SREH questions
I have a pair of Purple Martins that have spent 2 nights. I put SREH plates over the original Trio entrances. I noticed the female has no problem getting inside. But the male has a hard time getting in. Must be because he is a little bigger than the female. After 3 or 4 tries he makes it. When I covered the original holes I didn’t put the entrance flush with the porch. Is there a way to help with this? Should I install wood blocks to make the entrance holes flush with the porch. Or put grit paper down to help the male get traction? Or just do nothing because the female has no problems and the male gets in after a few tries.
Hi Laura,
The problem is probably not with the porch height, but instead the entrance being a bit too narrow, since the unmodified Trio/Nature House holes you placed the Clinger plates over, are only 2.125" inches in width. The Clinger entrances themselves are 2.32". That .2" is most likely what's causing the male to struggle so.
The Clinger's were designed to be as narrow as possible, while still allowing the Martins to enter/exit, which means anything less that that 2.32" may cause problems like your seeing.
Most starling-resistant entrances are between 2 3/4" to 3" in width.
The problem is probably not with the porch height, but instead the entrance being a bit too narrow, since the unmodified Trio/Nature House holes you placed the Clinger plates over, are only 2.125" inches in width. The Clinger entrances themselves are 2.32". That .2" is most likely what's causing the male to struggle so.
The Clinger's were designed to be as narrow as possible, while still allowing the Martins to enter/exit, which means anything less that that 2.32" may cause problems like your seeing.
Most starling-resistant entrances are between 2 3/4" to 3" in width.
Next season I would highly suggest expanding the rooms and cutting a larger hole in the original opening so none of the clinger is restricted as pointed out already. I have a female now who struggles to get in a factory crescent hole yet the male makes it look easy. Shes building a nest so I am curious to see if she gets better at it.
Thanks for the advice. Sounds good. Since the SY male I had earlier and the female have no problems, I will leave everything as is. I have my work cut out for me next year. I plan on expanding the rooms and making the holes larger. Maybe investing in getting new doors all together that have the SREH openings. Plus I plan in adding some gords. So much to learn!
- Mr & Mrs Martin.jpg (77.79 KiB) Viewed 3514 times
I will be leaving Florida on May 5th to go back up north to Vermont for the summer. I am a snow bird too. Its going to be 90 degrees here in Cape Coral, Florida today so you can see why. I'm sorry that I wont be able to see the babies (if any). But I still had fun for my first year and have plans for next year.