I'm losing my colony to Starlings

[James Rieman]

Sad but true. I have a T-14 with (expletive) ConleyII entrances and four Troyer horizontal gourds. This season started off well, I had some starling problems but I kept up with them by trapping. I considered switching to excluderII entrances early on in the season but instead opted for coroplast shims.

As of early last week I had 8 ASY pairs building nests and several SY pairs visiting and establishing themselves in my colony. Suddenly I noticed a big increase in starling activity, perhaps they were attracted by all the martin activity. Suddenly I had pair after pair of Starlings where 1 or both members of the pair could breech the ConleyII entrances with the shims right up to the bottom of the entrance! As soon as I would trap a pair a new pair would move in within hours. I was lowering the house up to three times daily, once to set the trap and once to catch each member of the pair. I had some starling breeches in previous years but nothing like this or this late in the season (mostly Feb and March). I knew I had a big problem on Tuesday so I ordered 14 excluderII plates. In the meantime I trapped 6 more pairs, again through repeatedly lowering the house, several times daily. The martins had been pretty tolerant of this and last Friday I started to get eggs.
The most recent pair of Starlings has been really bad however. Both members of the pair easily move in and out of the Conley II entrances but when I placed the trap inside their nesting cavity they moved to another that had martins in it (this morning). The martins responded by fighting with the Starlings, which caused them to go on the rampage, attacking every martin in the house and entering all cavities and fighting with the martins inside. The fights were really vicious, on the ground for extended periods until I would go running down to break them up. I was reduced to spending the morning waving the starlings off like some crazy person. The excluderII entrances arrived this afternoon so I went down to replace the existing entrances on the T-14. What I discovered was all the nests in the T-14 but one were missing all their eggs and the one with eggs had only 2 (it may be that this pair only laid two though). Another pair in a gourd had four. All the other pairs in the house lost all their eggs, the starlings have seemed unintersted in the gourds thus far. The ExcluderII plates are much larger than the ConleyII plates and the hole for the hardware did not line up so it took me a long time to replace them. I decided to only replace the plates for compartments that had active pairs in them and I would finish the job tomorrow because it was taking so long. I also wanted there to be some Conley holes available for birds that could not navigate the excluders. I was delighted when the pair with the two eggs came back immediately and navigated the excluderII plate relatively easily. Unfortunately the Starlings returned and prevented most of the rest of the pairs from being able to learn how to use the new entrances. The birds were spooked by me as I tried to spook the starlings, they were spooked by the new entrances and they were being attacked by starlings. The martins spent the majority of the rest of the evening flying around the house as if a snake were on it, afraid to land. I finally decided I was making matters worse and left. When the starlings finally went into one of the cavities the martins returned. Some birds figured out the new entrances, one pair moved into a compartment with the Conley II entrance and a couple of birds (all ASY) left after trying unsuccessfully to navigate through the new entrances and did not come back. One ASY female whose mate left tried repeatedly but unsuccessfully to get into her compartment until it was too dark for me to tell if she made it in, but I suspect not. The Troyers warned me that their birds had a hard time with these entrances but I felt like I had no choice as I was losing eggs and afraid I would lose birds to this starling siege. Tomorrow I will replace the rest of the entrances except one and continue to try to trap this pair of starlings. I hope to have a few pairs stay in spite of all the change and disturbance. I must say I am crest fallen and sick over the events at my colony today. I am now worried about the birds in the gourds and have to order some new horizontal gourds and face plates so I can modify them and quickly change them out. I wish I didn't have to change entrances but feel as though I had no choice. I wish I had done this earlier in the season instead of trying shims. Even if I had a gun, I work and can't be there all the time to protect the martins from starlings. I don't understand why this year the Starlings have suddenly been able to breech the ConleyII plates so frequently even with the shims.

The excluderII entrances all seemed the same size but I plan on checking them tomorrow. What is the size they should be in the center?

