Sounds like you've worked extremely hard to rid the area of House Sparrows. It is disheartening to know there are still so many left. I don't envy your struggle. No, the House sparrows don't ever give up. Could you put an inbox trap in to try to catch the House Sparrow that has claimed it?

I have considered it. All I read is that once a male sparrow has claimed his nest site, he has imprinted on it and will never give it up. So far that has proven true.

Do you kill the sparrows once caught? I have too many of them, but don't think I could kill them.

There are billions of these English sparrows in the US and they are not native. As a long term purple martin and bluebirder I have learned that these sparrows are detrimental to the survival of our natives and the only way to control them is to kill them. Even then you will still get more as it is a constant battle. They have taken over our nesting birds and many times they have killed them and their young. They are not a likeable bird.

We put wire mesh to block out where they were making their nests in our porch, and they still won't go away, and found a hole in an eave and ripped out the spray foam and tried to make a home inside. Blocked that up but they are still stalking my house. Gave them bird houses but they don't want them they want the house.

And that, is why they're called house sparrows (lol).

Some of them sit there staring at the blocked off porch eave and just don't seem to understand

Have you tried using a predator guard at the entrance hole? Sometimes that will deter the house sparrows from nesting in there, but the bluebirds wont be deterred.

I used chicken wire, they can't get in, but they still sit there staring at it, mourning the loss of their nests in my roof. But I guess you are talking to OP :)

I was talking to the original poster, but I'm glad you've found a way to keep them from nesting in your roof! Awful little things, house sparrows. I don't feel sorry for them one bit!

I don't know what predator guard you are referring to but I do know that the only way to get rid of house sparrows is to kill them after 28 years of doing this. I would call them terrorist like birds that are ruthless when it comes to taking over a nest. I have seen them go into a bluebird box, kill the mother bird and peck the eggs, then build a new nest right over the top of them. I never thought I could kill them at first but now I have no problem with it. We need to get rid of as many as possible because they are everywhere!

Also, would like to mention that English Sparrows are not native here and not protected by law in this country. European starlings are also not native and not protected and are just as menacing as the sparrows.

I agree they are terrorists. I've seen them in action and know how violent they can be. A pair has run off my resident bluebirds over the winter and now my bluebird house is just sitting empty. The sparrows didn't even nest in it, they just ran everything else off.

I have not tried a predator guard but would try anything at this point! We are thinking the Gilbertson PVC nestbox is our next route.

I also agree they are terrorist birds. We had a pair interested in our house last year but witnessed 3 house sparrows chasing and beating up the male blue bird and the bluebirds just left. Horrible what is happening all over our country to our natives.

We have our trap out and have killed well over 130 of them and still they are everywhere. The neighbors on the one side love that we are getting rid of them, but the ones on the other side called DNR on us for "trapping birds" last year. We told the DNR we are aware of the legalities and would not be taking the trap down and never heard a word about it again. The trap is still out catching sparrows.

cmonkey DON'T GIVE UP!!! It took several years for me to rid my area of House Sparrows. Never release them. I use in house traps. Also if neighbors have houses and are letting sparrows nest in them you need to have a friendly neighborhood meeting. LOL! I had a neighbor who had over 10 houses on fence posts installed by someone else years ago. The sparrows had taken over. I talked to them......asked if I could monitor them. They had no idea. They thought it was great that birds were nesting in them. I got a 5 gallon bucket full of sparrow nests, eggs, and babies out the first time. The neighbors actually removed the old houses and went and bought new BB houses with poles and baffles. They now enjoy monitoring their own. Keep trapping and NEVER release. Do you have farming in your area? House sparrows are attracted farming operations where corn is being fed to cattle.

We have farming about a mile away. They are attracted to anything that is associated with mankind I think, they are a form of parasite bird in my opinion, feeding off of our wasted food supplies. Agreed, I never release! Caught 4 or 5 this past week so hopefully this year I will make a dent in the population, although I doubt I will ever get rid of them all.

Check out the Two-holed mansion bluebird nest boxes by Linda Violett. I know of a person in Woolwine, VA who has had great success with them.

That box looks very promising, I like the idea of the bluebirds having an escape route in case of attack. I guess it gives the birds more confidence and they are able to fend off any HOSP invaders to their territory?

Keep on trapping them! Don't take them elsewhere to release-they need death. After discovering a beautiful bb at a box meant for decoration-I began a long and learned journey about bluebirds(not just bb but other native cavity nesting birdsas well) and hosp. We were feeding birds because we enjoyed watching them little did we know hosp were a threat to anything-til the bluebird. I witnessed their menacing ways and decided to get proactive. Took about 3-4 years but have trapped 400 plus of the menaces and killed them. Now for the last few years have enjoyed a near hosp free environment. As we live in country there are farms and neighbors who don't know or understand the destruction that hosp do- will always need to watch for the few that try claiming a box-to that it will never happen. The deluxe repeating hosp trap is a marvelous way of gettting lots of them. and the Vanerts, nesting box is excellent for getting the one(s) who think they've claimed it. To be proactive they do need euthanized. This is an excellent site for great info. I linked to - House Sparrow Control but this site is most excellent--http://sialis.org/hosp.htm

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.

Can't wait to hear if it works for you!!! Keep us informed! My friend in Woolwine, VA has had great success with those houses.