House SparrowsPurple Martins

We have had a frustrating spring with our purple martins. We anxiously watched our purple martin homes waiting for them to return. When they did, the house sparrows tried to run them off. I watched as a small house sparrow literally chased a purple martin in the sky. It's like, come on guys, don't you know you are bigger than the house sparrows?
We have tried and tried to trap them. We finally were able to trap one male in a trap my husband built near the martin house. But another male house sparrow quickly took its place.
The house sparrows have made a nest in the purple martin house chamber, and we tore out the nest. Then, they went to the other side of the apartment and built a nest. We also set a trap in the nested chamber, and we could not catch them.
The purple martins have built nests in the chambers despite the sparrows. So, we have sparrows and purple martins all nesting in the same purple martin apartment house! I didn't think I would ever see that!
If anyone can tell me how to discourage the house sparrows PLEASE let me know.

Hi birder, Here is a page from Sialis, it should have all you need to know about dealing with House Sparrows. Be warned there are some graphic photos on the first page.

http://www.sialis.org/hosp.htm

We live on a farm that has had a sparrow infestation for years. They love the martin houses and will sit on the empty poles all winter long wistfully waiting for the houses to be erected.

If you see a sparrow nest any where you should remove it and destroy the nesting material totally.

Keep removing their nests from the martin house, once a month seems to work for us. If you feed birds in feeders you most likely are incouraging sparrows as they seem to eat any seed or grain.

Be persistant and don't give up, I've tried traps, they work but often desirable birds are caught.

Yes, we pull out nesting material weekly. They are tenacious little birds! We continue to increase our purple martin population. I guess the pm aren't going to let the sparrows run them off. We continue to try to trap and discourage the house sparrows.