Wing entrapment again!

[Birdiegirl]

Well, it happened again.
Last year I had my first case of wing entrapment- two ASY males, one hung inside a gourd tunnel with another stuck inside. Both dead. The gourds I have are Bo 9s to which I added the tunnels with SREH, the design with built in wing entrapment guards.
In trying to learn from last year’s loss, this season I’ve been doing nightly walk arounds. We’ve been hosting about 24 birds so far. Today we did our first nest check since nesting material started going in over the weekend. When we lowered the housing, I was discouraged to find a dead ASY male with a trapped wing inside the same type of gourd, this time with a dead ASY female inside. I am so disappointed and really frustrated. Even in checking my housing each night, I never knew anything was wrong. In both instances, the bird was stuck in the tunnel opening inside the gourd, not the tunnel opening to the exterior. Hope that makes sense.
I know nothing is 100% fool proof and I am not trying to hate on Bo 9 gourds. But I am so discouraged. I really thought last year was an isolated incident.
So here’s my question, do I take the gourds down for the season before any nests are completed? Am doing something wrong? Is there anything else I can do? I sure don’t want to offer housing that isn’t safe.
Advice appreciated.

[Jones4381]

I'd move away from the Bo9's based on these negative experiences you've lived. I'd replace with another gourd option that are not being occupied. Good luck Birdie and sorry for the losses. Nothing's fool proof as you know but twice is enough in my view.

[C.C.Martins]

Oh no. Twice? You did what you could for sure. Walk around would catch a trapped bird, what goes on inside youd need to look inside, and that isn't practical.
Iv zero experience with the Bo9 gourds and would second Jones, phase them out. Sorry, that is terrible news.

[Birdiegirl]

Thanks so much for the replies. I plan to get new gourds next season (Christmas list started ). Time to research the best design for deterring owls and starlings, and hopefully wing entrapment.

But for this year- what to do? Nest building is already happening in 4 out of 8 of the gourds. I hate to disrupt that. Besides, I looked online last night and the chances of getting new gourds shipped in the next couple weeks is slim. Now I've started to worry because the same tunnels I have on the Bo 9 gourds are also installed on my T-14, however, there hasn't been any issues with those.

Both of these instances occurred during the claiming of territories. That's not a good sign, because the subbies should arrive this week! With so much scuffling, I'm wary it could happen again. It's either take the gourds down or watch every day with binoculars and confirm each entrance is clear. I'm leaning towards the latter. Thoughts?

[EarlG]

From reading your post it appears you did not remove the interior opening. It should be enlarged so that the opening is just a large hole.When adding tunnels and new exterior openings, the inside opening should be enlarged as much as possible.

The gourds you have are good gourds. They just need an inside adjustment. I hope this helps

[Birdiegirl]

Well- that's honestly something I hadn't considered. I think they are installed correctly, but if we can enlarge the hole where the tunnel meets the gourd, that might be the fix we need. Just to clarify- it requires cutting away a portion of the actual gourd, correct?

I will take a look when I get home, as I have several gourds in my barn that are not being used this year that could be modified and swapped out without inconveniencing the birds too much. Thank you for the suggestion! I'll take photos tonight and post to the forum in case this could help someone else too.

[EarlG]

Yes it does require cutting away some of the gourd, but it is in an area totally covered by the tunnel. It makes your gourd actually larger usable space on the inside. I believe that this procedure is shown on the S&K website where these gourds are sold

[EarlG]

https://skmfginc.com/Instructions/UTRS-UTC/utrsutc.pdf

[Birdiegirl]

Thank you SO much EarlG. It's been a couple years, but I am almost positive that we missed this step. I appreciate you sharing the information and the link- can't wait to go home and do some modifications. I will try and post pictures of the before and after- in case I'm not the only one that's made this mistake.

[Birdiegirl]

EarlG- you were absolutely correct. The Bo9 gourds and tunnel were not to blame, we had not installed the tunnels correctly by enlarging the hole on the Bo 9. Pretty embarrassing and costly mistake. We had 8 gourds to modify, but it was not difficult. My husband and I made quick work of it- we didn’t even have to take the gourds off the poles. I really do think this was the root of our problem. I hate that four birds had to die for us to learn this lesson, but giving EarlG all the credit here and sharing these photos in case it will help someone else not make the same mistake we did. Thanks so much for the advice, I will sleep better tonight. Before and after photos below.

[EarlG]

You did a good job and still have a very reliable gourd. Good luck for your colony!

[Jones4381]

Excellent Earl, Nice catch and happy for Birdie!

[C.C.Martins]

Agree, Earl you saved the day and quite possibly some more martins. Laura glad it worked out!!!!!!! I must say I like those S&K tunnels, I use them. Martins love em.

[Thomabear]

Wow, what a great success story! Congratulations to EarlG and Birdiegirl. I’m sure the martins will love that open floor plan with improved safety and ventilation.

[Birdiegirl]

Thanks so much martin forum friends for the advice and encouragement! As I was leaving for work this morning, I noticed that there were martins on ALL eight of the gourds. Though I don't speak fluent chortle, I think there was something about some amazing newly enlarged foyers...

[Thomas Maddox]

This is awesome! Thanks for sharing .

[Martintown33]

Hi birdiegirl. Sorry for the losses, but Sounds like you fixed the issue. I was going to say, I make the openings from the gourd into the tunnel (troyer super gourds) 3 inches in diameter. I haven’t had one instance of an entrapment, at that junction, with that size hole.
Good luck
Rob

[Phil01]

Way to save the day Earl! Great catch on the secondary opening. Glad all is well and those gourds are filling up now Laura. Modern day, open floor plan for your martins!
Phil