Hi,
I got my new Martin House today, it is a Coates Waters Edge with crescent holes. These crescent holes are not big enough for a film canister to fit through them. Should I enlarge them? I did on my gourds last year and the martins love it! I do not have a big starling problem, trapping sparrows and starlings year around.
Thanks for any advice.
Barbara
size of crescent holes
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John Miller
- Posts: 4866
- Joined: Mon Mar 22, 2004 9:11 pm
- Location: St. Louis, MO
I use a film canister as a tool to measure. But if you enlarge, you surely increase the risk of starlings getting in.
My first season at a golf course, I enlarged a few holes slightly with this method, and the single subbie pair we attracted chose a crescent, in a coates water's edge, that I did not enlarge. Still, I personally can't resist tinkering and if you get a canister to barely snug in, and not rattle, you probably have opened it only about 1/64" and made it just a little easier on martins -- but at slight risk. So, it's up to you, but don't over do it.
John Miller
My first season at a golf course, I enlarged a few holes slightly with this method, and the single subbie pair we attracted chose a crescent, in a coates water's edge, that I did not enlarge. Still, I personally can't resist tinkering and if you get a canister to barely snug in, and not rattle, you probably have opened it only about 1/64" and made it just a little easier on martins -- but at slight risk. So, it's up to you, but don't over do it.
John Miller
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Dale Hrncirik
Barbara,
I concur with John. I've been using the film canister for years and have had no problems with starlings entering. The key here is to make sure the canister has a very snug fit into the crescent...no loosy goosy fit or that could spell trouble. I'm like you and have minimal problems with starlings and now the martins can get in much easier. I really believe that 1 &3/16" is a bit of overkill considering these are SRE's... meaning resistant...not starling proof. A snug fitting canister will make a crescent SRE ~ 1.21" vs a std SRE 1.1875" opening. I would not go over 1.22" and a person really needs to use digital calipers to confirm the height of their enlarged SREs.
I concur with John. I've been using the film canister for years and have had no problems with starlings entering. The key here is to make sure the canister has a very snug fit into the crescent...no loosy goosy fit or that could spell trouble. I'm like you and have minimal problems with starlings and now the martins can get in much easier. I really believe that 1 &3/16" is a bit of overkill considering these are SRE's... meaning resistant...not starling proof. A snug fitting canister will make a crescent SRE ~ 1.21" vs a std SRE 1.1875" opening. I would not go over 1.22" and a person really needs to use digital calipers to confirm the height of their enlarged SREs.