From researching on this forum and elsewhere, it's obvious that House (aka English) Sparrows are loved in some areas but I'm starting to see the reason they're loathed in so many other locations (I'm in the United States, Central Texas). In just a few days a group of about 10 female and male house sparrows have taken ownership of my 2 feeders and I'm starting to see evicted eggs on the ground around my yard. Who knows what damage they're doing to any young in the nests but I'm sure it isn't pretty. The titmouse, chickadees, young cardinals, young blue jays, etc are ganged-up on and chased-off as soon as they land on the feeders. I'm even seeing less activity at the hummingbird feeders (maybe unrelated, although I have seen a sparrow perched on the hummingbird feeder). The only birds that seem to be able to fight back are the full grown male cardinal and blue jay.
We've already moved to black sunflower & safflower seed, and the sparrows approach the feeders from all angles so I don't see much use in hanging wire or a "halo." If things don't settle down in a few days, I plan to thin the house sparrow population at my feeder to allow all the other birds to return.
So this gets me to my questions:
- The female house sparrows look similar to song sparrows, are song sparrows as invasive as the house sparrow?
- What about other sparrows? Savannah, vesper, etc?
- I love seeing a variety of birds, which we've been fortunate to experience until the recent house sparrow takeover. Are there any other invasive birds I need to watch for around my feeders in Central Texas?
Thanks in advance for you help!
We've already moved to black sunflower & safflower seed, and the sparrows approach the feeders from all angles so I don't see much use in hanging wire or a "halo." If things don't settle down in a few days, I plan to thin the house sparrow population at my feeder to allow all the other birds to return.
So this gets me to my questions:
- The female house sparrows look similar to song sparrows, are song sparrows as invasive as the house sparrow?
- What about other sparrows? Savannah, vesper, etc?
- I love seeing a variety of birds, which we've been fortunate to experience until the recent house sparrow takeover. Are there any other invasive birds I need to watch for around my feeders in Central Texas?
Thanks in advance for you help!