These are just a few of my gourds that I use for Purple Martins here at my home in beautiful western Kentucky. The entrance you see was developed by myself and it is called the clinger entrance. It is designed so that starlings cannot enter either porched or without the porched you see for the martins to land on. This entrance will work either way and teh dimensions on it have to be very exact or the starlings can get inside. If the entrance is too small the martins cannot get in. Most of my gourds are natural ones my Dad and I grow ourselves but I do have a bunch of plastci gourds now too like the one you see on the rack behind these big ol' horizontal gourds.
My martin colony had 122 nesting pairs last year and it fledged over 475 young Purple Marins into the skies overhead. My martin colony is one of the largest martin colonies in the whole staTe of Ky as well as the USA. I simply never tire of watching their magnificent beauty as they fill the sky catching flying insects all summer long here. I will be hanging all my 136 gourds in the next week since around March the 5th or so this year I expect my first male back from Brazil. The Purple Martin in all his glory truly is the King of the Sky and the most fascinating beautiful swallow on Earth. I also have about 4 pairs of Tree Swallows that nest in my yard in BB Boxes every year. They are so special also.

Anyway this is my answer to stop starlings from bothering my martins and it works so well. The starlings are too fat and long legged to be able to get through yet the martins simply land,tuck,and zoom they are in like they are shot out of a gun. It is truly enjoyable to watch the martins do this easily and know they are protected from their number one enemy..the European Starling.

Thanks. I kind of made these big horizontals specila smile..They are just so long so I figured why not make them up sideways like this. Well the martins absolutely love them like this and they are very safe from predators way back in there. Starlings like gourds like this also and that is all the more reason to have the entrances on them you see. I invented this particular entrance and it is called the clinger entrance. The martins bolt in and out quickly and it is neat to watch. It is also neat to watch a starling try and get inside. They simply cannot get their fat,chicken legged,unproportioned bodies into a shape that can enter this cool entrance.

Martins are far more streamlined and they have zero issues with this. The martins in teh air are like fighter jets and I never tire of watching them fly all summer long. They are simply magnificent and enchanting in every way and it is a great feeling knowing that they along with their youngsters are protected behind the safety of my clinger entrance from starlings. The starling is their number one enemy but no starling has entered one of my clinger entrances here smile..Love it!! Mike

I have tested this entrance on starlings and they cannot get through it even with the porch on the outside you see here. If the gourd is a regular gourd without no porch at all the starlings are really at a disadvantage then and it is impossible for one to enter. The plates you see here on these gourds are made out of real good plastic and S&K Manufacturing out of St.Louis and a great man named Dave McClaskey are manufacturing this entrance I invented into his martin products.

There is a fine line between the sizes of the largest male Purple Martin and the smallest female starling. If the entrance is too small the martins can struggle. If it is too big the smaller female starling could get inside especially porched like you see on these big ol' gourds. The size of this entrance is very exact and they are injection molded to insure they are all the same. By having this kind of precision accuracy my entrance will stop starlings of all sizes from gaining access to the gourds or martin houses. Just as the 1 and 1\2 inch diameter entrance hole saved the Bluebirds from the nest robbing starlings I am on a mission to see my clinger entrance be the best Starling Resistent Entrance out there to save the Purple Martins from their number one enemy..The European Starling.

Vampatar..Thanks.. I am glad you like the entrances. I am so proud of them I know that! It is a great feeling to watch your martins zoom in and out of these openings and know they are fully protected from starlings. I have great piece of mind now using these and the 2 inch rould hole for Purple Martins is going to be a thing of the past if I have anything to say about it. This shape is perfect for the streamlined body of the Purple Martin but at the same time it defeats the starlings by not allowing them the room to get their thicker chest and belly in enough to be able to use their chickelike legs to push inside. I know you know what I am talking about if you are using my entrances..Your martins are safe and I am glad you like them....Mike

Thanks a lot. I may post pictures of my regularly hung gourds soon for ya'll to see. You are so right about the martins in teh sky as the sun sets. It is truly one of natures most awesome spectacles! The Purple Martin is the King of the Sky when they are up there just soaring and feeding. Love them so much and as I said it is great knowing that they are protected fully from starlings behind the safety of this entrance. I have seen way too many female martins killed by starlings over the years as they tried to defend their nests and it is sad when you open a gourd and find a dead female martin after the starlings kill her by stabbing the back of her head with their sharp beak. They are simply no good and do not belong in the American ecosystem.

Long live the Purple Martin and I am glad you appreciate their beauty also smile..Mike