With their iridescent blue features and ruddy throats, bluebirds are sweet-sounding and amiable creatures that have increasingly been relying on human-made nestings.
Last year, I took an initiative to create comfortable dwellings for the bluebirds frequenting my yard. My attempts were successful since a few beautiful eastern birds took shelter in the houses I had built for them.
However, while I was cleaning and preparing the boxes for next season, I noticed a dome-shaped nest full of weeds, twigs, and debris. Now, this was a definitive sign of sparrows residing in these dwellings.
Usually, I would welcome their presence, but house sparrows aren’t exactly known for being sociable. They are belligerent nesters and bully bluebirds away, decimating their eggs and killing them.
Furthermore, even if I made separate houses for them, they’d still chase bluebirds away since they do not like “foreigners” invading their space. Thus, I began to look for ways to keep sparrows at bay.
Hi there! I’m Stacy. And today, I’ll tell you all about how to keep sparrows out of bluebird houses.
So, without any further delay, let’s begin!
Ways To Keep Sparrows Out Of Bluebird Houses
Finding a silver bullet that’ll eliminate all the house sparrows permanently is impossible. But you can take certain practical steps to minimize their intrusion and create a safer living space for bluebirds.
1. Place Bird Box In Open Areas
House sparrows are pretty territorial and drive bluebirds out of their boxes. Unlike bluebirds who prefer open spaces, house sparrows thrive near houses or barns where they can gather plenty of resources.
So, if you want to create a habitable environment for bluebirds, place the nest boxes at least 150 yards away from your house in open spaces such as farms or meadows. This will make them unattractive to sparrows, who’ll look for more comfortable nesting options.
2. Create Sparrow-Resistant Boxes
House sparrows make their nests out of a mixture of materials like debris, twigs, leaves, grasses, and more. Therefore, they need bird boxes with a substantial interior volume that’ll accommodate their dome-shaped nests.
Bluebird houses made of PVC material have a shallow depth that sparrows dislike. So, they stay out of such boxes. Coincidentally, Eastern Bluebirds seem to be quite fond of such dwellings.
If there is a large population of house sparrows in your area, I recommend placing a wooden box close to a PVC-styled box. The visiting sparrows will take up residence in the wooden houses and leave the PVC ones for bluebirds.
3. Eliminate Feeding Areas
As an avid birdwatcher, it’s a delight to spot woodpeckers and blue jays hovering around the bird feeder in my yard. These birds do not pose any threat to the bluebirds and are always welcome. I often put out nuts, seeds, and mealworms for them to feast on.
However, avoid offering inexpensive bird feed such as millet and cracked corn. These are sparrow favorites and will inadvertently attract them to your yard. By eliminating their feeding options, you create a hostile environment for house sparrows, and they will stay away from your yard.
4. Monitor Nest Boxes
If you have put out bluebird houses, it is essential to monitor them too. Usually, house sparrows and wrens make their way into these nest boxes, and their aggressive nature drives out the bluebirds.
So, make sure to continually inspect bluebird boxes for signs of sparrows and remove their nesting if you see them. Unlike bluebirds’ nests which are neat and compact, house sparrows’ nests are loosely formed with scraps and dried vegetation. Also, their eggs are relatively small in size, often with brown specks on them.
If you spot sparrow nesting, clear it out and refrigerate the eggs to kill them. Since these birds aren’t native, removing their nests isn’t illegal.
Although this method can work temporarily, the male sparrows are stubborn and will soon start rebuilding their nest. However, over time, they will eventually move out and look for safer nesting sites.
5. Sparrow Spookers
One of the most effective ways of deterring house sparrows is by mounting sparrow spookers over the nest box. These “spookers” are strips of fluttering and shiny streamers that brush over the roof and scare the sparrows away.
Thus, bluebirds can hatch and raise their broods without the threat of hostile creatures destroying their eggs.
That said, always mount these streamers once the bluebird has already claimed the nest box. Otherwise, you run the risk of scaring the native birds away. Also, remove the spookers after the young birds have fled, or else, chances are the sparrows will acclimate to it, reducing its effectiveness.
- Shiny reflective streamers wave in the air to protect Bluebirds and repel harmful predator House Sparrows. Does not interfere with the Bluebirds using the bird house/nest box. Attach Sparrow Spooker when Bluebirds have laid their eggs. Helps prevent House Sparrows from attacking the Bluebird nest, eggs and newly hatched Bluebirds. Remove when the fledglings have left the nest.
- Screw the FAST-ATTACH brackets to the back of your bird house/nest box. Then install the Sparrow Spooker to the mounting brackets easily and quickly using the wing nut. Do this when the Bluebirds need protection. When the fledglings leave the nest, it is time to remove the Sparrow Spooker by loosening the wing nut. The FAST-ATTACH brackets remain attached to the bird house/nest box.
- A Sparrow Spooker set contains: (2) Horizontal arms with streamers pre-attached (2) Vertical posts (2) FAST-ATTACH mounting brackets which install to the back of the bird house/nest box for EASY ON and EASY OFF when the Bluebirds need protection. Screws and hardware
- GOETOR’s tape is made of high quality thick and durable reflective material.
- Easy to Use & Use Anywhere: Simply cut strips of flash tape and tie around tree branches or windows, orchards, fish ponds, garden fences.
- Package Package:1 Pack of 1 Inch x 298 feet tape.
6. In-Box Trapping
A foolproof option of keeping house sparrows away is through in-box trapping. You can place nesting material in it to entice the birds to enter the box. Set the trap only when the sparrow claims the box, or else you might end up harming native birds.
Usually, the most popular trap types include Gilbertson universal trap, Hubert, and Van-Ert. Once the bird is trapped, you can take the box to a far-off location and humanely euthanize the sparrow.
Do not lay the trap and forget about it. Inspect it every few hours to ensure that no native bird is trapped instead.
Although this is a sure-shot method of eliminating house sparrows, several birders are against euthanizing. However, such measures become essential to provide a safe nesting space for native birds.
Conclusion
With that, I come to the end of this guide. I hope you can now successfully eliminate house sparrows and create a safe nesting space for bluebirds frequenting your yard.
While there’s no magical weapon for keeping away house sparrows and protecting bluebirds, these methods can prove effective in deterring them.
There are specific preventive measures you can take to ensure that these belligerent birds do not take up shelter in bluebird houses at all. Out of these, the most effective way is by mounting the boxes in an open space, not conducive to sparrows at all.
Now, it is time for me to bid farewell, but I’ll be back with more such guides.
Until next time, take care!