This winter we enlarged our Trio Castle from 12 to 6 compartments. And we put insulation in the roof to try to beat the heat. I don't know if it works or not but the only pair I have moved upstairs.
I also installed excluder entrances after repeated starling attacks when I first opened the doors on the arrival of our PMs. I wasn't sure whether crescent or EX were best. I had a crescent door and opened only that one and the PMs moved into that compartment. When I received the rest of my EX doors it stopped the Starlings in their tracks. But my neighbors have closed their houses up against them. I recommended the excluder entrances but it's too late this year and they're not dedicated landlords.
Question: Is it best to only use the excluders after the PMs have claimed their nest spot?
I had several PMs who were trying early on when I had round holes but either the starlings and sparrows ran them off or they just moved on to a better spot down the road. Hope they found it as we have few good landlords that I'm aware of up here.
Off to monitor BB nests and my little pair of PMs. I'll be trapping today. You can never let your guard down. There are too many people putting up houses and letting HS move in. Thanks for this forum!
Linda
Martin Colony History: First pair in 2009 after 28 years of trying. 3 pairs 2010, 17 pairs 2011 and 35-45 pairs since. Many additional colonies are now springing up around mine in an area once completely void of Martins. I offer 50 compartments at my site consisting of primarily Excluder II gourds on Gemini racks. Also a wooden T-14. I utilize electric fence type predator guards on the base of the poles. Supplemental feeding is crucial in maintaining my colony. I platform feed throughout the season as needed. My site tends to be a stop over point for additional birds as they migrate further north.
The original excluder entrance is very restrictive even to Purple Martins. Unfortunately it is one of the few SREH choices available for trio houses.
The plus side is it is absolutely starling resistant.
I have found it to be more Martin friendly if the tabs (or posts) are bent over or made smaller with a dremel tool. Also it was manufactured closer to 1 2/16 than 1 3/16 which is much better for Martins and required for them to come and go easily. So check them. They are likely too small.
You can use an old 35mm film container or a credit card taper cut to 1 3/16 to check it. Most are too small.
Martins will readily use the right SREH if it is the correct size. No need to worry about changing it afterward as this defeats the purpose of keep starlings out to begin with.
If I were you I would order some excluder II plastic plates and cut a large hole in the door and attach them. Pop rivits will work well. Martins adapt so easily to this particular entrance. At my site it is all they want to use. Starlings can not navigate it either.
Supplemental feeding plays a major role in Western Pennsylvania. Finally got my 1st pair in 2009 after 28 years of effort. The colony has grown quickly to 45 pairs that I care for. Many new colonies have now sprung up around me in the past few years as well. Where there was none.... there is many.
Have you enlarged the compartments? I'd probably not use a SREH on a 6 x 6 unit because nest material can block the entrance.
Suggest not switching from round after martins are nesting to the excluder, because as Doug said, it's a very restrictive entrance. You could try the crescent...but really best to have martins entering the SREH from the start.
I was not aware some of the aluminum excluders are too small, but it's always good to measure as Doug said. Marking a thin line on something like a credit card cut to be tappered, the line marked at 1 3/16, creates a "no go gauge" and is the only way to measure precisely. Insert, and should stop at the line. The excluder II, which comes in PVC plates, is slightly taller by .5 mm than the original excluder, and it is a very useful entrance to admit martins easily (once they learn it) and restrict starlings.
Another way to have a few round holes on the Trio housing is to keep a few 6 x 6 units, which starlings mostly don't nest in, and all the other units deeper with SREH. This just gives a visiting male martin something to pop into immediately, should he never have seen a SREH, but more and more colonies are being started from the start with all SREH each season.
This is good information. I think I will try the dremel tool to fix the doors for next year. The pair I have are happy and get in and out without any trouble this year. They don't like me bothering them but it's for their own good. Hope they get used to me soon.
We've enlarged all the compartments but we could plug the hole between one and make it 2 again. Will PMs use the house passing through on their return trip?
I was planning to plug the other entrances this year to keep out the HS that I'm always getting rid of. This one thinks he owns all the compartments up there plus 2 BB houses in the vicinity. Just enough trouble to keep other birds from nesting. And I can't afford to let him stay or he could harm the new PMs when they arrive.
Martin Colony History: I moved to South Florida, from Delaware, in August of 2015.
I care for a 6 condo Sunset House as well as two Deluxe Gourd Racks, with 24 Chirpynest/Excluder gourds, along a canal in Pompano Beach, Florida.
At Quiet Waters Park, nearby in Deerfield Beach, I care for a Deluxe Gourd Rack with 12 TVG's. I also care for a Deluxe Gourd rack with 12 Excluder gourds with Modified Excluder entrances. I am substituting 6 Chirpynest boxes for 6 of the Conley II entranced gourds in 2026.
At another local park, Tradewinds Park in Coconut Creek, I care for a Trendsetter 12, 5 gourds rack with 60 Excluder gourds with Modified Excluder Entrances and 1 Deluxe Gourd Rack with 12 Troyer Vertical Gourds with Starling Stoppers over the Conley II's to keep out smaller starlings.
I have used both the Trio crescent and the Trio Excluder and find the martins quickly adapt to either. I also have Excluders in my Trendsetter 8 house. All 8 compartments have active nests.
Thanks for your input on both types. I have a crescent that I'm not using because I just couldn't risk starlings so it sits there with the others unused. Glad that either works for you.
