A Sparrow Spooker Experiment

For two summers in a row, we have had sparrows nesting in our awning that covers the front porch. They actually are nesting in a part that I believe to be the gutter system for the awning.

I wanted to try keep the sparrows out. I was trying to figure out a way to block this area up. I thought about steel wool and maybe just some custom cut wood. And then I had a thought to do something like the sparrow spookers on bluebird houses.

So… I ventured out and bought a Coleman mylar emergency blanket and cut it into strips. I then taped these onto some heavy monofilament and attached to the awning.

I'm happy to report that so far so good. I saw one male checking things out when I only had the front strip on. He was quite concerned. Then I put the second sparser strip on and have yet to see anyone in the area.

Of course we ARE risking looking like the crazy neighbors who are afraid of alien invasion… but it does not look too terrible from the front.


By the way, I HATE this awning and was quite embarrassed to show it. But the greater good prevailed. When we get a new roof, I'm insisting on a new portico as well.

Let us know if this helps. :-)

Way to go Mrs. Ed...sure hope it works!! I never thought about one of those blankets for the spookers...had a terrible time finding mylar ribbon!!

So far so good!!! I read about the blanket somewhere. Let's see… either sialis or bluebird cafe. Good thing too, because I live in a small town and finding ANYTHING is difficult.

Hope it continues to work, because the bird poop was sooooo annoying.

BTW, my DH is totally jealous of my activity on daves' garden.

I dunno why, but I just had to tell someone who might understand!!

Hello all, I'm a new member, I just had to post to add my comment to this thread. It was brought to my attention by a fellow Bluebirder.

As you may know, a Bluebird can effectively defend its nestbox from a House Sparrow out in the open, but if the Sparrow enters the nestbox to carry out an attack on a nesting bird, the results can be gristly. Adults and babies have been discovered dead in the nest, pecked to death with the Sparrow's hard sharp beak. A Bluebird is no match for a House Sparrow in a battle in a confined area such as a nestbox. The Sparrows will often build their own nests on top of the bodies of the Bluebirds they have killed and left in the nest to decompose. It's not a pretty scenario, but that's just the way it is.

Bluebirders have been using "Sparrow Spookers" for a number of years now to prevent House Sparrow attacks on Bluebirds inside nestboxes. The shiny mylar material fluttering above the nestbox has been shown to deter the House Sparrows from entering a nestbox. A Sparrow Spooker is installed on the nestbox after the Bluebird lays its first egg in each nesting, and is removed promptly as soon as the fledglings leave the nest.

One of the primary reasons for doing it this way is that House Sparrows have proven themselves to be very adaptable - various styles of nestboxes have been tried, proclaimed to be "Sparrow-proof" or "Sparrow-resistant", only to have the House Sparrows become acclimated to them and begin using them. Even when a particular nestbox type seems not to be the House Sparrow's preferred nesting site, they will frequently enter these nestboxes just to 'eliminate the competition' by killing the Bluebirds. So Bluebirders use Spookers sparingly - very sparingly.

Thus I come to my reason for wishing to comment on this thread:

Using a "spooker-like" arrangement to keep House Sparrows off an awning or similar areas may work temporarily, but it is not likely to have much long-term success. And, even more important, it is very possible that the widespread use of spooker-like streamers in such situations could begin to limit their effectiveness when used on nestboxes!

There are many "Bird Scare" products and techniques available. One prominent company, Bird-X (which I am not affiliated with in any way), makes various ultrasonic repellers, spike strips, "terror-eyes" (flags that look like hawk or owl eyes) that could be used very effectively to keep ALL birds off areas that you don't wish to have nests and soiling.

Bluebirders have so few 'passive' tools available to control House Sparrow attacks against Bluebirds, we beg our gardening friends here not to spoil or take away one of the most effective tools we have just to protect property - when so many other tools are available to you.

Thank you for considering our request!

For more information on the problems House Sparrows pose to the Bluebird population, please visit Sialis.org

Ah, thanks for that. It is something to consider I suppose.

I live in town though, with no blue bird populations so had not even considered it.

I can appreciate that. But as House Sparrow populations in the towns increase, the pressure causes those on the fringes of the town to move further and further into the country. Eventually (theoretically, at least) town birds or the offspring of town birds that have become acclimated to those waving, fluttering mylar strips, could wind up in the country competing for nestboxes with Bluebirds.

Hi, all. New member here and wanted to join the discussion.

While I understand your dilemma with the sparrows (pigeons can be a nuisance here), I have to say that I agree with Miss_Moq's comments regarding the use of mylar strips to discourage your problem birds.

An aspect that has not been mentioned is that house sparrows are a threat to many cavity nesting birds besides bluebirds. Titmice, chickadees, nuthatches, wrens, and tree swallows are all in danger from house sparrows when the sparrow becomes interested in their nesting site. The damage the sparrows cause would astound and sicken anyone who discovered the destruction. Many of our native birds and their young are in grave danger when caught inside a nest box by a sparrow.

Do you or some of your neighbors have bird nest boxes in your yards? If that is the case, maybe you could use the mylar strips on those boxes to protect the birds within. When used properly as described above, a "sparrow spooker" is very effective for that purpose.

House sparrows are very smart birds and will most likely soon become habituated to the fluttering strips on the awning if you were to leave them in place. Please, please consider another method of discouraging your problem birds. It would be a great service to native birds everywhere if you would use one of the many alternatives available.

I hear you both… I'm looking into it.

Thanks!!!

I think that a rubber snake laying "in wait" on the nesting area of the awning should work. They are realistic and cheap enough that the kids in the neighborhood have been using them to scare each other with. One of the parents adopted one to keep the swallows from building a nest on his window frame again this year and it seemed to have worked. The swallows now live two doors down from their former home.

Thanks for the suggestion, I'm considering all options. The mylar is down, and the sparrows have returned to roosting in the gutter portion of this awning. I'm probably going to stuff the holes with some wire mesh or bird netting. Maybe I'll add a snake to that too.