Sparrows!

[AE-NMidlands]

Do you like them or not? I definitely do, cheerful chirpy things. Apparently their numbers are dropping due to loss of nest sites (as people repair and upgrade roofs, denying the poor things access to attics and roof-spaces to nest in.)

Quite a long time ago I found a plan for a "sparrow terrace," a triple nest box which is apparently what they need due to their normally nesting comunally. I have now made it, mostly from scrap wood, and will put it up in the early spring. One thing that concerns me slightly is that I mentioned what I was doing to a friend and he said they had inherited one on the house they bought, he never knew what it was - and wasn't aware that it had ever been used! Has anybody got any experience of these?

I have drawn a blank on web searches to see if I can find any reports of whether they get used, so I shall just have to wait and see!

Neighbours over the road have sparrows in their loft and they say they can hear them but are not inconvenienced by them. I'm wondering whether sparrows actually need to be able to see and hear each other, so a wider, open-floored nest box might work better? One idea I have had is to take a header brick out of the gable end and fix an entry restrictor and a wide nesting box to the inside of the wall, maybe with some loft insulation in it as bedding!
Am I mad?
A

[Bugtownboy]

Nope - thoughtful.

Sparrows have shown one of the most precipitous declines of ‘common’ birds.

I like them - it’s that ‘cheeky chappy’ attitude - always gossiping.

Anything to support them

[Stig]

I used to get sparrows nesting on top if the brick outer wall behind the barge boards right near the apex of the roof (west facing)*. Then I had to have new tough outer barge boards & soffits fitted to keep the b*astard squirrels out -been feeling a bit guilty about the sparrows every since. They would only be there in the spring nesting season, I'm guessing any later in the year it would get too hot in the evenings. I heard a bit of chattering and there was very occasionally a dropping on the loft insulation but I was happy to have them as tenants, the squirrels not so much!

I'd like to put up nesting boxes as compensation but I'm really not happy on ladders and there's a garage on that side anyway.

* My house is timber framed with an outer brick skin to keep the weather off.

[Fintray]

I also like sparrows, we've had a "squadron", as the wife calls them, of them nesting under our roof ever since we moved to this house. Often look out of the bedroom window and there will be a few of them sitting on the guttering chattering away. Had to cut out a section of plasterboard a couple of times to rescue young that have fallen from their nests down the back of the wall.
I'm going to put some mesh up behind where they nest to prevent any further falls down into the wall void when I insulate a section of upstairs wall.

[Marcus]

When I got planning to build a house I was required to submit a plan for the sparrows nesting in the ends of the dilapidated static caravan before I could proceed. The plan was basically putting up nest boxes to replace the static.

I build a triple nest box - probably the same design as you have - and was given a couple if single boxes by a neighbour, and put them up in the end of the tractor shed. The static was dragged out into the field and is still there, several years later. The static continued to be used by the sparrows for a few years but is falling apart, and i don't think they nest in it anymore, so I have started to dismantle it.

The nest boxes were not used for a few years, but I have seen sparrows enter them during the spring in the last couple of years, but was not convinced they were actually nesting in them (I should lift the lid and see if they look used sometime...).

The sparrows do like to roost in the corrugations of the barn roof, and are always playing/squabbling up there, so I have wondered if I ought move the nest boxes up into the barn roof? (There was little info when i looked on wether the location was important and what to look for or avoid). But moving them now might disturb them if they have started to utilise them where they are so I haven't made a decision on that.

[Countrypaul]

Why not just add some extra ones, given how badly sparrow population has declined extra good nesting sites might help them

[Bugtownboy]

We do have a lot of older houses/buildings around us - some dating back to the late 1600’s / early 1700’s.

I’m sure the older houses (ours is 1929) have more gaps that birds - such as Sparrows and Starlings - can utilise.

We also have a reasonable population of Swift (20-30) around us in the Summer, which I love.

The screaming squadrons are so evocative but, sadly, becoming increasingly uncommon.

[Marcus]

Why not just add some extra ones, given how badly sparrow population has declined extra good nesting sites might help them

Frugality partly:- i don't have time to make another, and if they're not being used where they are there's no point in leaving them there.

But also, like AEM, I'm not convinced these nest boxes are what the sparrows want, and perhaps something more like dilapidated eaves would work better.

[resybaby]

A bit of a passion (weakness maybe) of mine.

We have gazillions of Sparrows around here, so during Covid while shielding at home i made up loads of birdboxes for neighbours.
I too discovered that sparrows prefer terraces of boxes and let my 8magination run amok with (barmy) designs, some with considerable amounts of 'nest holes'.
Im happy to confirm that all of our multiple hole boxes are very very popular, some 'holes' being used two or three times per season, and some of the barmy designs having north of 50% occupancy - which equates to quite a few nests in a 27 hole variety! More flying things in the sky than Heathrow airport in my garden, but of course, we have a high population here to start with.

Anyway, a few photos of some of them.

I have a 12 hole 2.5m high tower fixed to the gable wall on the house with a side hinged front, (same as purple one but bigger), thats impossible to get a photo of given its position, but its very popular.

Best tip i can give is to make sure there is an easy way to clean the old nests out without substantial dismantling.

Recommended entry hole size is 32mm, but all mine are 30mm as i have cobalt hole saws of that size to cut the stone hole surrounds.

With the exception of the blue 8 hole version, all mine have either a hinged front or base or a side hinge to allow simple access for this. The 8 hole blue one was my first build - and needs the front removing to clean, which is more of a faff and where i learned to do it a different way.

[Marcus]

Good to know. Couple of questions:-

What is the different coloured shape around the holes on some of your boxes? And is it important?

If you know: is there a consideration on placement that's important to the sparrows? (e.g. directly under eaves but not under roof (like inside my barn would be). Or minimum height off the ground? Does facing a wall put them off?

I've just looked into the triple box:- just spider webs . And I made it with a lid that lifts rather than a bottom that drops, alas (thought sparrows could do their own housekeeping).
I do have 32mm holes though (32mm is a standard electrical gland size).