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Hi all, we have some sparrows building a nest in our front porch roof. It’s lovely and of course we will leave them in please to raise their family. However my concern is that there are obviously gap in the roof and last year at the back of the house we sadly had to deal with a wasps nest in the eaves. This was very stressful for our autistic child. I really don’t want to risk having bees or wasps find this nesting site in the future as it is right by our front door so once the birds have left I would like to block up the hole. My first question is when will the sparrows be done with their nest? Do they have several broods across the season? Next question is if they have one clutch then I block the hole, will they cope with having to build again somewhere else? And finally, is there anything I can do to provide appropriate nesting sites for them in my garden but in a way which wouldn’t also leave us vulnerable to wasps or bees I.e. not in the eaves of the roof. Thanks for reading.
Sorry no one replied. Very quiet site.
Several broods. Not always obvious when the gaps are, though a porch is probably going to be easier to monitor. They do go elsewhere if they lose access to the original site.
Re bees and wasps, the only bee that is likely to use a nestbox is tree bumblebee. Totally harmless and docile. Had them here with no issues and they never came in the house. Wasps are far more likely to use the roof. We've had tree wasps in a nestbox in the garden, but never in the eaves, and they were also no trouble at all. You're probably referring to common wasps and German wasps, both of which are more likely in your roof as mentioned.
If you want house sparrows to nest, the best place for a nestbox is under the eaves.
Thank you for replying. Not sure what type of wasps we had last year but we sadly had to get rid of them at that time which I don’t like doing so would rather deter them from choosing our porch roof after the birds have vacated. It is quite nice to have the sparrows for now, I get a lovely view from the sofa since the porch is right outside the front window :-)
Re wasps, they don't use the same nest. They could well use the same access hole though. Get hornets in the area, which many people worry about. Were harmless though.