It would work to have the entrance 1inch deep, but more than that may make it too difficult for the martins to enter. It is harder for a martin to enter a 3/4in thick entrance than a thin entrance, that is why I prefer the sideboards. Martins can enter the thin entrance with sideboards very easy.

We have about 25, just too many to count more accurately. First arrived Feb 1 (first day that I saw him)

Terry, that looks excellent. No, you do not need sideboards with that type of entrance. You are right, all of my experience is with sideboards. My feeling is that any obstruction on the outside of the entrance that keeps the starling from turning sideways to enter should work (example, upright dowel...

Terry, that looks good and it makes me wonder if it would be sufficient to stop starlings with a 1/2in thick entrance. I did not try anything smaller than 3/4 inch. It would be interesting to see if 1/2in thick entrance stops them.

Whippy, YES, its ok to put sideboards on the inside. In my case, I cannot get inside of the gourds, so I put the sideboards on the outside. If you use a homemade entrance that is 3/4in thick, then you do not need sideboards. Starlings enter a SREH by tilting their body sideways, but they cannot tilt...

Whippy, I did not install the sideboards on the inside because I use gourds and cannot get inside the gourd. However, with your houses and doors, YES, the sideboards can be installed inside. The entire idea is to make the entrance thicker with thicker entrance plates, or with sideboards. From the st...

I do not know if a 2in crescent will allow the martins to enter. If you have a 2in pipe cut to size that the martins will use, and if that pipe is cut to 3/4inch, you will not need sideboards. What I am saying is that a 3/4 inch thick opening does not require sideboards.

Thanks Randy, I think your addition works,, at least it works for me.

Please try using sideboards. They work on any kind of entrances. The sideboards completely stop starlings and wing entrapment. This recommendation was tested for 3years with 36 gourds and it stopped the starlings and wing entrapment.. I use rectangular openings, they stop the starlings when sideboar...

I wish that I could post a photo on this thread but I cannot. go to the 5th page earlier on this forum and in a thread there is a photo. The name of the thread is (QUESTION ABOUTDIFFERENT TYPES OF ENTRANCES...last date posted on Jul 2.) It shows a photo of the one that I used for the test....I am no...

Terry, when I must get to the other side of a barbed wire fence, I cannot crawl straight in, I must turn sideways and tilt my body, get my back on the other side of the fence, then pull the rest of my body thru the fence. This is an analogy of what a starling does. If the fence was thicker, like 1 f...

I never tried putting the sideboards on the inside, even though it should work. The SIMPLE idea behind this method is to make the entrance thicker so the starling cannot turn sideways and get his back inside the entrance. The starling must be forced to go straight in which it cannot do. (EXAMPLE: (i...

Thank you for the post. It is with deep regrets that this post brings. Glynn and I talked martins and he helped me a lot with honey bees. Glynn, I will be praying for you. My wife died in 2018 with that terrible disease

The best protection for owls probably is a wire cage. Another excellent method is to build your housing so that the owls cannot see the martins inside the cavity. A third way is to make or use a longer tunnel as this may discourage the owls.

Terry, its good to see that you are ok...Sorry to hear about your wife, and I too lost my wife to cancer. I will be starting to put up my gourds any day now, but may not put up all 250, just getting too old to keep them all maintained, especially the natural gourds. If you have any starling problems...

I do not intend to discourage, but its impossible (or nearly so) to attract martins to an area near large trees. However, good luck

delete

I thought about having a sideboard on only one side, I think that it would stop starlings, but I gave up on the idea because wing entrapment could still occur on the side where there is no sideboard. I would very much prefer sideboards on both sides to stop wing entrapment

There are two ways to stop the starlings, using sideboards or using a thicker entrance, but its hard for me to make a thick entrance. Sideboards can be any thickness, and like you say the thicker ones are easier to attach (Sorry that I confused you) Entrance thickness is an alternate way to stop the...

Matt F., I remember you favoring the houses, and I favor gourds. Like Lewis, if I offended you in any way then I am sorry and should not have done it. We must learn to share ideas, opinions, and beliefs. This is a great forum if we TRY to help others. I am proud of my latest findings, that sideboard...