... but House Sparrows and Starlings are fair game under the law.

I was more-or-less a live-and-let-live toward House Sparrows until they started actively killing my nesting Bluebirds. This led to my becoming an excellent shot (needed since these are a very small target at the typical distances of 30 yards or so). For those less agressively oriented, allowing the House Sparrows to build a nest and then destroying it will work just about as well -- their agressive period seems to occur when they are ready to lay eggs. The energy required to build a nest is tremendous and they typically abandon nesting for the year or the site.

Best,

Joe