Gibby, house wrens and house sparrows are entirely different species. House sparrows are a non-native bird and are considered pests by many, thus are not protected by law. House wrens are native birds and it is illegal to tamper with their nests. I do not allow house wrens to nest in my boxes, however, because as you said they are can cause harm to the eggs and hatchlings of other cavity nesters. I remove any sticks I find in my nestboxes and, fortunately, have not come upon a completed house wren nest (or else I'd have to leave it alone). Since I monitor my nestboxes twice each week during nesting season I can usually catch early nesting attempts by wrens and stop them. You can find out more about both species at this link: www.sialis.org Kathy

For a while and then they get used to them. I made a home-made one and they stayed away for a week or two and then they got braver and started ignoring them.

When you say Safflower feeder, I'm going assume a standard tube feeder. I had the same problem but with House Finches rather than HOSPs. I have a four-station tube feeder with metal rods that protrude through the tube to provide a perch at each station on opposite sides of the tube. Try wrapping some type of mesh around the tube. The perch rods will stick through the mesh. Use cable ties to hold the mesh in place. I wanted to try something with about a 1/2" grid that would allow the birds to grab seeds but not shovel the seeds out like the HFs were doing. I have a pond so I ended up using a remnant of the nylon netting I use in the Fall to keep the leaves out. About a 12" long by 8" tall section covered the openings. The nylon flexes so I assumed the birds could reach in and grab a seed. The cardinals would land and stare at the feeder but wouldn't touch it. After a week, I started cutting slits in the netting to make the openings larger. The cardinals finally gave it a try and could grab the seed out of the feeder. The dees and titmice have no problems, either. I have seen HFs on occasion throw seed out but it's rare. Much nicer filler the feeder up once a week rather than once a day.

Agreed, we are still trapping and won't stop. They seem to be slowing down now, I'm not sure why. We don't catch nearly as many despite there still being quite a few around. Hope they are not getting smarter! I bought wood to try out this birdhouse last weekend and will let others know how it goes. http://md.fpemad.com/p2/mansion.htm This one is designed with the Eastern Bluebird in mind. I guess the theory behind the 2 hole mansion home is that they bluebirds feel safer and more confident in chasing off the HOSP if they have an escape route and are not trapped by HOSP in the house. Also, it turns out that purposing making the house smaller to repel HOSP isn't good for the bluebirds. They like a larger space. We had some around at about a month ago but they have since left it seems. I think they will keep nesting through June? Here's hoping I can get this built this weekend and put up. I have removed HOSP nests daily from our current house and 3-4 eggs in total. They just keep building!! So to answer my own OP....no the sparrows will NEVER give up. You must find a way to outsmart the little cretins! Will post on the 2 hole mansion.