Absolutely a female HOSP. House Finches have striped breast. They DO occasionally use nestboxes. Other brown birds that use nestboxes include House Wrens (pointy beak) and occasionally Carolina Wrens (pointy beak.) See other brown birds link. Sometimes other brown birds temporarily perch on a nestbox but would not go inside. E.g., chipping sparrow, which has a chestnut cap and distinctive black eye stripe. I have heard VERY sad tales of people killing Black-capped chickaee (black bib) or shooting other song sparrows at feeders. It is, of course, important to be absolutely SURE of identity before taking ANY active control measures. Also important, of course, to check inbox traps hourly. Even tho this is a "live trap," A native bird trapped in a box for longer can die. House wrens will be out and about soon - already in Ohio. Here is a link that might be useful: other brown birds sometimes confused with HOSP

creeper your taking this a bit to far. Yes I understand we should not "monitor" open nests like we do our nest boxes however knowing when eggs are laid, incubation begins and hatching occurs is helpful to know when to expect babies to leave the nest so we can help protect them. It also helps to know if a Cowbird egg has been laid etc.. Any good birder knows how to monitor an open nest from afar or when a closer look is needed by watching the parents behavior. I appreciate your concern for the birds but responsibly monitoring an open nest is not a death sentence for the babies. There are many stories out there of fledglings with a foot caught in the nest or babies pushed or fallen from the nest and replaced that were saved by us humans just paying attention , from a distance. You are right traipsing up to the nest to look everyday for our amusement is a bad thing and many people don't know that. Your information is valuable. Lets be encouraging to those becoming interested in birds! Watch them closely ..from afar and come here for questions!

Yes, guides with arrows pointing to field marks aren't the ultimate in identification. Guides with notes about other birds with similar characteristics and then explanations about what to look for the tell the two apart are helpful. I have found that in most cases where IDs are difficult it's really beneficial to research more than one resource. We really have some tools now that weren't commonly available even fifteen years ago and that's access to the internet and cheaper digital cameras. I keep a digital right by the regular birding window. I take rapid frames of the birds in question from as many angles as I can. Sometimes you don't have time to focus and be fussy. Getting a less than perfect picture is not always a failure. If it helps you to catch the target sitting next to a known bird, immediately you have a handle on size. I also prefer real photographs I find on this forum, because painted representations just leave too much to artistic license. LOL. I sometimes wonder how many really cool sparrows I missed by logging them as something common? So many folks just causally dismiss them because they look similar. This is where you sometimes find your lifers! Keep a notepad handy to your observation station to mark down anything you notice on field marks. I have a good memory but the image in the brain can play tricks on you quickly. Draw a pic if you must, and try to catch some photos. Document, document and document.

I save tables like yours everyday. Do not remove the veneer, the wood underneath has a 1% chance of being good. It can be repaired three ways. The way I use most often to save people money is to use an epoxy filler that is colored close to the color of the stripped veneer then use colors to finish matching low lights and grains. This takes skill you probably should practice with before doing it. Videos and materials are available from Mohawk finishing group in N.C. The second way is to replace the missing veneer with veneer patches. This technique, I only use on expensive antique restoration projects and is extremely hard for a non professional. The third way is to replace the veneer. Only let a professional do that as it is an expensive process and you don't want to lose that new hundred dollar sheet of veneer.I refinish veneered furniture all the time, yes the veneer is thin and you have to be careful not to sand through, but don't let that stop you. To refinish a table like yours, I charge in the range of $350.00 including the repairs.