Starling resistant doors.
I have installed these doors on my Coates house. I have had a few pairs of Martins stop, look over the house, then leave. Not sure how many have visited while I am at work. They won't go in the openings. Seems they don't like these new doors. Anyone have this problem? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.
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Dave Reynolds
- Posts: 2441
- Joined: Mon Jan 31, 2011 4:35 pm
- Location: Little Hocking, Oh.
- Martin Colony History: Satellite Site “Oxbow Golf Course”..
2018 - 15 Pair, 36 Fledged
2019 - 26 Pair, 97 Fledged
2020 - 30 Pair, 137 Fledged
2021 - 30 Pair, 144 Fledged
2022 - 27 Pair, 125 Fledged
2023 - 31 Pair, 130 Fledged
2024 - 41 Pair, 198 Fledged
2025 - 44 Pair, 168 Fledged
Home Site "Little Hocking, Ohio".
2019 - 1 Pair, 5 Fledged
2020 - 1 Pair, 4 Fledged
2021 - 8 Pair, 36 Fledged
2022 - 13 Pair, 46 Fledged
2023 - 16 Pair, 84 Fledged
2024 - 22 Pair, 104 Fledged
2025 - 28 Pair, 83 Fledged
Mr. K ---- you didn't tell us what type of SREH that you have on your house? Let us know and we can give you some information on Shapes ,sizes, entrance heights...
Dave
Dave
PMCA Member
Little Hocking, Ohio
Little Hocking, Ohio
We started our colony with all sreh entrances. Some people might say to add a couple of round holes till you get started. I think this just invites unwanted birds in the house, causing you more frustration trying to keep them out. Martins are used to the openings humans offer, they more than likely were born in a cavitie that had one, and it's all they know. As long as the entrances are the right size, the martins will enter when ready.
Is this your first year trying to be a landlord?
Is this your first year trying to be a landlord?
2021
T14
10 Pair
49 Fledged
T14
10 Pair
49 Fledged
This is my third yr. It is a Coates 12 unit house on a telescoping pole. Last yr. I had 11 kids grow up there. Starlings and sparrows aside, I have had pretty good success. I should have some that stay by now. I know its the door openings. I can tell that, but I don't know if I should replace them with the old ones. Even the sparrows don't go inside. Bought the doors from the PMCA Shop so they should be the proper size. Jesse
Are you positive they are not staying the night? They can sneak in, in a blink of a eye without saying a peep. You would need to have a constant eye on the house from evening till dark to be sure they are not going in at night. If the martins fledged babies from the house last year they should use it this year. You don't want to keep changing things after they show up. Are the doors the only thing you changed?
2021
T14
10 Pair
49 Fledged
T14
10 Pair
49 Fledged
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John Miller
- Posts: 4863
- Joined: Mon Mar 22, 2004 9:11 pm
- Location: St. Louis, MO
I'd double check the size by making a measuring tool. mark a thin line on a wedged shaped cutout (flat at the bottom and tapered at the top) such as an old credit card or cut out a piece of poster board. mark the line at exactly 1 3/16 and insert into the hole. It should stop precisely at 1 3/16. Your entries probably are correct, but always good to verify.
Are they placed too high.... if they are one inch high or so, martins may have difficulty. should be no more than one fourth inch off the floor. Flush is the most starling restrictive, but can be a little hard for martins to navigate.
Are they placed too high.... if they are one inch high or so, martins may have difficulty. should be no more than one fourth inch off the floor. Flush is the most starling restrictive, but can be a little hard for martins to navigate.
Yes they are still 6"x 6" units. Honestly, the crescent doors look hardly big enough for these birds. I put the old round hole doors back on and have Martins staying the nights already. Sparrows as well. Actually last yrs. birds built their nests in a way that covered the bottom portion of the opening. They left a bit over half the top of the opening open to pass through. Maybe they don't like the crescent door half circle opening lower than what they normally build. I do have something for the pesky sparrows.
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John Miller
- Posts: 4863
- Joined: Mon Mar 22, 2004 9:11 pm
- Location: St. Louis, MO
Mr. K
Matt brought up the single room aspect because it's generally not recommended to use SREH on these. With the small rooms, nest material may get placed or shifted near the entrance and make entry difficult. You may want to consider modifying the house next season. See the download on the home page for modifying Trio houses for the basic concept, but ask first.
These SREH holes are wonderful. Martins will use them. But sometimes factory plastic entries are not sized correctly, and they must be placed correctly, with the floor the same inside and out, and sometimes with added traction.
John M
Matt brought up the single room aspect because it's generally not recommended to use SREH on these. With the small rooms, nest material may get placed or shifted near the entrance and make entry difficult. You may want to consider modifying the house next season. See the download on the home page for modifying Trio houses for the basic concept, but ask first.
These SREH holes are wonderful. Martins will use them. But sometimes factory plastic entries are not sized correctly, and they must be placed correctly, with the floor the same inside and out, and sometimes with added traction.
John M
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Steve Malone
- Posts: 20
- Joined: Mon Jan 12, 2015 4:15 pm
- Location: LA/Gilliam
I too have Coats housing with the crescent holes. I have 5 of the 16 room towers and 2 of the 8 room houses. For the first 5 or 6 years I left them with the 6x6 rooms. I only had 4 or 5 pairs in each tower. I had a lot of martins laying eggs on the floor. They wouldn't build nest or the nest were so thin that the eggs wouldn't stay together, and there were a lot of eggs that never hatched. Also I had a few martins die of wing entrapment.
