whenever I hear people discussing ways to discourage the sparrow I have to ask myself why? As You can easily see from my photo's when there is an abundant supply of food the birds will all mingle well. From my observation it is only when the food is in short supply that they really begin to be territorial. The question then becomes, why is the seed in short supply? No doubt the answer here is simple economics. People don't care to spend a lot of money on expensive birdseed, only to have it consumed by the less desirable birds and they don't get to see the species they are really interested in. From my experience the solution here is to shop around for your wild bird seed. By example, we have a local store that caters specifically to feeding and attracting wild birds. They sell a general mix of wild bird seed for $15 for a 20lb bag. On the other hand, Walmart has 20lb bags of the same seed for $10, however at Walmart it is a seasonal item and by now you probably can't find it. How would you like to find a year around source that has a better selection at prices far below the average retail store prices? In almost every community there is a store that specializes in selling feed, grain and hay for horses or farm animals. When my sister goes to the feed mill to buy feed for her horses I tag along and buy 50# bags of premium wild bird seed (mixed seed & peanuts) for $12 plus I buy a 50# bag of black oilseed sunflower seed for another $13. I then mix the two together and I end up with a premium blend for an average of $.25/lb. If you cannot find a Feed & grain supply in your community check out TSC (Tractor Supply Co.) TSC is also a great place to find feeders of all types for prices far below what you find in the regular retail stores, but then feeders are so simple to build i don't see why anyone would pay the prices they ask in most stores. While we are on the subject of bird feed, you may be surprised at how much you throw away every month without realizing it. When you bake a ham or a roast trim off the excess fat and put that in your suet feeder, the birds love it. At my house we all love to eat acorn or butternut squash. When you hollow out the seeds put them out for the birds, here again, they love it. Making a salad? Save the carrot peelings of the birds and by all means, be sure to save your orange or grapefruit peelings. I have seen a Bluejay grab an entire half section grapefruit peel and fly it up into the pine tree. Stale popcorn, potato chips, pretzels, breakfast cereal and cookies all go over well with the birds and as silly as it may sound, even leftover porky beans, whole kernel corn or green beans will quickly disappear when the birds find them. As you can see, I have taken feeding the birds rather seriously however to tell the truth it is more an means to an end. Since I retired last June I have taken up nature photography as a hobby, and since it is a bit too cold to get out in the woods like i would like to do, this is a way i can bring nature to me while i comfortably sit in the house...LOL. Gein that the subject of this thread was how to attract cardinals I thought i might post a couple more Cardinal Picks, along with one of my favorite pics of a Bluejay.

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

I like House Sparrows and the babies are definitely cute. These pictures were taken on June 15, 2011. I think they were newly fledged and used to being crammed in tight spaces so they were comfortable on top of the feeder. Claire

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.