Natural Gourds

[kim w.]

Going to add natural gourds this year. Been trying for eight years. I was going to put tunnels on some but was wondering about just drilling 2" holes in some and that's it. They don't even need a porch or perch of and kine either do they? Yes, I have tried everything else the last eight years.

[C.C.Martins]

Hi Kim! Hang in there, it takes a while sometimes.
I have mostly natural gourds, love them! Some folks do not have a starling problem, well and good for round holes. Iv shot 5 since the martins arrived on the 1st. Iv got all starling resistant entrances but I take no chances. Last Friday our gourd rack was crawling with starlings. The martin activity seems a big draw to them.

Here's some things you should think about:
Martins love porched tunnels, they are not hard to install.
You will need an access port with screw on cap, thats another 4 inch hole to cut in the side. You need that for nest checks.
One more smaller 1inch hole near the top for a PVC elbow vent.
These are real easy to do.
When you get martins, you will want to protect them so they are sucessful and come back. Be devistating to have a pair after all this time be destroyed in a lightning fast raid by a starling.
Here's a link that may help you:
http://purplemartin.org/update/NaturalGourd.pdf
Ok link doesn't seem to be working....if you do a search for preparing natural gourds, tons of info will come up.

Tom

[Jones4381]

Yeah Kim...CC and the other advocates in here and on the web pages pretty much all will tell you to add tunnels. I did to too 20 of my 24 naturals that left only 4 with a 2" hole like you mention. I plan on getting it tunneled too but wanted to do a little experiment up here to see which they would go to first this year if I get what I'm hoping for (for my own knowledge and experience for later on)...Good luck...If you haven't had any luck getting any over the years then I'd say go with the 2" this year and can always modify them with the tunnels once you get some traction going.

With all that said...C.C. gave you the right advise. That's what I should do.

[scottfreidhof]

That's what I use at home Kim. Just natural gourds with a 2-inch hole. No perch, porch, or tunnel. Give it a try and if successful then upgrade to SREH tunnels.

[kim w.]

scottfreidhof Do you paint your gourds?

[Jones4381]

Hi Kim! Hang in there, it takes a while sometimes.
I have mostly natural gourds, love them! Some folks do not have a starling problem, well and good for round holes. Iv shot 5 since the martins arrived on the 1st. Iv got all starling resistant entrances but I take no chances. Last Friday our gourd rack was crawling with starlings. The martin activity seems a big draw to them.

Here's some things you should think about:
Martins love porched tunnels, they are not hard to install.
You will need an access port with screw on cap, thats another 4 inch hole to cut in the side. You need that for nest checks.
One more smaller 1inch hole near the top for a PVC elbow vent.
These are real easy to do.
When you get martins, you will want to protect them so they are sucessful and come back. Be devistating to have a pair after all this time be destroyed in a lightning fast raid by a starling.
Here's a link that may help you:
http://purplemartin.org/update/NaturalGourd.pdf
Ok link doesn't seem to be working....if you do a search for preparing natural gourds, tons of info will come up.

Tom

Tom,
I think the more I read and post in here, the more I manifest these things in my life. We've had several discussions about starlings, Cyclops gourds, etc...Well wouldn't you know it after opening up 8 of my gourds on the new rack (4 SREH 4 round holes) this weekend to my surprise was 2 Starlings on the new rack investigating this morning. Went into the round holes and couldn't go in the tunnels...Flew off before grabbing my gun...Not even goingt to mention that other invasive species as I'm trying to stop all these manifestations....I closed off the 4 round holes and now have 4 of my 48 cavities open for those first arrivals as they are starting to show up in VA. Calling for bitter cold this weekend so I'm hoping its another week or two 3/20 or Spring.. Glad I did the ConleyII and Tunnels on my gourds. Thanks to you and others in here and FB for consistently advocating for this as I will sleep easier as I travel for the next few days knowing the Starlings won't find a home here. Got a feeling I'm going to eradicate a few Starlings this year. Peace

[C.C.Martins]

Don't want to hijack her thread but I too don't want to worry about their safety while away, wish I lived in a starling free area, but is what it is. Enjoy your trip! Rest easy.
This forum is awesome for help.
When the martins showed up in 2017 I remember talking to Louise Chambers and asking what now??? I didn't even want to cut the grass for fear of scaring them off. She and John are still instrumental.
I did have a starling breach a crescent once, female martin went right in after it, watched the whole thing...she was fine but scared me to death. I eventually shot the starling, after that my friend, I make absolutely sure. But it was my fault, the crescent was too big.
Damn things. I shoot them as fast as I can. Have one more van ert trap coming for a woodpecker box starlings like....check in, possum bait on the way out.

[John Barrow]

Welcome Kim,
I found this link to the article I wrote for PMCA in 2005 that should open.

https://www.purplemartin.org/uploads/me ... ip-403.pdf

In the article I emphasize the study of the gourds you are preparing as an important step before cutting in to them. You will note all of the gourds pictured in the article have round entrances. Within a few years I had converted all the round holed entrances to 3 in tunnels with SREH entrances - to eliminate the threat of Starling attacks.
At the time that I prepared the gourds my preparation and study of the gourd took into consideration how I would convert them to add a tunnel with SREH entrance. Gourds initially set up as "cyclops" gourds would be converted by using a new "uncut" cap on what would be a stock examination port. A new 3 in hole would be cut lower, and on a facing side, for a sreh tunnel. Other gourds (the majority) would be modified by enlarging the 2 in hole to 3 inches for the tunnel. The examination port would be the same. Later photos of those same systems would show the same gourds hung in virtually the same sequence; however, the round holes shown in the publication would be sporting 3 in tunnels.
Wishing you luck in this endeavor and many days of filling the skies with purple martins.

[scottfreidhof]

scottfreidhof Do you paint your gourds?

I paint them white after drilling the entrance hole and the hanger hole at the top. Preferably a coat of primer followed by two coats of white paint. Once painted I drill 4-5 drainage holes in the bottom.