I know nothing about birds i have had a small wooden bird house on my porch for 20 years i have had small sparrows or wrens living there and mating there for years This year i bought a hanging house like feeder which is hung about 4 feet away i never knew that people hate house sparrows i enjoy watching thrm sitting on top of the bird house once or twice i saw them at the feeder not much action I filled the feeder with classic wild bird food i hope i see more birds in the Spring any advice for me about seeds or sparrows i have never had a problem i just wanted to feed thrm thanks for your advice

I started out feeling like you do, Barb. I couldn't see myself killing an innocent bird. Then came the summer of the bluebird massacre. I lost 3 adults to house sparrows as they were building nests or sitting on eggs. Once the bluebird is inside the house, the sparrow comes in on top of him, and he can't get out or defend himself. And the last one, the male, wasn't dead. He had been pecked in the head until he was bloody and disabled, and I had to finish the job. That's when I decided that if I was going to have bluebird and martin houses, it's my responsibility to keep the birds safe. I installed a sparrow trap in one of the martin house holes, and trapped many a housesparrow. I would then get them into a plastic bag (the ones the newspaper come in work great) and shoot the HOSP with a bb gun. The numbers of sparrows has diminished drastically, but they still show up on occasion, and I have to be diligent. It doesn't take them long to wreak havoc. This summer, I lost all the eggs in 3 purple martin nests in no time at all. The thing that irks me, is they don't have to be so destructive. The martins would let them live in their house too, they don't have to kill everything in sight. And they don't even need to nest in a nestbox - they'll nest anywhere - even on the front of our Wal-mart store. Texas Carol

I wanted to add one more thing,I always recommend having 2 houses up,just in case a HOSP comes along,That way the Blues will always have another house to go to ,rather then leaving the area,If there is a HOSP trying to use one of my houses ,The Blues can go to the other,while I deal with the HOSP.I never let a HOSP hang around too long,before I trap him,I have found that many times even after you get the HOSP,the Blues will not return to the house(during that season) were they had a confrontation with a HOSP.Just something to think about,That is what I have found works for me.If a HOSP does show up,He is my number 1 priority.

Hey, I've got a Bluebird pair nesting in my backyard this year, and they aren't following the "rules" either. One - My back yard could be described at best as an "open woodland" with numerous large canopy trees, plenty of evergreens, shrubbery, and tangled thickets, intermixed with some lawn, gardens, and a couple overgrown meadow/weedy areas. A very mixed habitat. While numerous Bluebirds visit daily during the winter to eat the home-made peanut butter suet, they usually disperse by Spring and I never in a million years expected any to nest here. On the plus side, the next door neighbor has a large lawn he mows and there is a meadow across the street, so they probably hunt there, but I often observe them perching and hunting in my yard too. Two - Even though I rushed to put up a traditional Bluebird nestbox mounted on a pole w/baffle, the Bluebirds have chosen to nest in NATURAL CAVITIES in the dead pine snags in my back yard. They have had 2 broods and chose 2 different natural cavities for each brood, while ignoring the nest box. One cavity was about 20 feet up, one about 10 feet up. Guess they didn't read about safety rules, proper hole size, and predator guards. :) I am very excited because their 2nd brood fledged about a week ago, they disappeared for awhile, and today Mr. and Mrs. Blue showed up to repeatedly retrieve some suet nuggets and fly off to the large Pin Oak in the front yard where I'm guessing the fledglings were hanging out! (Also heard some cries coming from the tree.) Momma Blue peeking out from her first nesting cavity -