Martin/sparrow cohabitation question

[art]

My T-14 has four pair of nesting martins for the first time ever. Three lowest apartments taken by sparrows that I have removed nests 3-4 times. At this point should I leave the sparrows alone in hopes they will not bother the martins? I am cautious about evicting sparrows again and igniting their wrath against the martins. I need experienced advice on this!!! Just purchased a decent pellet gun and hope to pick off sparrows when able.

[DornCounty]

feel free to evict them until the martins lay eggs. once they lay eggs if trapping is not an option.. then I would leave them, but maybe poke a small hole in the eggs so they don't hatch.

[Robbo]

Hi Art,
DO NOT LET HOSP's NEST! Under no circumstances! Trap/ shoot if you can, if you let them stay disaster awaits for your Purple Martin's! I am going through the same thing with my 2 T-14's and BO-11's and I will not stop dispatching of this vermon!

[DornCounty]

Hi Art,
DO NOT LET HOSP's NEST! Under no circumstances! Trap/ shoot if you can, if you let them stay disaster awaits for your Purple Martin's! I am going through the same thing with my 2 T-14's and BO-11's and I will not stop dispatching of this vermon!

Disagree.. There is ample evidence of sparrow revenge syndrome when nests are destroyed while martin eggs or young are present.

[Matt F.]

There is ample evidence of sparrow revenge syndrome when nests are destroyed while martin eggs or young are present.

I agree with Dorn about the house sparrow revenge.
Steve Kroenke noted this aggressive, vindictive behavior by male house sparrows some years back, and actually coined the phrase "house sparrow revenge syndrome".
Mike Scully has done numerous field tests, proving how real, and devastating "HSRS" can be.
As mentioned earlier, once your Martins have laid eggs, it's best to stop pulling out nests.
Only engage in trapping, and/or shooting, to kill the sparrows.
Once the nesting sparrows have been dispatched, then and only then can you safely tear out the sparrow nests.

[Leandortree]

Art,
Don't pull the HOSP nest(s), place a hole size reducer on the entry hole, and just leave them alone! Once you see them coming and going in and out, you have it made. This is what I do, and it works ! Buy a fresh sticky mouse trap, take a box cuter and cut a 3/4inch strip off the new sticky trap and place it just inside the entry hole across the hole (on the floor) so the sparrow has to step on it if it goes inside, you will have a sparrow caught by its feet! You will need a new strip for each set! Good luck get rid of them.
PS I don't usual use my costly T14s for trapping pests, I have traps set away from my martin housing. Trapping HOSP is an ongoing job, so if we host martins we need to invest in traps

[art]

Thank you all for the above advice. I will leave the sparrow nests intact and focus on adult elimination as per your suggestions. Hope you all have a productive martin year 2013.

[Gary W]

There is always the option of making the entry hole smaller for house sparrow compartments, so Martins cannot enter. Then place a mouse glue board in the HS compartment. That approach has worked well for me in the past. Fortunately, I haven't had any HS nests in two years.

Gary

[Bob Buskas]

Good advice here, I like leandortree's advice the best, but what ever you decide the HOSParrow will take revenge. If nothing else take the eggs out and drop them in boiling water, then place them back. But dont remove them or there will be hell to pay.