A new
type of SREH (starling resistant entrance hole) for houses has proven to be
even more effective than the current crescent SREH. It might even turn out to be
starling-proof. This entrance was invented by Duke Snyder, a landlord in
southwestern Pennsylvania, and he has used them successfully for several years
on his homemade aluminum houses, without ever having had a starling enter. While
the crescents have worked well for many people, there have been
failures, and they are considered only starling-resistant.With the excluder, the martin must spread
its wings even more to enter, and the "pegs" along the bottom keep starlings
from "twisting" to enter. The enlarged outer holes allow 3 young to comfortably
feed at one time. There were 20 active nests in the above house in the 2000
season. Editor's
Note: Since making their appearance in 2000, Excluders have proven to be
increasingly popular and effective, and can even be adapted to gourds. To view a small video clip (165 KB) showing an adult male Purple Martin entering and exiting an Excluder entrance, download this file: snyder.avi by left clicking on it with your mouse, or by right-clicking on it with your mouse and then clicking on "Save Target As" in the menu. This video file can be viewed with Windows Media Player or realPlayer.