1940LaSalle
New member
A bluebird nesting pair arrived here (southern NJ, near Philadelphia) on 13 March. Within 48 hours, house sparrows had driven them away and I haven't seen them since. I was going to deploy a sparrow spooker made per instructions on sialis.org, but never got the chance, since that site recommends waiting to do so until there are bluebird eggs in the nest box.
So: am I stuck waiting until March 2025 and hoping a nesting pair will arrive, or is there anything that can be done to induce bluebirds to come back even though those infernal house sparrows drove them off? And if/when bluebirds do return, what can I do to keep house sparrows away from the outset? Is the timing of deploying a sparrow spooker that critical that I have to wait and risk another incident?
If I had anything to say about it, that invasive introduced species known as house sparrows would be extinct in a wide belt running from Boston to Washington, with Philadelphia as the buckle of that belt.
So: am I stuck waiting until March 2025 and hoping a nesting pair will arrive, or is there anything that can be done to induce bluebirds to come back even though those infernal house sparrows drove them off? And if/when bluebirds do return, what can I do to keep house sparrows away from the outset? Is the timing of deploying a sparrow spooker that critical that I have to wait and risk another incident?
If I had anything to say about it, that invasive introduced species known as house sparrows would be extinct in a wide belt running from Boston to Washington, with Philadelphia as the buckle of that belt.
