Watersedge Purple Martin Houses

[philsand]

Has anyone used the Watersedge houses with the crescent entrances? They appear to be too high from the porch to keep starlings out. Any success out there?

[Matt F.]

Hi Philsand,
I have not personally used the WatersEdge houses, though they are popular and have some really good features.
They appear to have the bottom of the crescents at approx. 1/2" above the deck, which is the same as the Trio/Nature House crescent doors.
This higher up position is good and bad. The good is at that height, it makes it easier for the Martins to learn to easily enter and exit. The bad is it makes it easier for starlings to enter and exit. I've been using Trio/Nature House crescents for a good number of years now, and based on my experience, and the reports from others, they have worked well at keeping starlings out. This seems to be the case in areas with low-to-moderate starling pressure. In areas with high starling pressure, they may be susceptible to frequent starling breaches, and may require some modifications such as bringing the deck up higher to within 1/4" or flush with the bottom of the entrance to keep the starlings at bay.
The one Achilles heel with the WatersEdge housing that's worth mentioning, is the smaller, approx. 2" interior round hole, that connects the front compartment "chamber" to the back chamber. There have been reports of Martins getting hung up in those interior holes during territorial dust-ups with other Martins, and being inside and out-of-view, may unfortunately result them not be found until one or more Martins stuck inside have expired. Trio/Nature House has the same issue with its smaller, interior compartment connecting holes. Most agree that a larger, 3" hole goes a long way in preventing these hang-ups.

[Dave Duit]

I had heard the same as Matt concerning the interior connecting hole being too small. Opening up to three inch or larger should eliminate the hang ups. Watersedge is overall a great product with the exception of the two flaws.

[Dave Reynolds]

I had heard the same as Matt concerning the interior connecting hole being too small. Opening up to three inch or larger should eliminate the hang ups. Watersedge is overall a great product with the exception of the two flaws.

..
.

... Your right... Dave... The 2 “ hole is way to small for an inside wall.. I hope that the makers of the Trio houses start making the inside wall holes 3” inches and stop using the 2 1/8 hole inside.. Always takes a while before the Manufactures listen to the people using their product, before changes are made.

Dave

[Dave Duit]

Hi Dave R,
I was just going to mention that is takes a while for the people who make martin houses to perk up and it only happens when they get an earful from the consumers. A prime example fo this would be the increased standard cavity sizes opening from 6X6X6 to a deeper 12'' compartment. We must think alike.

[Tallsilver]

Used two of them here in SC for about 4 yrrs. Have since replaced with gourds. Two main problems I had were high fledgling mortality rate (heat) and the bottoms rusted out. FWIW