Evicting a Starling??

[DornCounty]

OK. I have a starling building a nest in a 6x6 Trio. Don't say it ain't possible cause it's doing it. I watched it carry nesting material in it today.

The house also has 2 pairs of martins in it. From what I can tell they have not started nest building.

What is the best course of action here? Assume I can not trap or shoot the starling.

I am worried of what the starling would do if I blocked the hole he is using.

[Louise Chambers]

Can you use a spare-o-door trap there, Dorn? Do you have any? A Texas martin landlord, the late Tom Delllinger, modified a spare-o-door to trap starlings by enlarging entrance hole and adding extension to trap shutter, so it covered larger hole when tripped. If you want to try that I'll find the article for you.

[DornCounty]

Can you use a spare-o-door trap there, Dorn? Do you have any? A Texas martin landlord, the late Tom Delllinger, modified a spare-o-door to trap starlings by enlarging entrance hole and adding extension to trap shutter, so it covered larger hole when tripped. If you want to try that I'll find the article for you.

I guess I could.. I would have to make it. I was considering making some sparrow doors as they are too costly for me to buy in the number needed. I guess it would be simple to make the hole bigger.

Assuming that is not an option, what could be done?

[Louise Chambers]

I'd try an after-dark capture, as some here have discussed for house sparrows in bluebird boxes - but you'd need to lower box in daytime in preparation for the capture. Some have used fishing net on long pole to cover entrance after the bird flies in - that might work too. All done with discretion, of course, since this is a public site.

[kcscriv]

use cresents,i changed all mine on my trio and have never had starling problems since, they dont cost much,good luck

[DornCounty]

use cresents,i changed all mine on my trio and have never had starling problems since, they dont cost much,good luck

Pretty sure PMCA and trio both discourage using SREH's on 6x6's. maybe I am wrong.

[Louise Chambers]

You're correct, Dorn - recommended for use on larger compartments.

[DornCounty]

OK here is the nest. I for sure saw a starling brining in material this morning, but a sparrow was sitting next to it at noon.

I am not expert on nests so does this look starling like or sparrow like? The absence of trash makes me think Starling. it also has the fresh clippings that starlings try to impress with. Not sure.

[bacato]

Does not look like a sparrow nest for sure.

[DornCounty]

so I guess I will assume this is a starling nest, In a 6x6 trio.

Interesting.

[Jeff Robinson]

Appears to be a starling nest, although I've only had one starling nest to compare it to. Had a starling 2 or 3 years ago build a nest in one of my THG/Conley IIs during the work week - I eliminated it later that week. Same type nesting material, but the finished nest was very neatly and tightly swirled/packed down. After I eliminated the starling, I left the nest to see what would happen, and a martin pair took up residence the next day and fledged 5.

[kcscriv]

i enlarged my compartments when i installed the cresents,might be a thing to do next season,my martins love the larger compartments and i dont have to fight stuoid starlings,hate em!!

[DornCounty]

Did a nest check today. The starling nest was gone and I saw no trace of the starling this morning or at lunch. There was a "new" pair of martins at this house and at least by appearance they now own that side and level of the house.

Interesting.

Now I just have to get a pair of sparrows out of the other side.

[Guest]

This works well for starlings in a 6x6 Trio compartment.

[Gary W]

You don't have to lower the house before you catch a starling! Just put together a 10 foot pole with a towel or large rag at the end. Stuff the cloth up against the hole that has the starling. Then lower the house, and remove the starling. I have done this during the day in the past! You probably will need some sort of a clear plastic bag in front of the hole, in order to let the starling exit without escaping. In your case since the house has round holes, it would be best to do it at night, when the starling is not watching for you.

Gary

[richnet12]

Ditto on changing out the entrances on the Trio. Can order them right here in the shop. Now...a starling was vising my heath house today with round holes so will try the pole and rag tehnique when he begins to build a nest.

[freefallr]

A jigsaw with a metal cutting blade does the job pretty quickly. This works very well for me.