I'm new here, have questions

[Faith]

Hi everyone, I'm happy to be here and look forward to learning more about Purple Martins. I've been watching my neighbor's colony for a few years since I moved into this house, and had always wanted my own Purple Martin condo for my yard. A year ago last Christmas, my husband bought me one, and we put it up too late last year (last day of May.) Actually, my neighbor's boyfriend told us it was too late, so I was saddened to see it closed up (by hubby) and waited until this year. We put it up again in the second week of May (I'm on Long Island NY) and a house sparrow built a few nests in it. My husband took it down, cleaned it out, only to find within the next day or so that another nest was being built. I called the Purple Martin Conservation Association and left a voice mail, I really needed advice about what to do. I didn't hear back and decided to join this organization where I could meet others who share my love for birds and can give me advice.

Anyway, on June 1st I opened my back blinds and was thrilled to see Purple Martins flying around the condo! (Maybe I didn't put it up too late last year? After all, I got my first sub adults on June 1st). They were definitely interested, and I could barely keep my eyes off of these fascinating creatures as they swooped around, attempting to land, and being chased away by the house sparrow. By the end of the day, I was thrilled that two of them had settled in, and by morning time, they had spent the night. On June 2nd, there was a second pair. The interesting thing is, the house sparrow is living on one side of the condo, and the 4 Purple Martins on the other side; which I'm glad is the one facing my house. I love watching them, and it seems as if they are not bothering each other. Yesterday there were two Purple Martins who attempted to land on the sparrows side and she chased them. Yet when the Purple Martins fly by her on her side she doesn't seem phased. Has this ever happened to any of you? I'm concerned that the house sparrow might try to damage the PM eggs and don't know if there is anything I can do to avoid that. The PMs spend a lot of time on the balcony as if they are guarding the house. I'd love to hear what others here think about this situation. Thanks in advance for your feedback and advice, have a wonderful day!

[Faith]

I actually just saw two PMs land on the other side of the house where I think the sparrow has her nest. I don’t know if they’ve been sleeping there, or if that would even be possible since the sparrow goes back-and-forth between the tree and the other side of the house. I’m looking forward to seeing what others here think. Thanks again in advance.

[msh55]

Hi and glad you're starting a new colony! I have been a landlord for about 12 or 13 years and I'm still learning! I have to constantly battle the sparrows; you just have to be persistent and clean out the nests or they will take over the house/colony. Sparrows are very aggressive. I have had to take out their nests 4 or 5 times before they finally give up. I know some people will try to trap the sparrows and dispose of them. I'm not able to do that as I have too many cats around who would scare the sparrows away from the trap.

One of the things I've had to learn the hard way is to be on the guard for predators. I live in Texas on acreage and racoons are a big problem. Be sure you have a predator guard! Snakes are not an issue because of my cats.

I love watching the PM's and look forward to their arrival every year. My PM's start arriving around Valentine's Day and are gone by the 4th of July.
Have fun with them.
Melinda

[brent]

Unfortunately, house sparrows will eventually take over. If a pair tries to nest in my Trendsetter house I use the universal sparrow trap to trap them. I would advise not to let the sparrows nest in your martin house. Good luck! Brent

[Unk Bond]

Hello
Clean the sparrow. nest out

And close that entrance cavity off for a week
That sparrow needs to lay
9 times out of ten It will deter the sparrow.

To make a new nest away from your Martin house
Seems a sparrow. is like a Martin they choose one
entrance cavity tor there nesting

A couple times disrupting them They move on
Generally if a sparrow is not causing any trouble
Let it lay its eggs

And then close the entrance cavity off for a week

Later Unk

[Faith]

Hi and glad you're starting a new colony! I have been a landlord for about 12 or 13 years and I'm still learning! I have to constantly battle the sparrows; you just have to be persistent and clean out the nests or they will take over the house/colony. Sparrows are very aggressive. I have had to take out their nests 4 or 5 times before they finally give up. I know some people will try to trap the sparrows and dispose of them. I'm not able to do that as I have too many cats around who would scare the sparrows away from the trap.

One of the things I've had to learn the hard way is to be on the guard for predators. I live in Texas on acreage and racoons are a big problem. Be sure you have a predator guard! Snakes are not an issue because of my cats.

I love watching the PM's and look forward to their arrival every year. My PM's start arriving around Valentine's Day and are gone by the 4th of July.
Have fun with them.
Melinda

Thanks Melinda, I definitely have the PMs on the other side of the house as well, so I believe I have 3 pairs, which I'm really excited about. I don't know if the sparrow still has her nest, or if her babies have fledged. This is all new to me, and I have a lot to learn. Do you take down the house to remove the sparrow nests even when the PMs are using the house? I'd rather wait until the end of the season for my husband to take the house down and clean it out.

Owls aren't a problem here, but you never know, so I'll look into the guards. Thanks again, and have a wonderful day!

