes or trees. They don't catch birds except the unlucky ones that get tangled. "mist nets" are a tool for the capturing of birds for banding and subsequent release. They are a controlled item and only available to banders licensed by the U.S. and Canadian Fish and Wildlife Services. Mist nets require much skill and practice to use without harming the birds and therefore require a "special" permission over and above the bird banding permit. Glad to hear Jim has finally raised Bluebirds. His case on the English House Sparrow is correct. The ONLY other species which is not protected is the Starling.
mjh@ihlpa.ATT.COM (Huber) (08/01/88)
In article <5446@ihlpf.ATT.COM>, jimf@ihlpf.ATT.COM (JF) writes: > >gave up after I ripped out their nests at least 30 times. > > Actually, rather than just rip out their nests, I'd rather exterminate > the sparrows altogether if I could figure out an efficient way to do it. > > I don't think obviously uninformed bleeding hearts should be > making value judgements out of total ignorance. You flamers should > built sparrow and starling boxes. Now you dismiss anyone who objects to your violent attitude with the hostile "bleeding heart" label. Anytime people like you get close to emotion you use this disgusting term. I'll bet you are a Goldwater, or Regan republican. Just because some stupid/ignorant people brought the Sparrow to N. America, 100's of years ago, doesn't justify some other stupid/ignorant person killing them. And about nature needing a helping hand: nature is too complex for humanity to ever understand all (or even most of) its mysteries. The natural world is not justified or explained or understood with human paltry logic! I think its great that you are trying to help the Bluebird and Woodduck after all the damage that has been done to them by people. However, I'm quite confused over your attitude about Sparrows. PS. I heard this weekend from a farmer in this N. Illinois area that Pheasants have been decimated from Pesticide use on crops. The current fad seems to be spraying from the air. I can't understand how this society tolerates such horror! If you are ever in the mood for a scary "movie", see the United Farm Worker tape "Grapes of Wrath". Straight out of Vietnam.
mrd@sun.soe.clarkson.edu (Mike DeCorte) (08/02/88)
In article <425@oravax.UUCP> john@oravax.UUCP (John Gregoire) writes:
House Sparrow is correct. The ONLY other species which is not
protected is the Starling.
And pigeons, also know as rock doves or flying rats. Take your pick.
--
Michael DeCorte // (315)268-2292 // P.O. Box 652, Potsdam, NY 13676
Internet mrd@sun.soe.clarkson.edu // Bitnet mrd@clutx.bitnet gpasq@picuxa.UUCP (Greg Pasquariello X1190) (08/02/88)
In article <MRD.88Aug1142824@sun.soe.clarkson.edu> mrd@sun.soe.clarkson.edu (Mike DeCorte) writes: > >And pigeons, also know as rock doves or flying rats. Take your pick. >-- Also know as Paterson Peregrines. -- ========================================================================= Greg Pasquariello AT&T Product Integration Center att!picuxa!gpasq 299 Jefferson Rd, Parsippany, NJ 07054 =========================================================================
jimf@ihlpf.ATT.COM (YES) (06/12/89)
Finally, after pulling mucho sparrow nests out of my bluebird boxes, the sparrows lost interest long enough that a pair of bluebirds moved into a box 3 days ago. Since then, a pair of sparrows have returned to harass the bluebirds. They sit on the fence near the box. So far I haven't seen them try to go in, but in past years they have gone in, broken the eggs, and built a nest right on top of the bluebird nest. This seems kind of late for bluebirds to be nesting. Hope they make it.