[obol] Fw: [CAVNET] Do you ever find House Sparrow (HOSP) eggs in your birdboxes?

[Judy Meredith]

OBOL
Here is an idea for those of you with House Sparrows trying to nest in your yard. See below - forwarded message.
Judy
jmeredit at bendnet.com  

----- Original Message ----- 
From: Nicholas Horrocks 
To: cavnet at lists.uvic.ca 
Sent: Monday, March 03, 2008 12:24 AM
Subject: [CAVNET] Do you ever find House Sparrow (HOSP) eggs in your birdboxes?


Do you ever find House Sparrow (HOSP) eggs in your bird boxes?
 

I'm a graduate researcher in the Netherlands starting a project investigating antibacterial proteins in bird eggs.  I'm hoping to collect small numbers of eggs from species that have a very wide breeding ranges and HOSPs are a good candidate.

 

I know HOSPs cause real problems for owners of nest boxes designed for Bluebirds, Purple Martins, and other native cavity-nesting species, who are keen to get rid of these impostors.

 

* Do you ever find HOSP eggs in your bird boxes, or do you make sure the birds are never allowed to get as far along as laying?

 

* How often do you find them, and what do you do with these eggs?

 

* If you do find HOSP eggs, then perhaps we can help each other out?

 

I need freshly laid HOSP eggs from across North America (and the rest of the world) and I'm looking for people who are willing to help collect them for me.  All you need to do is collect two or three fresh HOSP eggs that haven't been incubated and freeze them immediately.

 

My colleagues and I will arrange pick-up / delivery of eggs.  This is University-sponsored research; please help us abide by any state and local laws.  We will either analyze the samples in the lab of a US colleague or secure permission to bring frozen samples back to the Netherlands.

 

Can you help?  I'm keen to hear any suggestions and advice.  Please contact me: Nicholas Horrocks (n.p.c.horrocks[AT]rug.nl).

 

Animal Ecology

Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Studies

University of Groningen

P.O. Box 14

9750 AA Haren

The Netherlands



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