Wing Entrapment

[bigwill1767]

This is my 5th year as a Purple Martin landlord and had my first wing entrapment casualty earlier this week. I was late getting home from work and didnt check my T-14 that night. The next morning when I went to check I saw he was trapped in the crescent opening. I lower the T-14 and opened the door and removed him. Another male was in the same compartment and he flew out, seemingly unharmed. That night the temperature got below freezing. I plan to work on the entrances tomorrow by adding some insulation foam stripping to the insides of the crescent plates.
Just as information, I had 8 Martins so far. 14 compartments on the T-14 and 7 natural gourds up with the ultimate tunnel starling resistant entrances on them, so plenty of compartments to choose from. My son and I watched 3 of the males go in this same compartment at the same time a few days before the entrapment. They also were flying around and fighting, spiraling down and around, all three of them fighting. I dont know why they fighting over same compartment when they have others to choose from. One of the males seems to have claimed 2 compartments. He will go in one compartment then come out and hop over to the porch on the adjacent side and go in that compartment too.

[klcretired]

Hi bigwill1767,
Yes, they do That, a lot of fighting over the same entrances & Housing & Death as well but at least you recognized it and was able to save their Lives, Good for you.
a lot of PM Land Lords overlook that very thing and loose Martins for not checking their Housing. That is why it is so Important to Do your Nest Checks Often , it won't Bother the Martins, They will come right Back , A Job Well done , Congrat's

[bigwill1767]

Been reading some options for wing entrapment guards and I think I would prefer using pvc pipe rather than the weather stripping. I have the metal crescent entry plates on the T14 now. The holes cut in the wooden door were considerably larger than the size of the crescent entry so this makes the entryway only the thin metal and the PM wings will get caught in the thin metal if they try to back up thru the entrance. The PM that was caught the other night was dead when I removed it so I dont want this to happen again. The PM that was trapped inside was ok and flew away.
Can someone post a picture of how the cut pvc pipe is supposed to fit around the crescent entrance? Is it supposed to be flush all the way around the crescent hole? I read several posts about this but I cant find any pictures. This is old pic of my T14 and the porches are near flush with the entrances. At the time of this picture I was still using round hole entrances on the gourds but I have now switches all to SREH.

[John Miller]

There is photo of some I make from PVC in this thread

but note that it's sort of draped over the inside porch of a gourd. If in a house, or even here on the porch, it could just sit flat on the floor like an arch over the entry. I have installed many of these, but they are glued (messy here) and that's not feasible once martins arrive.

Note also in the tread (last post) a mention by Scott that he makes something similar from flat bar aluminum and bolts it in.

http://www.purplemartin.org/forum/viewt ... 442#183442

I'd not put these flush, but back off about 1/16 of an inch or so. I just feel with my fingers to make sure it's not flush. I begin by cutting a ring about one inch off a three-inch diameter, thin wall drain pipe. Then I use tin snips to cut out an arch, and keep trimming it down to fit snugly, but not flush, over the entry and glue it (but don't glue now as martins might knock it loose or get glue on them).

The PMCA wing protectors also help, but are not as thick as I'd like. I'm experimenting with some doubled inside and some installed one inside and one out and will report end of season (although a small sample may mean little). However, when you add more width you may interfere with nest trays or doors closing.

John

[bigwill1767]

Thanks John. I will go to the box store and look at the conduit straps and aluminum flat bar to see which I can use. Will have to use screws to tie down since gluing is not an option. I will have to put the arches on the outside where the entrances are in the door. Where the entrances are on the T14 sides I can screw the arches down to the inside floor. The entrances inside and outside are near flush with the floor