Skylights deter sparrows

[Julie]

I tried to post this a bit ago, but my posts kept disappearing. So I apologize in advance if this becomes a duplicate post. Our PA Bluebird Society suggests using plexiglass skylights in bluebird house roofs to deter sparrows. I do not know if it deters other native species, such as chickadees or swallows. This video shows how to do it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XxYDkEe5avM

This article repeats the video how-to and has a nice materials list: http://www.bluebirdconservation.com/2013/03/discourage-house-sparrows-by-adding-a-skylight/

Here is Dean Rust’s comment about how this came about & how it works:
“I took over a 20 box trail at Hempfield High School in 2012 that was completely infested with Sparrows due to lack of monitoring. After reading an article in Birds and Blooms that suggested letting light into the boxes to deter sparrows, I started drilling 2 1/2″ holes in the tops of the boxes and then covering them over with plexiglass to keep the water out. Within the first year the 15 boxes that I put skylights in were sparrow free, but the remaining 5 boxes had sparrows in them. So I decided to complete the trail so all 20 boxes had skylights. After doing that, the trail was completely sparrow free. To this day (5-5-15) the trail is completely sparrow free!”

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