That's a good point, and are more of a threat to the nestlings for sure. Thanks for pointing that one out.

Lol! Thanks. Yea poop is kind of fun... but also super gross. Definitely full of science though in such an unlikely place.

OH wow! 170 Km/hour is insane! I really really hope the wildlife did ok out there. It's really brutal when migration is underway. And my heart kind of breaks for the otters. I read a children's book a few months ago (I don't remember the name) about a little sea otter who was separated from its mother when the waves were really rough. Apparently this happens a lot. The book then talked about how the baby otter was rescued and raised by an adopted otter mom. Later, he got to be released and socialize with the wild otters. The back matter of the book explained the rescue and rehabilitation process and how critical it was to have an adoptive otter mom teach the babies to live in the wild. So hearing about this thing whipping through makes me thing a lot of wildlife rescue centers got pretty busy. Thank you so so much for sharing about this too. It's really cool to learn more from wildlife enthusiasts out there :D

Thank you so much! I really appreciate it and have been so grateful for your support.

These are some really good questions you're asking. I have lofty answers for you, but your questions are very valid and thoughtful, and I wanted to take time to hopefully thoroughly answer them. I hope that this response is helpful. You may not love some of these answers, but I hope it helps at least teach the reasoning behind these efforts: First, I want to start by saying that this video is geared more for people who are actively hosting native North American cavity nesting birds, which are most at risk of being regularly, fatally attacked by house sparrows and European starlings. It's not really for most backyard birders who are just feeding birds. It's for the people who are working with tree swallows, bluebirds, chickadees, purple martins and the other native cavity birds and are looking for more information about how to protect them from invasive species threats. So this is definitely not for everyone. As for legality - house sparrows (any old world sparrow) and European starlings are not federally protected. Only native birds are. But it will depend on state and local ordinances on whether trapping is permitted. For your first question about what you do after you catch them - there are a few things, and none sound pleasant. I'm so sorry: 1. You can work with a falconer (they are also doing ecological conservation work through falconry) and give the birds to them. And they may take them alive. Aside from a falconer, some raptor and wildlife rehabilitation centers will also take them (live or unalived). 2. Some people opt to clip their wings and release (always in the same location they were caught. It is not legal to relocate). I don't recommend this tactic because it artificially inflates the population of birds of prey in the area. 3. Euthanasia. This is the sad one. It is the one that most cavity bird hosts cannot bring themselves to do until they've discovered a bird pecked or few pecked to death by a house sparrow. Euthanasia means "good death" so the very nature of it means it must be humane. Again, Euthanizing a house sparrow or European starling may not be permitted in certain locations, and it requires proper identification. Euthanasia sounds terrible, but I've had an experience where a nest was attacked but two baby bluebird survived. However, one of the baby bluebirds was so injured that it had to be euthanized anyway. So euthanasia was inevitable. And this can happen. Sometimes the injuries are so severe that a bird will not survive, but they don't outright die either, and then the native bird ends up having to be euthanized. So proactive management when hosting native cavity birds can prevent long, drawn-out suffering. You might be thinking "let nature take its course." That's exactly what conservationists want... but for native birds because native birds fulfill very specific ecological roles within their habitat that help the whole biological network thrive. House sparrows do not. And in the case of an invasive species, whether bird, snake, insect, plant, etc. - nature doesn't get to take its course. Instead, it can cause severe species decline and a breakdown of the local ecosystem. On islands, it's even worse, and invasive species have caused extinction events. The Guam Rail extinction is a great case study on how nature can't take its course against an invasive species: nationalzoo.si.edu/center-species-survival/news/conserving-last-guams-avifauna-recovery-guam-rail For your next question about whether it's possible to euthanize your way out of the house sparrow problem - well it's more about management and protection for most cavity nesting bird hosts. For those watching who are interested in turning their backyard into a natural habitat for wildlife, especially since they're suffering habitat loss, then controlling invasive species populations can really help. There are some people out there who have made dents in invasive species populations and have seen other bird species return and begin to thrive when they were originally declining. The story of the Greencastle Purple Martins is a very old case study of exactly that. There are also academic research papers that have shown that an increase in house sparrow presence leads to a decrease in bird diversity, and that a decrease in house sparrow presence can increase native bird diversity. Off the top of my head are a few. It's been quite a while since I've read them, but there are several more studies out there. link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11252-020-00963-x www.researchgate.net/publication/225962345_Relationship_between_the_presence_of_House_Sparrows_Passer_domesticus_and_Neotropical_bird_community_structure_and_diversity At the very least though, for most backyard bluebird hosts and trail monitors who are helping restore native cavity nesting bird numbers, trapping house sparrows is more about managing the abundance of them and protecting the native birds, not so much about eradicating them altogether. Some bluebirders would disagree and say they need eradicated, but that is a hard pill to swallow. And like you pointed out, probably not very possible, and I worry that total eradication could cause some other unanticipated problems. Most people (myself included) do not enjoy this aspect of caring for native birds. It's very hard, but when you learn about the longterm consequences of not keeping a species in check, it is important. Their introduction was our fault... not entirely. The people who introduced them ignored the warnings of naturalists and ornithologists who advised against it. But now, it's a matter of cleaning up past mistakes. I do not hate them or want to trivialize their lives either. It's more an ecological obligation in order to protect the native ecosystem and keep it going for years to come. These videos are here to teach so people do this the right way if they're going to do it. I hope this is helpful.

