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Tammy is right and Gilwood is wonderful entrance – probably favorite of Eastern Bluebirds in my experience. Don’t let Starling go next time if it happens again. They are persistent with nestbox like HOSP are and just as deadly.
Carol,
Would not surprise me that a European Starling (EUST) could make it through Gilwood entrance. I have had them squeeze in 1 1/2″ round holes (actually may have been 1 9/16″). They can get in Peterson box oval holes no problem. Gilwood has that larger dimension at the top so could probably squeeze their shoulders right through. Did it have yellow bill – or partial yellow transition to breeding bill color? They are non-native and worse than HOSP for Purple Martins and woodpeckers…Hello everyone! Paula from central Ohio here. I have been involved with native cavity nesting bird conservation since 2002. I monitor a number of trails in central and northern (South Bass Island) Ohio. I also help train new monitors, both with monitoring tasks and data entry on Cornell’s NestWatch database. Birds I have housed over the years include Eastern Bluebirds, Purple Martins (six colonies now), Tree Swallows, Tufted Titmice, Carolina Chickadees, Carolina Wrens, and the occasional House Wren.
I have never observed them go into a nest box, but come spring, some of my trail boxes have evidence of Eastern Bluebirds (EABL) roosting. I would post a picture but don’t know how. EABL droppings look entirely different from HOSP droppings and if latter has been roosting, easy early season trapping opportunity. I also get a few Downy Woodpeckers using boxes to keep warm over the winter and new fronts or face plates needed for those come spring.
I do not view HOSP at feeders during fall and winter as a problem, but rather as a major trapping opportunity. The HOSP coming to your feeders are living in your area. Whether you feed them or not, allowed to remain, they will be in your nest boxes come spring. Get rid of as many as you can now. I only have major success trapping them when I have live decoys in trap. Trick/tip to catching them if they are at your feeders – remove food from feeders for short time and bait trap, but careful monitoring while doing this as you may catch native birds also. Once I have live decoy, I fill feeders again and bait trap with stuff HOSP especially like. Once nest season begins, I discontinue feeding any seeds that HOSP will eat. I don’t want to attract any nest site competitors to yard that could harm nesting birds and there is plenty of natural food for birds during nest season.
Chris, great you have trapped so many. I have two DRST’s that I use on and off, but have most success trapping HOSP in the fall and winter months. The one DRST I have was built special for me by Blaine and is modified to have a slightly wider trap elevator to allow easier trapping of European Starlings (they hit traps winter months only and only when the snow flies). HOSP Juveniles are especially easy to trap early fall when nest season winds down too. I generally use white bread as bait, but you are having better success than me right now – are you using millet and peanuts? What is your bait of choice? I like that you have put plywood base under trap to keep them a little warmer if trap is elevated (like leaving trap on ground as Tammy said). I find my decoys have better longevity during winter months than they do during nest season here in central Ohio. Keeping them dry is the most important thing. At night, I leave my traps out and cover them with old heavy rubberized door mat which protects them from rain. If heavy snow in forecast, cover entire trap with sheet at night. You can also bring them into your garage (newspapers under trap for easy cleanup) if an especially bad rain event is forecast or if you have real bad raccoon issues in your area (not a problem in my yard).