Thanks for all the advise I have received here. I understand these are wild birds and subject to predators and events outside of my control, but todays events are a real drag. I was so proud of how my colony was doing up until today and I feel bad for the birds.

[GeneP]

It sounds like you're doing what you can. It's not like you didn't try earlier by shimming the porches. I suppose that's why they're all called Starling "Resistant" Entrances.

I think Mike Scully tested all of them except the dually, and found his pair of Starlings breaching the openings.

You still need to get a good pellet rifle of something more. If you're running out there and having to spook the Starlings, then they are too comfortable with you around. That should mean they would be easier to shoot.

I would say to all, trapping and shooting should be done all year long. Too many don't start until just before or at the same time martins are arriving.

I hope you get all your martins back.

[DebA]

I do too. I am hopeful things look better in the morning light. I have had subbies throw out eggs before. Not saying your starlings aren't a problem but I wonder if SY's are contributing. Please update us some time tomorrow.
Deb

[Matt F.]

I think Mike Scully tested all of them except the dually, and found his pair of Starlings breaching the openings.

I remember that Gene.
Mike actually did include the Dually in those tests, along with the Excluder, Excluder II, and shimming up the Conley II.
That starling breached them all.......
Thankfully, Houdini starlings like that are rare........

[Jim 1990]

I shoot and trap starlings year round . At my colony I use the repeating nest box trap S&S Controller . I trap a lot of starlings in it during the nesting season It is a starling magnet and would not do with out one of these traps My place was always over run with starlings but with this trap I am pretty sure I have put a dent in the population as I hardily ever see one on the gourd racks .I have the trap by a small tree with the big entrance hole so the starlings can see it from the gourd rack . When I put it up years ago I would catch 3-5 starlings a day . The PMCA shop offers the kits and the plans.

But if the martins are in danger of the starlings now. I would do what GeneP said get a good pellet rifle and get rid of them. Then I would think about putting up a S&S controller if you are having starlings over running your colony .

[Gary W]

Hi James,

I am very sorry you are having problems with starlings! No doubt, they discovered they could breach those Conely II's, because the holes are more than 1 3/16 inches high. I believe there was previous post which referenced that situation, which has now been corrected by the manufacturer. I have had starlings breach Excluder II's when the porch was not flush with the hole. Your martins should renest this early in the season.

Best of Success!

Gary

[Emil Pampell-Tx]

James, I think what happened with this bunch of starlings at this time of the year, this is the second brood, the new starlings are all very young, and very small. I had not seen a starling in about 2 or 3 weeks, then suddenly (just like at your place), seemed like a whole flock found the housing. Since they are so young and so small, they can get thru the some of the SREH at our house (they may be oversized, I have not checked them). I have the exact same problem but I trap and shoot them. Also, I think that the starlings here are slightly smaller than they are in the colder areas. Since I am retired and home all day, it easier to shoot some of them. I trapped about 5, and shot about 5 since this 2nd brood arrived. I shot the last remaining one yesterday, so I think that I got that last flock completely wiped out, but maybe some others will find the housing at our place.

Starlings were much thicker this year than any year since I have been here. Our martins had a great year last year, and I suppose that the starlings also had a great year, therefore they will be a larger problem this year. And since there was a good 1st hatch with starlings this year, we are seeing the result this year.

About raising and lowering the housing so often, that can become a chore. My suggestion on that is to try to use the lightest housing that you can use, and use less gourds if you have a gourd rack. The T-14 also attracts starlings much more than gourds at our place, and the starlings try to dominate the entire house. I had a T-14 style house and gave it away because the S&S loved that house, and I didn't want that problem.

Another solution to raising heavy housing is to use a 2 pulley system, that makes it only 1/2 as difficult to raise the housing. I was surprised at the difference when I started using the last pole that has 2 pulleys. I would definitely suggest to everyone that they should use 2 pulleys on ANY system.