@@nesthollow5159 Thank you so much for the thorough reply and for providing references. I intend to read up on it. To be honest, I had no idea that house sparrows were such a controversial topic. I really don't know how to feel about it. I work for the U.S. Forest Service, and I know how nuanced these things are. I love birds and all life. That is how I ended up watching birds on KZbin in the first place. I just think it's part of a larger conversation when it comes to our changing planet and ecosystems. How far are we willing to go to hang on to historical conditions? I don't have answers, just kind of a gut reaction and a sense that killing is rarely the answer. As you mentioned, everything is connected in ways that we can't even begin to understand until it's too late. Thank you for your kind answer. I have some reading to do!

Neither did I until stumbling across it. Thanks!

Thats really cool this was on your mind. As for the coziness... I feel like it would beat sitting in a tree. Definitely check out the Reddit Sleepy Wrens subreddit for pictures of Caroline wrens roosting. It's really fun to scroll through.

Thank you! That really means a lot!

Oh awesome. Glad to find a fellow science lover who loves to nerd out like i do! Yes, I was really amazed by all of this. I loooooove the treasure trove of historical observations that are out there. Then finding the paper about the carolina wrens! Surprising and also unsurprising. They are such amazing, curious little birds!

Thanks. It is fun if you love birds to have a birder neighbor.

I'm glad you were ok. I don't normally worry too much about hurricanes in FL (fairly safe if you're not on water) but with Milton having those massive wind speeds - ooooffff. And the all the tornadoes! A few here and there, but it seemed like the east coast got slammed.

Oh wow! What a treat to see all that. And what a good reminder... it is peanut time! 🐦🐦

Thank you

Glad this helps. There's been a lot of debate over the years, but more data is finally teaching us they go both ways. Now must be a really exciting time for you with them coming through. For us, I barely see them now, but in September, it was so cool to see the frenzy.

Oh no I'm so sorry. I am not sure about advice since my area of expertise is with wild birds and not domestic birds. I do wonder if she was egg bound where the egg gets stuck for a while in the duct. That can happen, especially with calcium deficiency, and it can be fatal if intervention doesn't happen quickly enough. That's my only guess. I would call your vet and ask what they think happened. I am so sorry about your bird. Love birds are soooo wonderful.

