For anyone squeamish, don't read on......

As mentioned previously, and quite timely.....I came home to find the house sparrows are no longer happy with taking over the swift box, the martin nest cups, use the sparrow terrace and make use of the holes under the tiles into the soffits, one had decided to take over the chosen blue tit nest box. I typed only last week they were weighing up two boxes. Seemed like they had decided on the woodpecker damaged hardwood one......and today, so it seems, did a house sparrow. I am fairly certain a blue tit was already inside when I took the photo.....

I have house martins and sporadic swift nests here (box visible in the photo and securely blocked to stop sparrows getting in that one.....they get in the other one which is harder for me to reach). I find it extremely frustrating that people encourage house sparrows in rural areas where they have not been in decline. The statistics are used by bird food industry and bird charities to highlight the decline of house sparrows....fair enough. But, using 1960's as a comparison is ridiculous. There will never be a recovery to 1960's levels. Impossible. No chance. Urban gardens will never return. Building & roof repairs will never be at 1960's levels. Urban insect populations will never be at 1960's levels etc etc. Yet, people are misinformed to believe they are still declining and need all the help. Their population however is up in Wales and in many areas historically known as house martin areas.

Sadly, the house sparrow was wedged and unable to get out. There's also every chance the blue tits won't nest there now either. Sparrows, as much as they're part of the biodiversity, are destructive. They take over nest sites and, at least here, more than half of those taken over sites never get used in the end.

In reply to ItisaRobbo:

My personal observation is that house martins will readily adopt new builds - plenty of supply of mud and puddles during the construction. After several years of peoples' cars being crapped on, those people (legally) knock down the natural house martins' nests during the winter. Returning martins don't have the resources to rebuild. They then have to locate a new nesting site. Quite possibly then reducing their breeding success to one brood, as opposed to a possibility of two broods. Just a direct observation on having lived on/adjacent to new developments.

Of course, 'house' martins have never been 'house' martins for all of their existence.

Metal plates can be deployed on/over/around nest box holes to prevent enlargement of the entrance hole. Although nuthatches will repair/reduce nesthole size with mud (should any be available).

Willow tits much prefer to excavate a new hole each breedingseason. Which requires standing deadwood. Rather decrepit dead wood. But dead wood is deemed a risk to human wellbeing and is regularly felled.

It's incredibly complex for such a simple creature as H. sapiens

In reply to ItisaRobbo:

Looks like the poor bird broke its neck stuck in the box. I was going to mention the house sparrow situation, looks like you have answered that question. I would have the same questions as you do with the national trust, motives etc. I enjoy feeding a hungry animal, that is the pleasure I get from feeding the birds and thinking I am helping. But as discussed earlier I and others who feed might not be helping in the way we think. I hope the house martins and swift circumstances pans out in your and their favour.

In reply to Paul I:

Thanks and thanks also for reading what I wrote. I fluctuate between not bothering to keep writing similar and doing so. Ultimately, people just believe what they want to, and it's got worse in recent decades with people preferring to just guess and bluff to support their opinions. Certainly doesn't help when having to explain views that aren't politically correct. Much easier to blame habitat loss and climate change (which are genuine events and reasons), than blame nest predation and inter-species conflicts (which are also genuine but very few want to admit to).

In reply to tuwit:

tuwit said:
They then have to locate a new nesting site. Quite possibly then reducing their breeding success to one brood, as opposed to a possibility of two broods.

Attempt.....

In reply to ItisaRobbo:

They are all nesting attempts, the succes of which is influenced by multiple factors. Weather, food availability. Availability of nest sites. Faithfulness to nest sites (which possibly ties back into things like historic food availability and previous success).

I lived in one place for over a decade and didn't see a single house spadger (despite erecting suitable nestboxes, in suitable locations). I saw a small breeding martin population disappear after their nests were legally removed.

Species distribution is not simple. People have repeatedly told me over the past decade that red kite are everywhere. Everywhere except 'here' apparently (although I could drive some distance and reliably see them).

Nesting site competition.

A blue tit will start a nest, and a great tit will appropriate the nest. Happens all the time. Mostly unseen.

A queen wasp could also move in early.

I once had a (wooden) nest box up somewhere that a grey squirrel appropriated. After it had vacated its winter accomodation I replaced it with a woodcrete box, with an entry hole of the same size as the original wood constructed nest box. Woodcrete stuff - supposedly 'bomb proof'. My assessment is that it is partially grey squirrel proof. The squirrel liked the location and attempted to increase the size of the entry hole. It partially succeeded.

The manufacturer supplied a new 'face-plate' for the nest box on account of the actions of the grey squirrel.

A grey squirrel was, in the meantime, found dead, rather emaciated and lacking rodent incisors. May not have been the culprit, but the circumatial evidence is strong.

Woodcrete nest boxes - a pox on the grey squirrel :)

(N.B. been casually watching house martins and their relationships with building operations for over 50 years.)

Incase there is a risk of history being rewritten again...... at no stage have I said house martins are declining purely because of sparrows. I've even referred to climate change and farming practices. There's also untimely bad weather on migration and bad Summer weather.....and human involvement....probably the top six with sparrows/nest predation one way or another being the other factor.

Don't also rewrite history to suggest I said about sparrows taking over nests being a new thing or that other species didn't until recently. What has failed to be understood is the point about human involvement making more dominant/benefiting species doing so on a much larger scale. Likewise willow tit. Whether they excavate their own nest site (which is common knowledge) is irrelevant if it is taken over regardless. Fresh science is freely available and out there.

Rather than respond to all the other things I disagree with, having casual and more specifically direct involvement over generations, I'll just finish off with addressing the 'legal' removal of nests in Winter. Those same people don't want nests 24x7x365. The returning house martins will want to continue where they successfully left off. Pretending they come back, see a nest missing and go and successfully breed elsewhere suggests a gap in knowledge. I see that gap in knowledge regularly, and it's sometimes RSPB staff referring to sparrows taking over new martin nests on reserves. Naive to expect that martin population to be there in a decade.......and will RSPB staff take down those feeders????

Are these the same fat balls? Also should I clean my garden path grate.