1 more starling question

[flyin-lowe]

I returned from a 1 week vacation today and did a nest check first thing. I checked two of my gourds that my pair had started building in before I left. Looks like two nest are complete or almost complete. This afternoon I saw a starling on the porch of one of my gourds. I have SREH and I have never seen a starling on my housing. This trash beak could not get in but was sticking his head in and pulling out the PM nest and putting it on the ground. I scared him off twice and have not seen it since. I dont think I should shoot my .22 rifle directly towards my house for fear of damaging it if I miss. Trapping wont work as the bird cant get in. Will this bird leave since it cant get in or will it continue to destroy the nest just because it is an evil vile animal.

[Bob Rogers]

flyin-low,
Sharpen your shooting skills and shoot the starling!

[Emil Pampell-Tx]

The starling will not hang around very long if it cannot get in, it will leave. This is a reason for having deep compartments that are 6x12, as the starlings necks are not long enough and they can't reach to the nest in a 12in compartment. Have you considered modifying your house to 6x12in, or what size compartments do you have?

[flyin-lowe]

On my house I have modified all my compartments to 6x12. This nest in question is in a Big Bo gourd that has an internal porch. I had a pretty good layer of pine straw in prior to my PM's arrival. The starling is putting his head in and straight down to the right and or left and just reaching the top "rim" of the nest and pulling it out. It cant reach much of the nest so I was not real concerned but I didn't know if a small amount of destruction would spook my PM's. I will try to shoot the starling but my house is a good distance away and usually by the time I get anywhere close to where I could take a shot it flies off, it is very timid.

[Mary Dawnsong]

Hi,

If you are offering all SREH entries for martins, then it is very easy to trap Starlings in a separate nestbox trap erected just for them.

Starlings love large, wooden boxes with round holes and a porch or perch. Erect the trap within sight of your colony near a tree or building. That location will discourage martins from approaching it. However, you must monitor the trap closely because it can catch martins and other native cavity nesting birds.

Starlings will become frustrated with the SREH, notice the nice house with the big round hole, and walk right in. Very easy way to eliminate the troublemakers!

The PMCA nestbox trap has worked well for me (currently out of stock):
http://shop.purplemartin.org/shopsite/p ... traps.html

You can build your own, using the basic Huber trap design, adapted for Starlings:
http://community-2.webtv.net/hubertrap/ ... OWCONTROL/

Good luck, Mary