[Faith]

Unfortunately, house sparrows will eventually take over. If a pair tries to nest in my Trendsetter house I use the universal sparrow trap to trap them. I would advise not to let the sparrows nest in your martin house. Good luck! Brent

Thanks Brent, I'm not sure if the sparrow is still nesting in the house or just hanging out there. She used to be there most of the day and now it seems like she just stops by. I definitely have a pair of PMs on the side where she had her nest. One of the compartments where the sparrow built a nest is in the front where the 2 pairs of PMs are. A starling started to pull the nest out and flew away when my dog barked. As a result, there's one compartment that's blocked off with the nesting materials stuffed into it. The PMs were trying to pull some of the hanging parts off but gave up and are using other compartments. This is all new to my husband and I, and I'd like to wait until the end of the summer to have him clean everything out so as not to disturb my PMs. I hope this is okay. I'm intrigued by the universal sparrow trap, will look into it and see if it would work for us. Thanks again, and have a great day!

[Faith]

Hello
Clean the sparrow. nest out

And close that entrance cavity off for a week
That sparrow needs to lay
9 times out of ten It will deter the sparrow.

To make a new nest away from your Martin house
Seems a sparrow. is like a Martin they choose one
entrance cavity tor there nesting

A couple times disrupting them They move on
Generally if a sparrow is not causing any trouble
Let it lay its eggs

And then close the entrance cavity off for a week

Later Unk

Hi Unk, I'm not sure if the sparrow is actually nesting there. She flies back and forth between a tree and the house and is visiting less now that I have PMs on both sides. There's one compartment that's blocked off with the nesting materials stuffed into it. The PMs were trying to pull some of the hanging parts off but gave up and are using other compartments. I'm hoping that the sparrow gave up too! If you see a sparrow has built a nest, would you take the house down even if the PMs are nesting there and remove the sparrow nest? Does that disturb the PMs? Please forgive my ignorance, this is all new to me. I love birds, and I especially love my new PM tenants and want to keep them happy. I'm hoping it will go well for the rest of the summer and the PMs will be able to have their babies without any problems from the sparrows. Then at the end of the summer, my husband will clean out the house and close it up until next year. Fingers crossed! Please let me know your thoughts on this, thanks so much.

[SE Wisc hopefull]

Wishing you great success and appreciate your desire to gain more advice. When I started, I leaned heavily on this forum (and still do). I tried for so many years with little success, but I never put 100% effort into House Sparrow efforts. Prior to last season I went 100% in and trapped and shot every Sparrow that showed (42 in total) and I think that was the key to success last year and building daily on my flock this year.

I have found Sparrows to be amazingly aggressive and persistent. Cleaning out nests never amounted to anything for me.

[Faith]

Wishing you great success and appreciate your desire to gain more advice. When I started, I leaned heavily on this forum (and still do). I tried for so many years with little success, but I never put 100% effort into House Sparrow efforts. Prior to last season I went 100% in and trapped and shot every Sparrow that showed (42 in total) and I think that was the key to success last year and building daily on my flock this year.

I have found Sparrows to be amazingly aggressive and persistent. Cleaning out nests never amounted to anything for me.

Thanks for your encouragement, I'm glad I found this forum and look forward to learning a lot more. Wow! 42 sparrows showing up is a lot, I'm glad you were able to take care of the problem. I don't think we want to shoot the sparrows, as our property is close to our neighbors (and I don't think I could stomach it lol) but I'm glad it works for you.

[Conrad Baker]

. I don't think we want to shoot the sparrows, as our property is close to our neighbors (and I don't think I could stomach it lol) but I'm glad it works for you.

Welcome to the Forum, lots to be learned here from many knowledgeable Martin lovers. I know it isn't an easy task to shoot the sparrows, especially when some folks are squeamish, but it only takes one or two times of cleaning your houses and finding dead Purple Martins with their head pecked to death, or a nest full of eggs that have been pecked and destroyed for you to understand how important it is to "remove" the sparrows. If you clean out a sparrow nest and don't get rid of the sparrow(s), they will seek vengeance on the Martins by attacking them and pecking their eggs. The sparrow is much more aggressive than the Martins, and will win every time until the Martins are dead, or until you rid the colony of the sparrow. I would much rather remove dead sparrows than dead Martins or damaged eggs. Good Luck!

[Martintown33]

Congrats on your colony beginning! It is a blessing you will enjoy and be amazed by for years to come.. but the others are correct.. we have all learned through first hand experience that the house sparrows are aggressive killers.. don’t be fooled by their “cute” facade! Your house should be on a type of pole that is easily lowered.. for trapping , monitoring etc.. and learning to use a pellet gun with accuracy is vital.. if you’re unable to shoot in your area, then trapping is a must… we are all hear to help you along your journey, of enjoying these awesome birds.. but HOSPS and purple martins do not mix… the HOSPS will eventually surprise you their sneaky cruelty..
Congrats and good luck!
Rob

[Mstan]

It’s the not so fun part of being a Martin Landlord. Everything said about the hosp is true, I found out this year how devastating hosp can be. One day I found 20 or more destroyed eggs along with several dead hatchlings. There is no peace with the hosp. I have a repeating trap out and was blessed with other types of traps from a good brother. Strategize and go on the offense against these destroyers.

