As I said in a previous posting I have tried for years to get nesting martins with no luck and had one VERY INTERESTED ASY male show up this week. He could not seem to get into the SREH's on my modified Trio Grandma in spite of trying multiple times throughtout the day.
Anyway, I did not want to lose him so I took out one of the door panels and reinserted the original keyhole shaped entrance. The martin returned and went right in. He stayed in for five minutes or more and came a number of times throughout the day and did the same. I was elated! He seemed very happy with the house.
Well, last evening I looked out and there was a starling sitting at the entrance. I chased him off several times but this morning he was back and throwing all the pine needles, that I had placed in the house, out. I went out and scared him off three times but he kept coming back. The martin returned and went in the house again. He left and the starling returned and continued thowing out the nest. Up until this incident my main problems were EUHS and TS.
I can see it is hopeless and put the SREH back on again. No martin could ever safely nest in there even IF it ever got a chance to make a nest and lay eggs. So discouraging.
The SREH I have are the Extruder type and I understand they are the hardest for the martins to master. I have ordered some crescent shaped ones and will use them once they arrive but who knows when that will be. Hopefully, they will arrive soon.
Carlton
I Learned My Lesson
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Carlton
- Posts: 1959
- Joined: Tue May 17, 2005 6:42 pm
- Location: Florida/Deerfield Beach
- Martin Colony History: I moved to South Florida, from Delaware, in August of 2015.
I care for a 6 condo Sunset House as well as two Deluxe Gourd Racks, with 24 Chirpynest/Excluder gourds, along a canal in Pompano Beach, Florida.
At Quiet Waters Park, nearby in Deerfield Beach, I care for a Deluxe Gourd Rack with 12 TVG's. I also care for a Deluxe Gourd rack with 12 Excluder gourds with Modified Excluder entrances. I am substituting 6 Chirpynest boxes for 6 of the Conley II entranced gourds in 2026.
At another local park, Tradewinds Park in Coconut Creek, I care for a Trendsetter 12, 5 gourds rack with 60 Excluder gourds with Modified Excluder Entrances and 1 Deluxe Gourd Rack with 12 Troyer Vertical Gourds with Starling Stoppers over the Conley II's to keep out smaller starlings.
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CUL Lou~Mich
Carlton. You do NOT want to discourage the PM. Therefore, I'd put a couple of round, or keyhole shaped doors back on. Then for the time being, if you see the EUST in the hole where your PM belongs chase him away. Do NOT chase him away from any other hole. Let him have another hole for the time being. You can deal with him later. Now you want that PM to stick around. Good Luck. Oh, I presume you're not in a position to shoot the EUST. Right? CUL Lou
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Guest
Carlton, CUL Lou is right. That detail about only having one door the starling can get into is critical. You forced the starling into your martin's cavity. Offer several round openings where the starling is determined to stay. If you can get the starling to use another cavity, different from the one the martin is using, let him stay for now. Change the MARTIN'S cavity to some SREH after everybody is settled in. When the martin is going in and out change the rest to SREH also.
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John Miller
- Posts: 4866
- Joined: Mon Mar 22, 2004 9:11 pm
- Location: St. Louis, MO
Carlton
I'm sorry you had to go through this. Was the compartment modified to be deeper? One can't put round holes on these in Missouri -- they are starling magnets. I've found you can get by with round holes on 6 x 6 aluminum compartments. Probably, starlings peep in and see the back wall and move on. Maybe even more than martins, starlings seek out darkness for their nests.
If you want to send me a PM I'll mail you one of my extra Trio crescents today and you can replace it later from your supply.
John Miller
I'm sorry you had to go through this. Was the compartment modified to be deeper? One can't put round holes on these in Missouri -- they are starling magnets. I've found you can get by with round holes on 6 x 6 aluminum compartments. Probably, starlings peep in and see the back wall and move on. Maybe even more than martins, starlings seek out darkness for their nests.
If you want to send me a PM I'll mail you one of my extra Trio crescents today and you can replace it later from your supply.
John Miller
Carlton
Maybe not alls lost. At least the ASY male knows there a very nice cavity available to him if he can get to it. Maybe do what the others suggest or but back on the Extruder and maybe he will try harder to get in until your SREH showup. Thanks
Maybe not alls lost. At least the ASY male knows there a very nice cavity available to him if he can get to it. Maybe do what the others suggest or but back on the Extruder and maybe he will try harder to get in until your SREH showup. Thanks
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Emil Pampell-Tx
- Posts: 6743
- Joined: Tue Nov 11, 2003 1:26 pm
- Location: Tx, Richmond (SW of Houston)
- Martin Colony History: First started in Gretna, La in 1969 with a small homemade house, have had martins ever since at 2 different homes in Texas
Two days ago, I had a pair of SY martins in a temporary roundhole S&K gourd. They didn't have eggs in the nest. I replaced it with a WDC tunnel entrance, with wooden porch. The pair made about 30 attempts to get it but appeared that they couldn't get in. Right before dark, the female got in, and within 1 minute, the male got in. They wanted to get in before dark, and they did!