If the HOSP has been nestbuilding, they probably have sent the bluebirds elsewhere. Just be glad the bluebirds have escaped with their lives. HOSP can kill. Visit the link below for ideas and hints if you want to discourage or remove HOSP. Other bluebirds might move in later, if you can control the HOSP problem. If your HOSP problem is severe (too many), or you are not willing to control them, maybe you could host a smaller species (chickadees, wrens, etc.) by reducing the entrance hole so that HOSP cannot enter. Whatever you decide, please do not host HOSP intentionally. BlueBars Here is a link that might be useful: http://www.sialis.org/hosp.htm

The top photo is actually the same bird as the first two photos in the latter posting. It was the first time I've ever tried to photograph a bird while holding the bird in one hand and operating a camera with the other. She/he had twisted her body for balance and the tail was hidden from view. I figured out how to hold the birds straight and level on my second try. I don't know if male/female juveniles look identical--perhaps another bluebirder can comment. The second bird just looked a bit stockier--the two certainly look a *little* different. Since they're going to be my decoys (I read somewhere that juveniles work well), perhaps I will be able to watch them mature.

Hi, Mac. I have a similar trap and, unless you actually see the bird go in, there's really no way to be sure except to see the actual bird that gets trapped. I have a large mesh laundry bag that I purchased at WalMart (about $3) and I simply place it over the entire nestbox, close the opening tightly around the pole, and open the side of the box to allow the bird to fly out into the bag. It's fairly easy to id the bird once it's in the bag and, if it's a house sparrow, I grab it through the mesh and secure it while I remove the bag from over the nestbox. Once the bag is removed, I can then reclose the bag until I am able to deal with the house sparrow. Often times I will place him in my repeating trap as a decoy. Even if I'm relatively sure that the bird inside the trap is a house sparrow, I always do a visual id. It's important, also, to monitor the traps and check them often so that you don't accidentally trap a native bird. Kathy

Linda, Smart thinking!!!.We have to be a step ahead of the HOSPs.They are very intelligent birds and that is why they have been able to survive every where they go.When I put a trap in, my HOSPs will sit on the hole and look in,see the trap and will choose another nest box.I finally have to hand some white down feathers in the hole and some inside the nest box to look like a nest before he would go in. michelle