A shoe box nest box!

In March 2006, a House Sparrow (Passer domesticus) pair seemed to love the blinds outside my room window in Jaipur and came there repeatedly as if looking for nesting space. I put a hard shoe box into the blinds (with a 2×2 inch hole at one end), rolled the blinds and secured the box inside them well at a height of about 5 feet. The birds loved it and flew to the box as soon as I left it! For two days it was inspected throughly from all angles; even tested for toughness by hard pecking and before I knew, the birds had started building a nest in the box! The first Sparrow fledgling came out of the box a few weeks later and since then, I have lost count of the number of times Hose Sparrows have nested in the box. It did have its share of problems though: I remember once there was a fierce fight between two male House Sparrows for the nest box, once a pair of Squirrels tried to hijack the nest box, once some Brahminy Starlings (Sturnus pagodarum) liked it for a home and once a Monkey (Rhesus macaw) attacked it! However, I am pleased to inform you that the box is still going strong and as of October 2009, I regularly see House Sparrows on it!

The photo above of a pair of House Sparrows inspecting the box, was taken just a few minutes after it had been installed!