A Starling-Deterrent Wood Duck Nest Box

Breeding of starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) in nest boxes of various types

“…McGilvrey & Uhler (1971) found that starlings offered sites with large entrance holes preferred those 620 mm deep to those 280 mm deep-a close parallel to our power pole results. Lumsden (1976) found that starlings preferred sites with a dark interior to those with a natural surface, though Pitts (1977) reported the opposite preference in bluebirds (Siali>a salis) and house sparrows (Passer domestic us).…”

The use of artificial nest sites erected for starlings in Canterbury, New Zealand

“…Nest bowls were constructed as far as possible from the entrance, and boxes with large openings were less satisfactory (also shown by McGilvrey & Uhler 1971). Starlings preferred boxes sited in hedgerows to those on farm buildings or fence lines (Table 4), apparently because human disturbance was less.…”

Artificial Nest Cavity Used Successfully By Native Species and Avoided by European Starlings

“…A variety of factors can influence starling nest cavity selection (McGilvrey andUhler 1971, Van Balen et al 1982), and we suggest the 9.5-cm vertical depth of our smaller tubes was a limiting factor for starling use in our study. We believe the smaller tubes could meet the requirements of other native, secondary cavity-nesting passerines and the effects of vertical cavity depth on cavity use by starlings should be further investigated.…”

“…Starling use of the wood nest boxes in these studies ranged from 58 to 97% occupancy. McGilvrey and Uhler (1971) reported reduced starling use of 61-cm long 3 30.5-cm diameter cylinder Wood Duck (Aix sponsa) tubes mounted horizontally, particularly when the openings exceeded 7.6 cm 3 10.2 cm. We speculate that light penetration, lack of clear head space after nest construction or perceived or realized predation risk contributed to the reduced use of the horizontal tubes.…”