3 years ago I used a 4" hole saw and cut the divider out and made an entrance room and a nesting room and added nesting trays because the nests gets soaked from the floor. The first year I did this I had near 100% capacity and it's been like that ever since.
I add pine straw but the martins really make some impressive nest now in them. Heck, they put so much effort in building the nest I hate to clean them out.
I was reluctant to cut my compartments in half, but I have a lot more martins and I don't have anymore problems with eggs not hatching. And I don't know if this is just coincidence, but I haven't had anymore wing entrapments.
3 years ago I used a 4" hole saw and cut the divider out and made an entrance room and a nesting room and added nesting trays because the nests gets soaked from the floor. The first year I did this I had near 100% capacity and it's been like that ever since.
I add pine straw but the martins really make some impressive nest now in them. Heck, they put so much effort in building the nest I hate to clean them out.
I was reluctant to cut my compartments in half, but I have a lot more martins and I don't have anymore problems with eggs not hatching. And I don't know if this is just coincidence, but I haven't had anymore wing entrapments.
Nice work on your Coates house Steve.
You cutting that nice big 4" hole in the dividers, definitely helped to keep any Martins from getting hung up.
The Coates WatersEdge houses use small, 2" or 2.25" holes in the dividers, and you unfortunately hear about folks finding trapped Martins in those divider holes.
Come to think of it, the pre-punched holes that now come in the Trio/Nature House houses, are only 2 1/8".
Hopefully Coates and Nature House start making those divider holes at least 3".
You cutting that nice big 4" hole in the dividers, definitely helped to keep any Martins from getting hung up.
The Coates WatersEdge houses use small, 2" or 2.25" holes in the dividers, and you unfortunately hear about folks finding trapped Martins in those divider holes.
Come to think of it, the pre-punched holes that now come in the Trio/Nature House houses, are only 2 1/8".
Hopefully Coates and Nature House start making those divider holes at least 3".
Thank you everyone. Steve. When you cut the 4" hole in the divider wall did you center the hole leaving 1" at the top and 1" at the bottom? In other words how much wall do I leave coming up from the floor? Also, what did you use for nesting trays? I have the tools to make these changes now. I will need to block the other entrances because I don't have any blank covers and don't even know if I could buy them. The Martins are just spending nights and moving on the next day. I can do this before nesting pairs come in. But do I put the crescent doors back on? I assume they are correct sizes because they are from PMCA Shop.
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Steve Malone
- Posts: 20
- Joined: Mon Jan 12, 2015 4:15 pm
- Location: LA/Gilliam
Mr. K.
I did center the hole and it left a 1" step over at the bottom. All I had to do was to make a 6x6 tray out 1/4 in. plywood. I painted them with left over white exterior and added some plastic bumpers on the bottom to keep them a little bit off the floor. The trays have lasted for 3 years now and I haven't had to replace them or repaint them.
Cutting the holes was real easy too. I didn't even have to take the doors off. I filed the edges down with emery cloth so they wouldn't be sharp.
I had some left over white vinyl from a house project I taped to the inside of the crescent door on the nest side with aluminum tape. That stuff is some good tape, it's been on there for years too. I alternated the entrances so that the martins wouldn't be right over each other.
Over 40 ago my dad and I started building martin houses and the 6x6 seems to work fine with round holes and the martins built nest and the mud dams, but with the crescent entrance, I guess that it so low, if they built nest they would have a hard time getting in.
I wish you luck on the remodel.
I did center the hole and it left a 1" step over at the bottom. All I had to do was to make a 6x6 tray out 1/4 in. plywood. I painted them with left over white exterior and added some plastic bumpers on the bottom to keep them a little bit off the floor. The trays have lasted for 3 years now and I haven't had to replace them or repaint them.
Cutting the holes was real easy too. I didn't even have to take the doors off. I filed the edges down with emery cloth so they wouldn't be sharp.
I had some left over white vinyl from a house project I taped to the inside of the crescent door on the nest side with aluminum tape. That stuff is some good tape, it's been on there for years too. I alternated the entrances so that the martins wouldn't be right over each other.
Over 40 ago my dad and I started building martin houses and the 6x6 seems to work fine with round holes and the martins built nest and the mud dams, but with the crescent entrance, I guess that it so low, if they built nest they would have a hard time getting in.
I wish you luck on the remodel.
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John Miller
- Posts: 4863
- Joined: Mon Mar 22, 2004 9:11 pm
- Location: St. Louis, MO
If you can cut the hole leaving about 1.5 above the floor, this will create a better back room nest pocket. Sometimes very young babies will otherwise crawl out and perish.
don't assume the entrances are the correct size. Measure them as described. Most of what we order from the PMCA comes direct from the makers -- not from heaven but from the manufactuers -- and like all mortals sometimes get sloppy.
John
don't assume the entrances are the correct size. Measure them as described. Most of what we order from the PMCA comes direct from the makers -- not from heaven but from the manufactuers -- and like all mortals sometimes get sloppy.
John
The house came out nice. Wood floor in the nesting room. Plugged the entrances with thin aluminum using latex caulk as the adhesive and to seal out water. I will measure the crescent doors, but I didn't use them. I don't have a lot of Starling problems here but do have Sparrow problems. As I said before I have something for them. Thanks again for all the help.