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~Downey ruining birdhouse..what to do?~
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Posted by dakster (My Page) on Mon, Mar 8, 10 at 9:12
| I have a very persistent resident Downey who has decided that come hell or high water will live in my one and only nestbox. Which would be all well and good, as I'd love to host a family of woodpeckers, however, I have a hole reducer on the box as a HOSP deterrent. My neighbor's yard is a HOSP factory and it is all I can do to keep those things out of my nestbox. I use the hole reducer as well as the mylar strips which does keep them away..however I have only once hosted birds in it in 5 years..they were chickadees, and as they fledged were murdered by the HOSPs...it wasn't pretty. Wrens have built in it too, but never used it.
So..my question is..what do I do? Do I let the Downey win and take off the hole reducer or allow him to desecrate the box?
I have a now 7 month old baby, so constant monitoring is out of the question here. Thanks!
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Follow-Up Postings:
RE: ~Downey ruining birdhouse..what to do?~
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| You might as well let the woodpecker have it. With that many HOSPs around it's not really fair to have anybody nesting in there. Leave it as it is and let him do his thing! :) Woodpeckers are fun to watch, Just be glad hes not pecking on your house! |
RE: ~Downey ruining birdhouse..what to do?~
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| I'll take anything except HOSP. :) I live in a neighborhood setting..postage stamp sized lots that was built in the 40s-50s, so no bluebirds here...if I was close by to an open field I'd prolly get some though, but no dice. The HOSP are nasty friggin' non-native creatures. I do have a HOSP trap that I used last summer..the neighbor would breed them and I would trap them..it was a lovely cycle. I suppose you are right about letting the Downey have it..which is fine by me..I love those little woodpeckers..the problem I have is that I don't know if once the Downey makes the nest and lays the eggs, will the mylar scare them away as it will be in place to scare the HOSP. Bluebirds, wrens and Chickadees aren't bothered by the mylar strips so that was never an issue. IDK about the Downey and if they are afraid of the mylar strips then we run the risk of them abandoning their nest and or nestlings. BUT if I don't use the mylar the HOSP will enter the nestbox and peck the eggs out and kill nestlings if they are in there..they will also attack the roosting woodpecker too. Catch 22, no? |
RE: ~Downey ruining birdhouse..what to do?~
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| The mylar strips or sparrow spooker is something that is to be used ONLY after the first egg is laid of a native cavity nesting bird and once the brood fledges it is to be removed. Putting up a sparrow spooker/mylar strips and leaving them up will only end up in the HOSP getting used to them and not being afraid of them. It is a safety net for native cavity nesting birds during the nesting season (ie on an active nest) but should not be left up indefinately. I doubt if the Downey wants to nest there, they just like to peck away at wood on the boxes, mine do it all the time and I need to add new reducers again, they only do it here on our cedar boxes, the others they leave alone. Donna |
RE: ~Downey ruining birdhouse..what to do?~
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| OH well the Downey kept trying to physically get in..like he'd shove half his body into the hole and then keep trying..that's why I was under the impression he actually wanted to use the box for something else other than sharpening his bill. |
RE: ~Downey ruining birdhouse..what to do?~
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| My suggestion - take the house down. Why keep it up if nobody is using it, and the alternative is to take the hole reducer off only to let HOSP take over? |
RE: ~Downey ruining birdhouse..what to do?~
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| But but but..I dowanna take it down as I remain optimistic that some day someone WILL use it successfully. |
RE: ~Downey ruining birdhouse..what to do?~
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| How about relocating the house dakster? Maybe that would do the trick. I bet the Downy has only been using the box for roosting and isn't planning to nest there. I'd leave that hole reducer alone. You do NOT want to invite the HOSP's to nest. Is the house now located in a fairly wide open area? I like your optimism, and I don't think that you should ever give up hope. ;c) |
RE: ~Downey ruining birdhouse..what to do?~
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| Since the HOSP seem to like the house, let them have it. That is with a VanErt to trap them. They are persistent and don't give up so give them something to die for. Maybe then, you can attract a native pair of birds to enjoy. Out of 8 boxes in my yard, 5 have reducers and traps. You do have to watch them, though. A friend of mine learned the hard way that even if the trap isn't sprung, you still have to physically check the boxes (not just look for the orange dot with binocs). My friend felt terrible after finding a dead dee in an unsprung trap box. Poor thing managed to build a complete nest before being trapped. |
RE: ~Downey ruining birdhouse..what to do?~
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| The OP said she already doesn't have time to monitor the box as it is, so a trap is out of the question since it would require even more monitoring. Honestly dakster, if the one time you had a bird use the nest box they wound up being kill by HOSP, don't you think that it's better to take it down? I know that it's disappointing, but I think all of us can agree that the welfare of the birds is more important than our own enjoyment of them. Here's an idea, since you don't have time for to keep up with the box in your yard anyway, why don't you volunteer somewhere that involves birds? Maybe participate in a breeding bird survey, monitor a bluebird trail at your local nature center, help out at a rehab center, etc. That way you get the experience and enjoyment, contribute some volunteer time, without the hassle at home and not potentially putting your neighborhood birds at risk. |
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