Conley vs Conley2

[Carlton]

I see the new Tunnels have the "Conley 2" entrance. Why was there a need for this entrance as the Conley seems to work fine for me? Has anyone experienced any breaches of the new Conley 2 with the porch raised up as it is on the new Tunnels. I raised the porches on my
Conley entrances as I was afraid I MIGHT experience a starling breach. I am happy with the Conley and my raised porches and am nervous about trying something new now.

Has anyone installed any kind of baffle between the entrance and the nesting area on their raised wire floor Trendsetter houses? I see the optional wooden nesting trays have such a baffle and was wondering if I could use a thick block of foam or something, wired down to the wire on the floor, to give the nest some support and protection.

[trank]

Carlton,

If I'm not mistaken I believe the change had something to do with the patent rights.

I also had some reservations about adding the ConleyII entrances at the start of the season because I really like the WDC's that I've been using.But I thought I would try them so I purchased 16 ConleyII tunnels to put on a T-10 I built, and also to convert some gourds that had round holes.

I have not had any starlings breach them, the porches are set 1/8"below the entrance. The PM's have no problems entering or exiting, if anything they might even be easier.

So if you like the old style Conley you should like the new ConleyII.

Tom

[Rick B]

Carlton,

I also was wondering how starling resistant the Conley II was. I put a starling that I trapped into a Troyer Horizontal gourd with the Conley II tunnel entrance. It took about minute of struggling and she was almost out when I grabed her.
I'm sure that starlings are not all the same size, but she was pulling out breast feather to get out!

Rick

[Gary W]

Rick, that is good news! If a Starling is going to lose breast feathers exiting a hole, that indicates it will never try to enter a hole of that same size willingly.

Gary

[Bill Kepley]

Carlton,
I used 6 tunnels for houses with C2 entrances on my T14 this year. The day I put them on, the starlings went straight to them. Within 20 minutes, the starlings were entering as quickly as a martin thru a crescent, they filled every C2 cavity with nest. I trapped and disposed of 5 of them and switched back to crescent openings. I also have 6 horizontal gourds with C2 entrances that no bird, martin, sparrow, or starling have gone near all season, I will convert them to crescents after the season is over.
Bill

[KathyF]

I think SusanH has a video showing a starling trying unsuccessfully to enter a Conley2 entrance. Perhaps she will see this post and add the link.

It could be that there is a difference in the sizes of starlings in the various parts of the country.

[Carlton]

Thanks everyone!

I am a firm believer that the porch should be just about level with the bottom of the entrance no matter which SREH one uses. I have never had a starling YET get into any of my gourds or housing. I have had crescents, Clingers, Excluders and Conleys. LEVEL with the bottom of the entrance is the key, I believe.

Carl

[JoLita]

I just purchased 4 new Conley II tunnels to use on my Troyer horizontal gourds. I installed them on Sunday and by Monday morning observed two starlings zipping in and out with no trouble at all! I am mad!!!:x Has anyone else had this problem recently? If so, other than trapping, what did you do to correct this?

Jo Lita

[Robert Richerson]

Out of 224 gourds, my best count is that I have 211 Conley II's. These are Conley II tunnels put on Supergourds and naturals, plus 64 of each THG's & TVG's.

In the beginning of the spring, I usually had 6-12 starlings trying to get into my gourds at my colony at any one time. Living in central Kentucky, starlings are as thick as flies.

The below snapshot is of one starling that breeched a Conley II. I had it trapped within a couple of hours. There was one other breech that I also trapped. Other than that, these Conley II's have been great. And what I really like about them is that there is virtually no learning curve for martins in using them. That is why a few days ago, I decided to replace any round holes I had with the Conley II's.

SREH means "starling resistent entry hole', not starling proof. But I have to admit, this is the least stressful martin season I have ever had regarding starlings. So as far as being starling resistant, ease of use by martins, a tunnel for extra protection, I really do like the Conley II's.

[Carlton]

Thanks for the feedback everyone.

My posting was made some time ago and I did go ahead and purchase the tunnels with the Conley 2's. I have about 10 of them on my gourd rack, on Troyer Horizontal tunnels, and I have seen many starlings TRY to get in. They shove and shove but can not seem to enter. Our starlings here in Delaware may be larger though than the ones in the South. I have read that there is a difference in starling size with the more northern ones being slightly larger.

For the people that are having trouble with the starlings getting into the gourd with the Conley 2, I would suggest that you raise the porch to level with the bottom hole in the Conley 2. I used a clear Silicon adhesive, made for outdoor use, when I raised my first Conley porches. I used small tiles that time but I do not know how much space you would need to fill with the Conley 2. Do not use wood as wood swells and warps and moves. Find something more stable to raise the porch.

Carl

[KathyF]

I'm here in Missouri - no starling breaches. In fact, my Conley II entrances are a BIG reason I've caught > 10 starlings in my repeating nest box trap.

[JoLita]

Thanks for your replies. I guess I'll just have to raise the porch on these.
Jo Lita

[geezer]

IMHO, the Conley II is superior. There were many reports of Starling breeches in the original Conley entrance, and it was necessary to raise the porches.

The new Conley II seem to be relatively starling proof. No modifications necessary. The PM's have no trouble getting in or out.

The new Troyer Horizontal seems to be an almost perfect gourd.

geezer