It seemed to me that the more the birds were hanging around my property, the fewer insects there would be. Attracting bird species that would nest in groups would be the perfect solution. Several sparrow species fit the bill: chipping sparrows, song sparrows and house sparrows.
Sparrows prefer a nesting chamber of about 125 cubic inches (5-by-5-by-5 inches) with a 1 1/2-inch diameter access hole and a perch 4 or 5 inches long. The dimensions of this house are 23 inches high by 11 1/2 inches wide and 6 3/4 inches deep.
I made a number of these high-rise sparrow “apartments” and mounted them on the exterior of my garage and close to my garden.
By midsummer there was a flock of about three dozen sparrows hanging around and roosting at night in a maple tree outside my kitchen.
As the insect population in my yard diminished, the birds began to spread out into the rest of the neighborhood.
Gerald Rowan
Coplay, Pennsylvania
