Thanks for your reply. A little over ten years ago, before I retired, my class and I oversaw a bluebird trail we erected around our school. We did get house sparrows there, and as I remember, I addled their eggs. The one year had them on my property, I used fishing wire on the bluebird’s house to discourage the HOSP. Would that or a spooker work if I put it on the box they’re interested in? Is it possible for the HOSP and EABL to co-exist in different houses 15 feet apart? Or are the house sparrows unwilling to share the airspace? One last question. Is it early for the house sparrows to consider nesting? My only experience of them is that they’ve arrived after the EABL.
As you can tell from my questions, I’m very reluctant to trap and euthanize. If it came to it, I might prefer taking down my houses. I know from what you told me, you struggled with the situation yourself; so I hope you’ll understand why I’m asking all these questions before I make any final decision.