[C.C.Martins]

Faith,
Welcome and you are in the right place, each of us has a deep love for them and we are here to help. PMCA is usually on the ball, dont be dissuaded by leaving a message, lots of help available there.
Congrats on your martins!

I will provide a word of caution however, do not be fooled by the fact they seem to get along. The martins are fully aware of the dangers the house sparrows pose. And once a few years pass you will be able to see the tension in them when they appear.
We have all lost eggs and chicks to them, the stories are legion. Some sage advice from great landlords earlier.

Its a wonderful lifestyle, yet hard. You have accepted the responsibility of hosting them, now some hard things need to happen to keep them healthy, happy and safe. One of those is ridding the house of sparrows. Do not allow the sparrows to get a foot hold.
I won't go into how, the decision is yours but it needs to be done. Do a quick search in the forum for "sparrows."
We are here to help, not dissuade...lots and lots of years of experience in hosting them, some very smart folks here. Trust us.
Best
Tom

[Faith]

Thanks so much for all of your help. I'm so stressed! The PMs have been doing so well, but I haven't seen them for a few hours. I did, however see two house sparrows on the outside of the house going into the PM compartments! My husband is getting his pellet gun ready, but I'm nervous. This is so upsetting to me, if we get rid of the sparrow nests and sparrows, and (I hate to say this) dead PM eggs or babies, will my PMs come back? Thank you again for your advice and support.

[Faith]

I forgot to ask another question, I stood under the house and heard house sparrows. What if the house sparrows had a nest on the other side of the PM house where they have been visiting. If we take the house down and see live baby birds, what should we do? And how would we know if they were house sparrows or PMs? This is all so awful, I can't believe how terrible the house sparrows are! Thanks again for your help.

[Martintown33]

Hi faith. If your martins haven’t started nesting or laying eggs, then it’s not unusual for them to “disappear” for a few hours. It’s not easy to tell very young baby martins from baby hosps except by size. But you can tell by the nest the eggs or chicks are in. A sparrow will completely plug up the compartment with dried grass, string etc, and have a “tunnel” like shape in the middle of the bundle of material. A Martin nest will be 1 to 2 inches thick, with a bowl like shape in the middle, made of hay or pine needles ,maybe a few sticks and some leaves on top.
Good luck
Rob

[Faith]

Hi faith. If your martins haven’t started nesting or laying eggs, then it’s not unusual for them to “disappear” for a few hours. It’s not easy to tell very young baby martins from baby hosps except by size. But you can tell by the nest the eggs or chicks are in. A sparrow will completely plug up the compartment with dried grass, string etc, and have a “tunnel” like shape in the middle of the bundle of material. A Martin nest will be 1 to 2 inches thick, with a bowl like shape in the middle, made of hay or pine needles ,maybe a few sticks and some leaves on top.
Good luck
Rob

Thanks Rob,

The sparrows have been on the top level of the same side now with the PMs on the bottom. A few times today, when only the sparrows were there, I went outside and chased them away with a broom. It got to the point where all I had to do was open the door and the house sparrows would fly away. Of course I can’t do this if there is a Purple Martin on the house.

The one compartment that looks completely closed up, which is what happened when a starling started to pull the sparrows nest out (and then flew away when my dog barked) I had assumed was completely blocking that compartment, but maybe there is a small tunnel there. So now I’m wondering if we should just take the house down and pull that whole compartment out. But I don’t want the sparrows to get angry and then kill all of the PM eggs assuming that they’re still alive, and again, assuming there are PM eggs in the nests.

I’m just hoping that my precious PMs will stay safe and not be hurt or kicked out of their house. There’s so much more to learn, but I must say that in my short time here I am learning that I don’t like sparrows at all! So until now, I thought I loved all birds, but not anymore. Thanks again.

[Martintown33]

Hi faith. Yes the hosp nest compartment will look “plugged up” but there is a tunnel in it. Do you know for sure that you have Martin eggs in any of the compartments?
Rob

[Faith]

Hi Rob, i’m not sure because we haven’t taken it down to look. But there is what I think is a male sub adult PM that seems to be guarding one of the compartments where the female goes in and out of. The sparrows are now on the same side of the house which faces my backyard, and what was completely plugged in now has a hole in it so I do believe that the two sparrows have some eggs in there. I did have two pairs of PMs on this side of the house facing my yard, but have only seen the first original pair on that side now.

So the top balcony has two sparrows, and the bottom balcony has the two PMs. I did see PMs landing on the other side of the house, but it’s hard to tell if they’re staying the night.

I’ll be honest with you, I don’t believe I’ll ever have the heart to kill the house sparrows but my husband did take a couple of shots and it seemed to scare them away for awhile. I actually got to the point the other day where I was chasing the HOSP away with the broom ( when the PMs weren’t there) and sometimes when I open my back door the HOSP will fly away. The PMs don’t usually fly away. Yesterday we had some trees taken down on the side of the house and I was happy to see that the PM pair didn’t seem phased.

Please let me know your thoughts again, thank you so much. Have a wonderful day!