Classic house sparrow behavior. I have watched them stand guard on a nest box with an active tree swallow nest. They aggravate the parents and prevent feeding. The young either starve or poke their head out and the male house sparrow will yank them out and claim the nest box.
They are incessant. The will not quit until the swallows leave. The only remedy I have found is to move the next box as far from your house as possible. I wonder if they have this habit in their native habitat. ________________________________ From: bounce-126556677-88968...@list.cornell.edu <bounce-126556677-88968...@list.cornell.edu> on behalf of Fredric Kardon <fredrickar...@gmail.com> Sent: Monday, May 16, 2022 12:36:13 PM To: CAYUGABIRDS-L <cayugabird...@list.cornell.edu> Subject: [cayugabirds-l] dead swallow in nest box I have 2 nest boxes, about 20-30 feet apart, intended for bluebirds and tree swallows. Today I saw a male house sparrow sitting on top of one box--inside was a nest but no eggs. The other box had a dead tree swallow in it, no nest materials. Does anyone know what happened? Thanks, Fred Kardon -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: Welcome and Basics<http://www.northeastbirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME> Rules and Information<http://www.northeastbirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES> Subscribe, Configuration and Leave<http://www.northeastbirding.com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm> Archives: The Mail Archive<http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html> Surfbirds<http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds> BirdingOnThe.Net<http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html> Please submit your observations to eBird<http://ebird.org/content/ebird/>! -- -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
