Starlings getting in crescent openings

[Tengai]

Hi all
Third year here never had a starling problem but they seem to be getting into the crescent openings and the crescents with the cut off ends(not sure what they are called ) I added porches to the normal crescent to make them flush and put a slab of corrugated pvc to lift up the porch on the gourds to make them flush(the porches were not quite flush with the openings) I’m waiting to see if my modifications worked. Any other suggestions? I have an in house trap for the barn and will order a gourd trap tomorrow
Not sure what else to do.

[ToyinPA]

Several on the FB page also reporting starlings breaching SREH openings. Some wondering if starlings are evolving to be smaller.

I had one get in 2 years ago & attack my Alpha ASY Female twice. She eventually died of internal injuries. Had one get in last year. We saw 2 ASY males go in the cavity, followed by a starling. One male came out, but the other remained inside with the starling. We quickly lowered the house. Just as we got the house down the other ASY male came out. Luckily the ASY Males got out without injury. We trapped the starling inside & managed to catch him coming out the vent. We couldn't open the door (T-10 house) for fear he'd get away. While I headed to the house to get a plastic bag & tape, my husband held his hands over the opening & the vent. He was biting my husbands hand. We plugged the entrance & taped the bag over the vent & pulled the vent while putting the last piece of tape on. The starling was looking right at me. He flew out the vent hole with such force his beak went right thru the bag. The vent holes are at the top of each room. He launched himself up & out the hole. I grabbed & got him by the feet. He almost got away. He was strong & fought like crazy, but alas my husband did him in .

We also have the PMCA wood house trap. Caught a starling in it yesterday. Even with the traps they will still attempt to get in the martin houses. All you can do is make porches flush, set traps, keep watch & try to shoot them or chase them off. Living in town, like we do, makes hit hard to shoot them tho. All we can use is a BB gun, which isn't very useful for starlings.

Toy in PA

[Spiderman]

Buy a Van Ert trap and eliminate the Starlings.

All the other bird species will be grateful that you did!

I have caught 5 in the last 10 days.

[pmlover]

Whether it is a a goard or t-14 and a sparrow or a starling gets in he cavity i wait till the culprit lays an egg then put in a trap. I then get one of the pair immediately. I then put trap in again like i did the first time with the egg in it and get the second one. It works great and while they are making their nest and laying the eggs they leave the purples alone.

[John Miller]

Raising the floor level to near flush should solve the problem in the future. However, once a starling has learned to enter, it may continue to push in. If that's the case and it's an isolated gourd, this sounds harsh but you could wait until the eggs hatch and then clean everything out and the starling more likely will abandon. Removing eggs, it may lay more.

You don't have to go flush. Just 1/16 to 1/8 below usually is adequate and helps martins enter. It's a balancing act, letting martins in and keeping starlings out...but martins will learn to enter flush.

John Miller

[Matt F.]

Another thing that got me thinking, was if Tengai maybe using some of the original Clinger entrances, that were originally 1.205" in height?
They were of course later brought back down to 1.1875".

[Chris B]

Starlings are very sneaky birds and here they kind of emulate PMs when gliding toward the gourds. I had one smart and small female have 3 babies in a gourd and didn't catch them until they were close to fledging. The nest and baby occupants spent the next 2 days in the trash can waiting for pickup, and the gourd stayed down. I hope she got the message.