SREH - Does it really exist ??

[Hanover Bill]

With this seemingly smaller version Starling that is showing up, is there really an effective SREH available today. I have watched a smaller version Starling enter and exit every opening I have to offer with relative ease. That includes Crescent, Conley II's, Excluders, Excluder II's, etc., etc. Not being the best shot i t the world and suffering from old age eyes I haven't been able to eliminate him yet, try as I may. To complicate things he has gotten very aggressive. To make matters worse the Martins are staying away from the side of the gourd rack that he has claimed for his own.

That old saying about inventing a better mouse trap seems to apply to today's SREH entrances.

Hanover Bill.

[C.C.Martins]

I know the feeling, if I'm crouched down to take a shot and wait, my knees sound like rice krispies when I straighten up.

Nothing is starling proof, just resistant. For that starling, id find a neighbor kid who's a good shot.

[Martintown33]

Agree with Tom.. try to find a nephew or hire a sharp eyed neighbor that you trust to shoot him. The starling is not only a nuisance to your colony but a serious threat to their safety..
Good luck getting rid of it..
Rob

[randyM]

I offer only round holes for all nest cavities at my colony....I actually encourage starlings to visit my martin housing so I don't want to use any SREHs. In the northern states starlings begin to claim nest sites a month or so before martins arrive. This gives me great opportunity to shoot starlings from the perching rods at my colony they usually sing from to attract others before martins arrive. I use a 12 gauge with number 7-8 steel shot which is effective out to 40-50 yards. I only use steel shot as I place the dead starlings and sparrows at a fox den on my property and don't want to give the foxes any toxic lead. Each year a few late starlings arrive and I have to shoot them after martins are at my colony. The martins don't mind the shooting. In fact on a few occasions martins began dive-bombing a dead starling on the ground within 10-15 seconds after I shot it. I live in a very rural area so I don't have to worry about neighbors. I also put bird seed on the ground which attracts house sparrows and starlings and will shoot them on the ground as well. I take extreme care to only take a shot that will only hit my intended target and will never take a shot that has the slightest potential to hit a non-target species...if it's not a 100% clear shot, I won't take it. I show patients, as I know they'll be back to offer another opportunity for me to shoot. I show no tolerance or mercy for these invaders as not only do they cause trouble for martins, they compete with other native cavity nesting birds and I just try to eliminate as many house sparrows and starlings as I can, not just deter them from nesting at my colony. I've been using this technique for over 10 years and would kill 50+ starlings and nearly that many house sparrows the first few years, recent years I shoot about a dozen and a half of each species as that's all that I see at my place in a year.

[John Miller]

Once a starling learns to enter a SREH it's very hard to stop him/her, and maybe your starling initially entered one that was less restrictive, such as the Conley II. I offer a few Troyer gourds with this entrance, but I put a PMCA wing guard on the front to bring the sides down and make it more restrictive. (If one does this, don't position the guard below the top..just placed so the Conley II sides are drawn in some.) I offer many crescents and excluder II openings otherwise in park settings -- starlings numerous -- all with porch levels no more than one-fourth inch below the openings, and rarely (won't say never) have starlings enter.

[Jones4381]

Splash 1 Starling this morning...landed on SK greenhouse...ran towards it...flew into nearby top of tree....decided to get 12 gauge and when came outside there it sat again... Bang...Dead....

Interestingly enough "Zeus" flew out of my new gourd rack along with female and circled the scene....low and behold 10 seconds later they landed on the "Miami" gourd (all my natural gourds have NFL city names) the one they've been nesting in and then a 2nd ASY Male shows up and lands on New York Jets...Go Steelers

Good karma eliminating the Starling as hopefully the 3rd PM will hopefully stay and draw in more this season.

I do agree I've had starling breeches in both the conley II's and the cresents on my SK gourds and houses this season...I will eventually add the Wingentrapment device on the outside of the entrances at the end of the season to hopefully not worry about Starlings anymore.
HOSP's - 0 this year (thankful)
Starlings - 3

[Robert Richerson]

I have well over a hundred Troyer gourds up with Conley II's. They offer little resistance to a very determined starling. I have put porches on the old Supergourds with crescent entries, the porch flush with the crescent entrance. They are the most resistant in my opinion. Or maybe it's that I have much lesser of these gourds up. I hit on consecutive shots a starling and a HOSP with a .177 pellet gun this week. Then I went zero for the next 15. It may be my age creeping up on me. But once they have started a nest, it's mush faster just to trap them. Plus having martins flying everywhere, I am hesitant to shoot. My shotgun gets put away once I have a few returning martins. I like traping HOSPs as I put them in my repeating HOSP trap as lures.

[Lewis]

You can use the PMCA wing guard on outside of Crescent and Coloney II with flush floor and this is most effective. With the excluders SREH's you need a porch with traction to help martins enter.

Lewis

[Martintown33]

Agree with Lewis.. it’s important to have the bottom of your crescent entrances no more than 1/4 inch above the porch floor.. 1/8 inch is better, flush is best. The reason is, that starlings have much longer legs than martins, so the lower the bottom of the entrance, the harder it is for the starling to squeeze those long legs in at the same time as his relatively larger body. I haven’t seen a starling breach a crescent entrance flush with the porch floor in several years. It will take a very unusually small starling to do it..
Good luck,
Rob

[Martintown33]

P.S. traction porch is a must to help the martins get in the flush mount SREH.
ROB