[Davlyn]

Hey James , sorry for you and your martins ! It sounds like you are doing the best that you can , I had a problem earlier in the season with a pair of starling . What happen with me was over the winter I had all my housing lowered and a squirrel chewed out all my conleyII entrances and made them big holes !!!! so the starlings were able to go in and out of all my housing , but I wasn't worried because I knew I was going to order new conley II tunnels with porches ! BIG mistake because what happened was in late January I replaced all the entrances but the starlings had been going in and out of all the gourds so they were pretty MAD to say the least . So when the martins showed up in Feb. the starlings would fight with them a keep them from going in the gourds they would fight all over the rack and like you said fall to the ground . I thought when the starlings couldn't get in the gourds they would move on BUT noooo it didn't matter if they could get in are not they had bonded to my site !!! So I got a trap that gos in a round hole nature line gourd placed it on the rack sit back and waited after a few hours I had trapped the male did away with him and the female left ! So I can feel your pain even though I was dealing with one pair , I hope tomorrow will be a better day !

[John Miller]

Mike Scully found a determined female already nesting could enter an excluder II. This confirms what we know, that once a starling has entered a SREH, and if has eggs, likely it will shimmy through. But more restrictive SREH will generally stop investigating starlings.

Suggest you order your choice of replacement plate today and get it on ASAP.

I had starlings nearly over run an aluminum house one year when I foolishly opened the crescents slightly. So I ordered excluder II plates and put on. One nesting female managed to enter, but was a struggle for her and she moved on. The male got in too first day, and as I lowered he he was still inside and got stuck exiting the entrance and was screeching, but managed to get out just before I could reach him, and never came back.

Plate over.

John Miller

[James Rieman]

Thanks for the encouragement everyone. I am sick about what I must face today. I have almost half my holes with the excluderII plates. The male Starling has meticulously has been trying to get into all the holes, but he can only get into the ConleyII. The female was gone most of the day but came back in the evening and settled in with the male. I am sure they plan another day of nest building and attacks. I will replace the rest of the entrances with excluderII plates today, remove one except one and place the trap in that to try to catch at least one of these SOBs. I am sure that there will be the occasional Starling that can breech the excluderII plates but they have got to be better than the Conleys, I haven't seen them repel any this year! I suspect they are skinny and scrawny due to the low rainfall we have been having. The starling breeches are suddenly much worse this year than the previous two! I am in the city and shooting is out of the question.

My biggest concern now is that some of my birds had such a problem with the excluder II plates. Some made it relatively easily, one female tried and tried until after dark and I don't know what happened to her. Several tried and left and did not come back! What is the preffered height of the excluderII at the center? I want to check all the new plates today to be sure they are the right size since some martins are having so much problem with them.

Lowering the house isn't a problem for me, I am just worried about disturbing the birds so much. I invested a lot of money in the T-14 and want to stick with it, hopefully I will have better luck with the excluderII plates. I hope don't lose birds because they cant get in!

[John Miller]

The preferred height on the excluder II is 1 7/32, so 1/32 larger than the crescent, which is 1 3/16. 1 7/32 might be a hair over, if the manufactuer is using mm to measure. So 30.5 mm for excluder II and 30.0 for the crescent..or pretty close.

Measured in decimal, the crescent is 1.1875 and the excluder II about 2.0.

Martins likely can enter if if the exlcuder II is 1 3/16, as that's the size of the original excluder, so measure but don't over open.

You cannot measure precisely holding a ruler over the opening..will have to use calipers or can use a ruler and mark the measure on a no-go gauge and insert.

John

[Lewis]

James, I keep one THG with round hole and the H&S Starling Trap. I leave the trap closed until the starlings show up and start havoc and trying to take over the other THG with Conley II's. This way martins can not nest in the trap gourd. I open it for the newly arrived starlings and they have chosen it over the other gourds. I wait until they build a nest to trap. I have a nest box trap on my barn and the starlings so far this year have chosen the nest box and have not raided the gourds and martin houses. I am experimenting this year with modifying 4 THG's with Conley II by shimming the floor and adding PMCA wing guards on the outside of the entrance. I use this approach on my Safe Haven martin houses 2 years ago and was able to stop starlings form entering even though they had eggs. They opted for the round hole gourd. I also shot several dumb ones from trees and perch pole nearby.
Good luck with your endeavors. I think the excluders will work, but I would put up at least one trap gourd.

