Wing Entrapment in T-14s?

[dcronwell]

I have spent the last couple hours surfing the interweb and this site looking for info specifically about the potential for wing entrapment in wooden T-14 houses. This is in anticipation of adding a T-14 I built several years ago to my small colony this year. I built it with all round holes because they are so easy to construct in wood. I am seeing more starlings the last couple years than in the past, so now I want to retrofit some crescent, Clinger, and bell type SREH plates on the outside and wondered about the possibility of wing entrapment.

Does the 3/4" thickness of the wooden front of the compartments reduce the potential of wing entrapment? Should I plan to modify the inside of the compartments, too?

Thanks for any insight.

[brent]

I had to add thickness to my houses. PMCA sells them. The houses I have had wing entrapment prevention but it was not thick enough so I added another to the front of the entrance. I don't remember the exact thickness but will check tomorrow but I don't think 3/4 of an inch is thick enough. Helpful but may not be thick enough. I'll check and repost. Brent

[brent]

Checked the thickness of the WEPs and without the addition it was only 1/2 inch which was not helpful at all and had several entrapments. With the addition of the WEPs on the outside of the entrance the total thickness is 1 3/8 inches which has totally eliminated wing entrapment. Hope this helps. Brent

[flyin-lowe]

In both of the T 14's I built I simply cut a square opening and then put plastic SREH plates on. The older one is crescents and the newer one is Conelly II. I can't say I have had any more or any less wing entrapments based on the wood thickness. I don't see many wing entrapments. Maybe one every 3-5 years. I have a mix of T 14 and gourds and haven't one over the other having more entrapments.

[Martintown33]

Im adding WEPs for this season after having 2 close calls for wing entrapments last season… the WEPs I got from pmca are 3/4 inches thick…
Good luck,
Rob

[Phil01]

I also use the WEPS from the PMCA website on the inside of the crescent openings for my sunset inn house. Only had it up last season but no wing entrapment last year.
Phil

[Forum Admin]

Hi there! Lots of great replies to this thread already but wanted to confirm:

Wing entrapment can happen anywhere, but the 3/4" thickness of the wood is basically a built-in WEP. We don't hear of many wing entrapment issues with wooden/polywood T14s. If WEPs were added, it would likely be on the outside, so you could still use a nest tray if you wanted. But, again, as long as it's 3/4" thick throughout the crescent, you should be fine.

As always, feel free to reach out to PMCA staff experts directly at 814-833-7656 or [email protected] if you ever have more questions or need clarification on any of our guidelines shared on the Forum, on our website, or on social media.

[dcronwell]

I appreciate everyone's responses. Special thanks to Forum Admin for a direct answer to my question. I wasn't sure if additional thickness above the 3/4" wooden wall was warranted. I will be building nest trays between now and when the T-14 goes up, which I plan to install after my regular colony birds have moved in since that is what I understand is the best way to add to an existing colony. That gives me about a month to two months to get this project done. I'll be adding the T-14 abut 15 or 20 feet from my existing gourd rack.

I'm excited to see 11 reports already in Florida this year on the Scout Report map.

Here we go...

[daveh]

I built my T14 in o5 and installed the aluminum starling resistant plates from PMCA. They are crescent and excluder 0penings. I have never had entrapment in my t14.

Dave