When I first started trying to attract bluebirds to my backyard, I set up two identical bluebird houses in different locations on our property. The nest boxes were spaced about 200 yards apart. So, in theory, there was plenty of room to attract a pair, or even two pairs of bluebirds. Luckily, one of the boxes was successful and we had a beautiful pair of eastern bluebirds that year! Unfortunately, house sparrows ended up finding the other nest box, and they wouldn’t leave it alone for the rest of the summer. So, I started asking myself, “How do you keep house sparrows out of your bluebird houses?”
Over sixteen years of experience with attracting bluebirds has given me a solid answer to that question.
The above photo by ibm4381 is licensed under CC BY 2.0
How to keep house sparrows out of bluebird houses
The best way to keep house sparrows out of your bluebird houses is to make your environment as unattractive as possible to house sparrows. Follow these five easy tactics:
- Set up your nest box in an open area, away from houses and barns
- Consider using a PVC-style bluebird house, like the “Gilbertson” nest box
- Don’t use cheap bird feed, like cracked corn, at your feeders
- Monitor your nest boxes regularly to remove house sparrow nests
- Set up a “sparrow-spooker” on active bluebird houses
Sparrow-Resistant Nest Box: The Gilbertson-style bluebird house is the nest box that I recommend if you have problems with House Sparrows. Get a Gilbertson-style nest box on Amazon here.
1. Set up your nest box in an open area, away from houses and barns
Photo by *Arielle* is licensed under CC BY 2.0
Bluebirds love open areas, like fields or golf courses, with plenty of low perches from which they can hunt. House sparrows, on the other hand, love to nest near barns and houses, which is where they get the name house sparrow. If you want to keep house sparrows out of your bluebird houses, mount your nest boxes in an open area, ideally 100 yards away from houses or barns. This environment will be a less attractive location for sparrows.
Even if you don’t have a spacious backyard, do your best to keep the nest box away from your house or barn. Barns, especially, are attractive to house sparrows because they love to eat animal feed. So, avoiding houses, barns, and other domestic locations for your nest box site will go a long way in keeping house sparrows out of your bluebird houses.
2. Consider using a PVC-style bluebird house, like the “Gilbertson” nest box
PVC-style bluebird houses, like the “Gilbertson” nest box, have been shown to be very effective at deterring house sparrows. The plastic pipe material and the shallow depth from the entrance hole to the nest box floor are two of the possible reasons that sparrows avoid Gilbertson nest boxes. The good news is that eastern bluebirds seem to prefer this box (source).
If you are having persistent problems with house sparrows using your bluebird houses, consider switching to a PVC-style Gilbertson nest box. You can get my favorite Gilbertson-style nest box on Amazon here.
Other types of sparrow-resistant nest boxes
Gilbertson is just one of the many “sparrow-resistant” nest box designs out there. There are so many designs that I decided to write an article going through the pros and cons of the best sparrow-resistant nest boxes. You can check that article out here.
3. Don’t use cheap bird feed, like cracked corn, at your feeders
If you’re an avid bluebird landlord, you probably enjoy watching other birds as well. I love to catch cardinals, blue jays, and red-bellied woodpeckers when they stop by my feeder. However, if you’re offering inexpensive, mixed bird feed at your bird feeder, you might be unintentionally attracting house sparrows to your yard. To keep house sparrows away from your bluebird houses, avoid using cheap bird feed like cracked corn and millet at your bird feeders.
House sparrows particularly devour corn, millet, and other cheap grain products. Not surprisingly, these cheap “filler” ingredients make up the bulk of a lot of the name-brand bird seed blends on the market. So, if you’re currently using a mixed bird seed that contains corn or millet, consider switching to a different type of bird seed that will be less attractive to sparrows.
What to use instead of cracked corn and millet
Black sunflower seeds, safflower seeds, nyger seeds, and peanuts are all great options for attracting desirable North American song birds. Save the cracked corn for the feed lot.
4. Monitor your nest boxes regularly to remove house sparrow nests
Monitoring your bluebird houses actively is one of the most important things you can do as a bluebird landlord. It’s probably even better to do nothing at all for bluebirds than to put up a nest box that you don’t plan to monitor. Monitoring bluebird houses is so important because, if you leave nest boxes unmonitored, house sparrows will likely claim them and drive bluebirds away.
Since male house sparrows are so incredibly territorial about their nesting sites, it’s important to remove house sparrow nests as soon as you see them. If you consistently remove house sparrow nests whenever you find them, the sparrows will likely move on and try to find a new nesting site. Click here for an article I wrote that can help you identify house sparrow nests.
Note: House sparrows are a non-native species to North America and are not protected by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act or the Migratory Birds Convention Act. So, you can legally remove their nests and eggs in the US and Canada.
5. Set up a “sparrow-spooker” on active bluebird houses
The fifth tactic you can use to keep house sparrows out of your bluebird houses is to set up a “sparrow-spooker” on active bluebird houses. Sparrow-spookers are a device that you mount on top of your bluebird nest box after the female bluebird has laid her first egg. The device allows strips of shiny streamers to hang down above the nest box, which discourage sparrows from using the box. Once you have eggs and/or baby bluebirds in the nest box, the last thing you want is for house sparrows to enter and harm your bluebirds! So, once your bluebirds lay their first egg, install a “sparrow-spooker” to keep the nest box safe.
You can build a sparrow-spooker yourself, or you can check out my Recommended Tools page here. There are only a few companies that manufacture sparrow-spookers, so I’ll try to keep my Recommended Tools page updated with the best place for you to get one.
How Sparrow-Spookers Work
The magic of the sparrow-spooker is that, while it will deter sparrows from entering the nest box, because the bluebirds are already so attached to the box because of their eggs, bluebirds will continue to use the box. So, in essence, bluebirds will enter the nest box, but sparrows won’t.
This will only work once bluebirds have laid an egg, however. If you set up the sparrow-spooker too early, while bluebirds are still building their nest, you’ll probably spook them away too. So, wait until the bluebirds have laid their first egg to install the sparrow-spooker. Then, once the baby bluebirds have fledged, remove the spooker and clean out the nest box. This way, you’ll encourage your bluebirds to check out the nest box again for their next nest.
If you’re interested in a more proactive method of deterring House Sparrows, read my other article called How to Deter House Sparrows with Fishing Line [Illustrated Guide] (click here to read).
If you want to attract bluebirds to your yard THIS YEAR, the best place to start is the Bluebird Landlord Audio Guide. In this audio guide, I’ll tell you everything you need to know about attracting bluebirds in just 59 minutes and 38 seconds.
Check out the Bluebird Landlord Audio Guide here.
How to Keep House Sparrows Out of Bluebird Houses
Materials
- Bluebird Nest Box (Wooden or PVC-pipe)
Instructions
- Set up your nest box in an open area, away from houses and barns
- Consider using a PVC-style bluebird house, like the "Gilbertson" nest box
- Don't use cheap bird feed, like cracked corn, at your feeders
- Monitor your nest boxes regularly to remove house sparrow nests
- Set up a "sparrow-spooker" on active bluebird houses
Conclusion: How to keep house sparrows out of bluebird houses
As you can see, while there’s no silver bullet for deterring house sparrows, there are MULTIPLE different tactics you can implement to keep sparrows out of your bluebird houses. Overall, if you pick a good nest box, mount it in a good location, and monitor your nest boxes regularly, you’ll be well on your way to attracting bluebirds and deterring house sparrows.