I absolutely love that you highlighted this. It's at the heart of why we make these videos. Thank you so much - it made my day!💚❤💚❤

Aww that's sweet with the sign. Winter is a harsh time for birds, but as long as they can keep up with eating, they do well. It still blows my mind though. I'm happy being a domestic human ;). As to losing sleep over it - I get it. Dedicated bird hosts care deeply about their feathered friends 💙💙

Yes that's perfect, and birds do love it. Plus it brings a nice variety.

Hey Erika... I'd been thinking about you and all this and your birds. I'm glad you're ok! Way back when I was living in St. Pete, I fled to the other coast for a hurricane, but left my car in Kissimmee.... hurricane changed course and went right through Orlando and Kissimmee. It is a sight to see people on I4 driving with no windows and a car covered in leaves! Did you get any flooding? I hope you didn't have too much damage to your house and you have power and all that. Glad all is well over all thought

You're so right about them being so in tuned with nature. My friend just this morning told me how she had a pet Myna bird when she was a kid. And hours before an earthquake, the bird was going nuts in its cage. Just losing its mind. Then the earthquake came. They are extraordinary. And just like you said, we would learn so much and really respect nature if we spent a little time with it.

Goldfinches 💛💛💛💛 Yes, most areas they stay all year. But goldfinches change their color in the fall and winter and are very brown. So people think they migrate. They can migrate too, but it would be more northern populations that would and could vary from one population to another. They also would not do long distance migration like hummingbirds and swallows.

I would mount any roost box and nest box on a metal pole with a stovepipe baffle. That's hoe I've got all mine. I've never had chickadees winter roost, but I've had downy woodpeckers and bluebirds roost in the winter. It's great you're putting something up for them for winter. That can be a lifesaver. Ps. Don't grease the poles. The grease can get on feathers, gum them up, cause feather loss and they can struggle to fly. Hope that helps. :)

Thank you so so much! And this was an older video (still working out the bugs of creation). For the flange, I got mine at Wildbirds unlimited has them. Or if you don't have one local, look up Erva Brand mounting flanges and you may find some online retailers. I don't currently carry these in stock, but I should think about doing so. Erva Brand poles with Augers are also exceptional. They're a great birding brand.

@@HandFeedWildBirds I really appreciate that. Thank you so much.

@@nesthollow5159 of course! 🐦🐦😊😊

Wow 35 pounds! Congratulations on so many hummingbirds this season. Sorry for your wallet ;)

@@nesthollow5159 they absolutely deserve this. You should see when they first arrive in April, the winds out here (Northern AZ) can be at 40 mph and freezing. They’re typically males and work so hard to establish for their females. Kudos to these little guys💕

Ahh yes. You are ao right. The food web at its finest. Apex predators are the exception, I supposed. They are the ones that don't have a natural predator. They're top of the food chain. But it's really easy to protect bluebird nest boxes from most of these predators. The stovepipe baffle is the big protection. What's tougher is the open nesting birds. It's amazing they make it!

Sounds like a real haven for your birds - and I bet it is such a joy to watch. I had some poke berry growing last year - volunteer I guess. But it didn't come back up. The birds must really love the berries you have, and I bet right now with fall rolling around, it's all in high demand.

@nesthollow5159 the poke salad plants come up every year in the same place, with more plants branching out to form new plants in different places. The Bluebirds, Mockingbirds, America Robin's, Warblers, Cedar Wax Wings are just a few I've seen that love the berries.

Yayyyy. You've got to be loving it!

Congratulations. It never gets old watching bluebirds (or other native birds) take that first flight.

Perfect timing to get ine depending in where you are since they're moving south right now. I've had more activity lately than all summer! Enjoy it 🐦🪶

@@nesthollow5159 N.E. Arkansas

What a coincidence! Good timing, it sounds like :)

Thanks. Those are great tips

Wow. That is a really tough situation. I've lived in some pretty rural areas where a vet was a good drive away. I can see how it being inaccessible for a lot of people would make it hard to control the population