Female martin kills female martin....

[DornCounty]

IT appears that two females were fighting over a cavity. One became wing entrapped. The other pecked it to death. It had to of happened just before I arrived home as the body was still warm and loose.

Don't remember hearing of this before.

In another cavity two females were fighting, but neither were trapped other than one female had another pinned.

[John Miller]

I suspect the wing trapped one dies of shock from struggling in the opening. I'm so weary of this.

PMCA wing protectors back and maybe also added in front may reduce the risk in aluminum housing, or you can try to make something. I don't know if these fit the excluder openings, and I worry whether those are slightly more prone to entrapment than crescents.

I worked many hours last fall making small "tunnel" wing protectors for the inside of much of my Trendsetter housing, and on a few houses opted to add the wing protectors to the outside, in addition to the factory ones inside. If it works, I'll know in a few weeks as most previous years I have had entrapment several times a season and its always heartbreaking to find -- but good you found in time to free in the martin trapped inside.

John M

[Matt F.]

Would LOVE to see some PMCA protectors made to accommodate the wider Excluders............

[Tim Mangan-Kansas]

Matt:

I agree and have never understood why these plastic protectors have not been produced for all types of openings. Possibly the initial cost to tool the machinery is too expensive for the manufacturer to recover their set-up costs.

I feel the same about porches on houses and gourds. Many reports of starlings breaching SREH openings where the porches are lower than 1/8" from the bottom of the entrance opening. Why can't there be a standard for all porches on martin housing to be no lower than 1/8". Again, re-tooling costs are most likely the reason.

Most dedicated martin landlords have become aware of the potential problem with starlings being able to breach SREH openings when the porches are too low from the opening. Appropriate modifications are made by the landlord to raise the porch level. For the un-educated purchaser of martin houses, they are not aware of this potential problem. They purchase a house, put it on a pole, stick it in the ground and forget about it. Another potential starling breeding site has been erected.

Tim

[John Miller]

One can make an arch guard from three-inch diameter, thin wall drain pipe. Probably it could be set high to wrap around the original excluder entrance. the challenge with Trio doors is they swing up. I tapered this guard for a Trio door to swing up and sanded the edge of the taper smooth, but only made the one. The taper might create a slight gap itself that's a hazard, but I think it's pretty open.

http://i1145.photobucket.com/albums/o50 ... 373be9.jpg

The other thing I have used and continue to use some is the dense automotive weather stripping on the inside. I think this will reduce but not eliminate risk. I do not use weather stripping in gourd tunnels, as recently said here. It won't stick well and because of the unique characteristic of a tunnel already having a bird inside its close quarters, a more substantial guard is needed.

[Lewis]

John.

There are only a few of us that have placed the PMCA wing guard on the outside. I have had them on my Safe Haven for 3 years with no wing entrapment. I know this does not prove anything, but it will be interesting to see if placing them on the outside of your Trendsetter doors will prevent wing entrapment.
I think placing the wing guard on the outside has helped to prevent starling breeching my crescent sreh's. Again only a few of us have tried this and only time will tell.

Lewis

[4th Gen Martin Fan]

John,
What do you use to glue the PVC pipe to the metal doors? Liquid Nails?

I have Liquid Nails LN-609 Panel & Foam Adhesive because I was attaching 1/8" EPS foam board to the inside walls of my Trio Grandma.

If I attach PVC to metal I am looking for your recommendation.

Lewis,
I know that you use screws to attach the thicker HDPE sheet stock to raise porch levels and attach the PMCA wing entrapment protectors.
I do not see how screws will work with the thin wall PVC pipe.

Mark.

[DornCounty]

Don't believe it was shock as the back of the head was featherless and there was blood all over the compartment interiors.

[John Miller]

Mark

I have glued a lot of these PVC to painted metal, and inside gourds with heavy duty liquid nails..just sort of caulk it in. Prepping the PVC with acetone might make it stick better, and any good glue probably would work. A lot of people swear by Lexel but I have not tried it.

I also sometimes use an oil based white caulk that I'm liking more an more for my own home and martin stuff too. It can be used as a glue..but won't dry..turns rubbery. It's called "OSI QUAD," at home centers with the other caulk, but you can't clean up with water..have to use mineral spirits.


Andrew you probably are right about the cause of death. I based my conclusion on having found so darn many trapped and dead, and I'm sure I found some within 24 hours and they were always dead, sometimes pecked and sometimes not. either way it's a loss. We have made a lot of progress on this. S&K has a good tunnel with a guard, Troyer now includes a guard in its tunnel, and Trendsetter has made the interior guard standard -- but probably none of these are fool proof. The S&K guard, which is snug around the entrance on the inside, probably is the most effective.

John
John

[Owens]

Had this happen last year... the bird seemed to be pecked to death...I was home and lowered the gourds and let the bird out that had done the pecking but the injured one died. I lose VERY few birds, and this was sad. Love the large gourds and have some aggressive Martins that keep the starlings and sparrows away. It has been nice not to have to fight them as much as in the past. I think it is because they have now raised several clutches here and know it is home. Occassional pesky sparrow...but guess that is part of the challenge.

[DornCounty]

john.. must have been a brutal fight.. both wings and a foot were outside... I have some wing protection but I will have to upgrade it this offseason.

you guys can bet I will find a quick/cheap way to retro-fit wing guards on excluders.. I have 200 that need them in town.

I'm thinking a 3d printer will do the trick if the cost is cheap enough.

[chickadee]

last year I found a female wing entrapped inside a gourd. but her head was inside the gourd and her body outside. she was backwards. I opened the gourd and their was another female. and the trapped female was dead with peaks all in her face. obviously weather if she died of shock or the other female killed her? one thing is clear they where fighting and the other female pecked her face in because she wanted out. and you can do research martins will kill each other for a cavity. just like any other bird.