Hi, I'm a brand new member, not sure of the ettiquette. However, I am a sometime birder, though not a pro by any means. My understanding is that the use of tapes to attract birds is generally frowned upon, though pros sometimes use them. If you want more professional advice, you can go to www.americanbirding.org or call them. They are very nice and helpful, and will give you good guidelines.
Do you have bluebirds? The house sparrows have killed bluebird babies in the nest in my yard, and I am about ready to give up. I don't want to provide the bluebirds with boxes, just so that they can be killed!! Anne

I've seen a Baltimore Oriole in my maple tree twice -- earlier in the season when the honeysuckle was in bloom. I haven't seen a bluebird in my yard yet. ( I've seen many in a wildlife management area a few miles from my house.) There are houses set up for them ; however, no takers this year. I do have lots of house sparrows, some of which are currently nesting in a nest box I put up for Downy Woodpeckers. : (

Anne, I would post on the bluebird forum and find out how to have bluebirds nest safely. There are a few tricks for dealing with house sparrows. You can also read a lot at the site below.

Here is a link that might be useful: Sialis

Kelp, You can legally remove the nest of a house sparrow. They are non-native, invasive species that take a huge toll on our native birds. Please don't let them nest in your boxes. The are prolific breeders. I would suggest that you go to the site that I linked to above to see the damage they do. I have seen this kind of horror first hand. The worst of it is that the native birds are being displaced by them. If you read about them on that site, it will give you the numbers if you allow them to reproduce. One pair theoretically produces thousands more in their lifetime.

Thanks, Vonyon. I had no idea that House Sparrows were so destructive to native species. The house has been taken down and cleaned out. (The baby had already fledged--there was a toad in it!) I'll have to think about if I want to put it back up next year, as, my guess is, they think it's "their's" now.

Kelp, It doesn't matter whether or not they think it is their's. They or another pair will claim it early in the spring and persist until they win even going so far as to kill any interlopers and their offspring. Bravo for you for taking the box down. I see so many of these left up for sparrows to reproduce unchecked and the results are a continued downward spiral on the diversity of native songbird species in our yards. There are things you can do about it. Please read the site and continue to think about active control.

The box that the sparrows nested in was designed and put up for Downy Woodpeckers. It's about 15 or 20 feet high, in a tree. Nothing has nested in the bluebird houses I put up yet,(on poles with predator guards) unless you count paper wasps and earwigs. : ) There was a titmouse nesting in the woodpecker house originally. Until I read your site, I thought that the titmice nestlings had fledged, and THEN the sprarrows moved in. Now I'm not so sure. The only active method I think I'd personally be comfortable with would be piercing the eggs of the HOSPs. That seems like the most humane way. But I'd have to get the courage to go up the ladder to do it, as my SO is the one who mounts anything high in our yard. (I'm not too crazy about heights.) After reading your site, I have he changed the feed I put out to black oil sunflower seed. Previously, I had woodpecker feed, with corn in it,and had tons of starlings and sparrows. Now it's just titmice, chickadees, cardinals and bluejays. Plus the goldfinhes at the niger feeder. Not as much activity as before, but better than the hoards of starlings and sparrows.
By the way, how do you think the toad got in the box, with it being so high? It wasn't tree frog, just an ordinary greyish-tan toad.

Vonyon, I have seen the wisdom of active control of house sparrows. I've witnessed the steady decline in the native birds in this area (esp. chickadees and titmice) and the huge increase of house sparrows. I realize now that if humans -- who caused the problem to begin with --don't try to correct the problem, all we'll have soon is starlings, HOSP's, and pigeons. I set out a house sparrow trap (baited with only white millet) 5 or 6 days a month. It seems to ahve helped. Thanks for the advice.