According to my own personal research, the Gilbertson PVC would be the least appealing nestbox to House Sparrows (HOSP) I would call a wildlife number for TN to find any regulations on trapping. Most areas allow it, euthanasia is the bigger issue. Also, check out sialis.org for more on that. Yes, it is very much possible that a Rehab center would take the HOSP. I emailed my local Raptor Rehab Center, who are under 10 miles away, and they said they would love to take them, and that they infact trap for the bluebirds too! ~Tim! Here is a link that might be useful: House Sparrow Euthanasia

Dearest Barry, you are free. After 363 days in captivity your interrupted life continues as it should. Wild and free. While here you blessed us with your strength to survive and overcome the many obstacles that were the result of your car accident and a tail loss. You blessed us with your beauty and your beautiful songs. You blessed us with nightcrawlers crawling outside your enclosure too. May God bless you now so you may continue your life healthy and joyous as you find a Mrs. and bless future generations with Barrylettes. Surely when you are asleep you will at times dream of Olive, the parrot. She was quite enchanted with you. And should you ever have a disagreement with your future Mrs., you can close your eyes and smile as you hear the voice of your big green girlfriend telling you: "HiiiiiIIIIIIIiiiiii Sweetheart! OoooooooOOOOOOOOooooooooo! Pretty Boy! *kisses*" ... Stay safe Barry. Please look both ways before crossing the street. Watch out for hawks and those who would do you harm. Enjoy the sunshine and your home without boundaries. God speed and thank you Barry. And so the doors to the aviary were opened this day and after several minutes Barry realized he was free to leave. He walked to the open door and looked around. He paced back and forth just inside the doorway. He started the familiar Robin chirping and 8 Robins appeared from no where running across the lawn toward the sound of Barry's voice. Barry ran down the two steps, across the patio and took flight 363 days after the accident into the air and landed in the Russian Olive Tree and began to sing. He then quickly flew back down and 4 Robins ran to greet him and they all began to chatter. Seems like he may already be familiar with them, since he had full view of the front and back garden and they could converse through the windows. Barry ran across the lawn, picking at the ground and no doubt savoring the cold dew on his feet. He may already have a girlfriend because one was following him in the grass! He is not banded or tagged in any way. We will never know which Robin is Barry. That is a secret only known to a wild bird we once met. His name was Barry.

Look like a young Red-tailed Hawk to me. Luc

Interesting analogy regarding the diseases brought to the new world. One big difference, we didn't know the damage the feathered rats were going to do to our environment when we released them in Central Park and we certainly didn't know they were vectors of WNV or I can assure you the people releasing them wouldn't have been allowed to do so. Unfortunately, we knew enough about the spread of disease when we traded blankets with the Native Americans and willfully and intentionally chose to trade blankets that had been used by people who had died of small pox and measles. Yup, it's sick but true. You know, not many people realize that eagles will eat carrion just like an opossum or a vulture. I don't bring road kill to the rehabbers or to that little local zoo. Just HOSPs and EUSTs and rats. I don't know what critters they're feeding our frozen morsels to other than vultures and snakes. They have a walk in deep freeze and there are buckets of white rats in there so presumably they take source into consideration when feeding? Vultures are well adapted to cleansing themselves of bacteria. Don't know how well adapted they are to ridding themselves of parasites in captivity but they've got vets on staff so the next time I run into one I'll ask how they deal with those issues. One thing though, I don't believe any of the raptors they have are capable of being released back to the wild. Their eagle is missing an eye and one of their raptors had to have a wing amputated as a result of some injury. I think something happened to all of the birds of prey they have that prohibited their release back to the wilds. I have visited a little family owned zoo in another state that survives in part because of donations of fresh road kill deer that are brought to them by local residents and a county agency for their "retired" lions and tigers- http://www.deyoungzoo.com/about.htm I know there are other little zoos that eek out an existence because of road kill donations. Something that might be of interest to you- http://library.thinkquest.org/03oct/00946/accounts/micro.htm Really sorry about your little cat. I've got two here that are older and I know the day is coming. One is 20-21 and the other is 19. They came from shelters so we aren't positive on the age but the one was supposedly around 10-12 when we brought him home and we have had him for 10 years. The other had been returned a few times and they tracked back his age to when he was a kitten so he was around 11 when we got him and we've had him 8 years. Our other cats are much younger and are all just over 10 years of age. They're a part of the family so I feel really bad for the hole in your heart you've got right now.