Lewis

[James Rieman]

Thanks John, I will check with a caliper.

I finished replacing all those damned Conley II entrances with the excluder II. I left two cavities open without the SREH plate but with insert traps inside to catch the Starlings. These cavities are not visited by martins and are dominated by the starlings. Fingers crossed. Usually trapping Starlings is very easy for me, this vicious pair are an exception.

Most of my martins are back this morning and seem to be learning to enter the excluder II entrances. The starlings are back too. They are not able to enter the excluder II plates! They are bent out of shape by this and are attacking the martins a little less. The female martin that had so much trouble last night came back and tried again this morning. She looked bedraggled and stressed. Her mate entered the cavity (hooray) but she tried a few times unsuccessfully and was then attacked by the starling and fell on the ground. I ran over to break it up and she weakly flew to the top of a fence where she was raped by a male martin. She then weakly flew away. I suspect she may be a casualty of this siege and I will be lucky if she is the only one. Right now the martins are sticking to the house and the starlings seem to be distressed by the fact that they can't get in the martin's cavities. Hopefully I can catch them this am (they usually can't resist the plateless cavities) without catching martins. I'm off to the gym to blow of steam and will check my traps when I get back. I am seeing a tiny bit of light at the end of this bleak tunnel.

Thanks for all the encouragement everyone, I will keep you updated.

[Robbo]

Oh Great, that is what I have on my T-14's . I have not seen any Starling enter however, mabe the Owl guards are of some deterrent?
Good Luck

[James Rieman]

Got them both!!!!!

Their reign of terror is over!!!

They are waiting curbside for their ride to their new home.

[John Barrow]

Great conclusion James. I hope the rest of your season is peaceful, productive and brings much joy!!!

[lynnh]

Now thats what i call victory! Have a great season,James.

[Matt F.]

Great work James!
Getting those new entrance plates on so quickly, and trapping that pair of starlings, while at the same time being understandably stressed and concerned about what was taking place - you handled that like a true pro.

[AvianStewardess]

What a day, James! Glad you got through it; HOPE the martins recover quickly and fully!

[James Rieman]

Thank you John Lynn Matt and Michelle! I am so glad I had the foresight to order those excluder II plates last week. If they had not arrived when they did I think my birds and sanity would be in deep trouble. I felt like there would be trouble when pair after pair of starlings would appear and breech the Conley II entrances even with the shims! Things went smooth with trapping, I would usually get the Starlings within minutes of setting the traps, but the big trouble occurred when this latest pair suspected something was wrong and moved into a cavity occupied by Martins. When the resident pair of Martins started fighting with them the Starlings went into rage mode and started to attack all the Martins over and over again. I had never seen anything like this in my previous two seasons as a landlord!

So far so good on the excluder II entrances keeping Starlings out. I have had a few check things out and move on today. I am anxious about how my birds will accept the new entrances but that is the way it will have to be at my colony. I can't imagine how they will drag a large dragonfly through those entrances when they are having so much difficulty now. But they will need to be able to use the excluder II entrances. I am in an urban environment with HEAVY Starling and House Sparrow pressure and I could trap dozens a day all year long and make no dent (I do have a Blaines and ST-1 traps for sparrows since the insert traps are useless for them at my colony). The Conley IIs were definitely not for my colony! I am hopeful the excluder IIs will work better. So far so good.

I could not have done it without the knowledge I have gained through the PMCAs website, the Update magazine and this forum. This is a indispensible resource for martin landlords! Thanks to everyone for the kind words and advice and support. Being a Martin Landlord is certainly not a low stress hobby!