Fighting with Sparrows
 Bermuda bluebird |
I've got a bluebird box in my garden and every year around April bluebirds come and start sitting on the top and suddenly my back yard becomes just as exciting as any wildlife documentary. I kneel on top of my toilet seat and peer out my window hoping to catch a glimpse of the beautiful bluebirds as they begin to claim the box and build their nest. These birds are native to Bermuda and rely on bird boxes that people put up in their gardens since their original homes, endemic cedar trees, were attacked by an invasive insect and were almost wiped out. They are a joy to watch and I adore looking after their nest and making sure that nothing bad happens to it while the chicks hatch and fledge. However, putting up a box doesn't always result in a happy pair of nesting bluebirds. This year, I put my box up and noticed bluebirds there the next day but they were not alone. The sparrows, an introduced species, were flitting about and trying to claim the box themselves. The bluebirds put up a good fight but by the end of the day the sparrows had won and my little blue friends were nowhere to be seen.
I went out every day and removed the sparrows nest, since they are a pest here, but they did not take the hint and continued to put nest material in the box every day. In the end I gave up and left the box open for a week hoping that the sparrows would nest somewhere else and then the bluebirds would have another chance when I closed it again. I'll have to see what happens but I am determined not to let the sparrows win this time.
A friend of mine is a hardcore environmentalist and a big bluebird fan. He traps sparrows and and kills them in order to help the bluebirds. He told me to try and trap the male sparrow in the box and catch it in a plastic bag then hit the bag onto concrete really fast to kill the bird! I just can't do that even though I know it would be the best thing to do for environmental conservation. This is the thing I hate the most about environmentalism... you can't be too much of an animal lover because the culling of invasive animals (like pigeons and rats) is the only solution for many endangered species.
Poor sparrows! It's not their fault that some idiot from England brought them here but if we don't do something about them, the bluebirds will always be threatened. This is the case for many invasive species. It just seems ironic that here we are fighting with sparrows but in England they are fighting to save them. Equally strange... the Bermuda endemic cedar tree is threatened here by invasive species and yet on Ascension island, where this Bermudian species has been introduced, it is now becoming invasive!
More Links:
Invasive Species, Here and Everywhere... an artcile in Bermuda's Royal Gazette
Invasive Species Weblog
Comments
You need a sparrowhawk, are there no endemic hawks in Bermudas! I have trouble with my sparrow in the garden, it eats all my blackbirds.
Posted by: Ann Novek | May 1, 2006 05:53 AM
I have problems with sparrowhawks !
Posted by: Ann Novek | May 1, 2006 05:55 AM