Entrances,WDC vs Crescents and why,you tell me. Duh!!!!

[Guest]

I'm gathering all the right answers,before I build my next years housing project.

dick

[Louise Chambers]

Here's a good place to start your reading -

http://www.purplemartin.org/forumarchives/archives.html

The second section or so is a whole collection of articles about SREH which should help give you the background to help you decide what to try at your place. good luck

Louise

[Guest]

I didn't want to make that decision.I was looking for the why side, then I could decide,,,,,,,,,,,surely there are pros and cons for each and I'm sure I can find some of that but hands on user preferencers is invaluable to me being a rookie,maybe I should say wannabee rookie as I have a pair and 3 SY's at the moment but don't know how the pair is going to fair.

I'll find it never fear.

dick

[Emil Pampell-Tx]

Dick, the WDC is preferred by most because the martins can learn to enter easily. The crescent is harder for the martins to learn to enter. Most houses have crescents because it has no patent. The WDC is covered by a patent, the patent is on the excluder type openings, and its characteristics cover the WDC as well.

The crescent and WDC have nearly the same resistance to starlings, so that part doesn't matter much.

[Mary Dawnsong]

Hi Dick,

Click on the Search button above and on the Search criteria page type in the keyword: WDC then click the Search button at the bottom.

You will find that an exhaustive amount has already been posted on this topic, including these threads:
http://www.purplemartin.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2796
http://www.purplemartin.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=761
http://www.purplemartin.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=448

This forum is a goldmine of information and Search can find info from roughly the last year's worth of posts.

[Guest]

'Im finding stuff all the time but there is tons of info as you say and not being the most computer literate person in the barrel,I maybe ask to many questions rather than doing my own leg work but I'm learning both avenues as I go.

dick

[Scully]

Early last year we converted our crescent Supergourds w/aluminum porches over to Sandy's WDC entrances. Prior to that we had experienced a number of starling invasions.

Since converting to WDC we have experienced no starling invasions at all in our Supergourds all last season and all season so far this year.

Our S&K crescent entrances with flush-mounted porches have been similarly effective and so far have our plain crescent Naturelines.

One plus of the WDC, besides the apparent ease of entry, is the speed of exit. One of the biggest threats to our colony is migrant Cooper's hawk launching blitzing attacks in March and April.

Martins can exit a WDC about as fast as a round hole, crescents of all sorts require a second or two of wriggling. I have never witnessed a martin get caught by a Cooper's after getting held up by a crescent, but having witnessed a number of attacks, ANYTHING that might hinder the escape of a martin even for a second is probably best avoided if possible.

An early objection to SREH's was the feather wear sometimes apparent on the nape of the neck of the occupant martins as the season progressed. Some such wear was apparent on the martins we filmed with our nest cam last year (although no such wear is yet apparent on this year's nest cam, using a gourd with the exact same entrance design).

Given that martins get in WDC's so easily, it follows that the chance of damaging the plumage should also be lessened. This is something we plan to investigate this year, having nest cams both in a crescent gourd and a WDC.

Mike Scully

[Guest]

Great info and greatly appreciated.

dick

[Guest]

Dick,
I have both wdc and the crescents as well as several other types of entrances. Although the wdc has more room for the martins to enter the gourd, the martins actually seem to prefer the crescents with a double porch outside. Also, I have had starlings enter the wdc on at least two occasions.

[John Miller]

Chuck

All this gets a little involved. Are your WDC in natural gourds porched in some way? I think porched is important to keep starlings out and make entry easier for martins, yet unporched crescents in natural gourds seem to work if sized closely -- starlings out/martins in.

John Miller

[RC Moser]

I went to WDC's over crescents for one reason. I have witness three PMs stuck in crescents and died. I consider this a too high a risk for me.

So far I have had any problems with WDC's. Some of the side benefits I have noticed; No stuck PMs to date (been Two years), no starlings able to penetrate them, easy for babies to stick three heads out, and easy to learn.

IMO the best SREH out there why else would I change over 44 cavities!?! Peace of Mind!!!

[Bob Buskas]

All SREH work well if made to spec. It is only personal preference as to what to use. I use an equal combination of Cescent, WDC, Private Eye and Clubhouse. The Martins use them all. The Starlings hate them!

[Guest]

John,
My WDC entrances were on super gourds with double wide porches. I am unable to use natural gourds at my location due to the windy conditions here in northeast oklahoma. I attempted to use natural gourds and the wind was too strong.