For nearly 40 years, I've been a Purple Martin Landlord. European Starlings are a plague to Purple Martins. They're a Purple Martin Landlord's worst enemy. Without an effective system to eliminate Starlings, building a successful Purple Martin colony is difficult at best. In areas with high Starling populations such as mine, shooting isn't enough. After building this trap, I all but eradicated European Starlings in my neighborhood.
http://www.naturalinsectcontrol.com/product.php?id=000000485
It was February of 1989 when I discovered this trap. When I ordered the plans, I began to feed (bait) the local starling population in preparation for their eradication. It was a bitter cold winter that year and the ground was covered in deep snow and food was scarce for the Starlings. They readily took the bait. Wild bird seed, cracked corn, popped popcorn, table scraps, and a large pan of water were the baits that I used. Before long I had clouds of Starlings coming to my property to feed. I did this until I received the plans and finished building the trap (a couple weeks). When finished, I simply moved the trap out to the area where I'd been feeding the starlings. I spread my usual baits on the ground inside the trap, then went inside and watched the action from the warmth of my living room. Despite the risk of being called a liar, I tell you that I caught and killed 300 (THREE HUNDRED) European Starlings the FIRST DAY!!! By April 1 that spring (only 2 months later), when the first Purple Martins returned to my colony to breed, I had trapped and killed 750 (SEVEN HUNDRED and FIFTY) European Starlings. What few starlings that remained in my neighborhood after only 2 months of trapping were easily dispatched with my little Beeman R7. There were ZERO European Starlings to compete with my Purple Martins that year or any year since.
I've recently moved to another community and have planted all my Purple Martin houses at my new location. My Starling trap, nearly 30 years old now, has been rebuilt and is in use once again. I've nearly eliminated the Starling population here too. And this trap works equally well on European Sparrows (House Finches AKA English Sparrows). I still have my Beeman R7 and some new pellet rifles to deal with what few Starlings and Sparrows that remain. But until I used this trap, shooting was only a way to entertain myself and it only pissed off the Starlings and made them more aggressive. Now they're GONE!
If you have a serious European Starling and Sparrow problem and would like to eliminate them from your Purple Martin colony, build one of these time-tested traps. Your Purple Martins will love you for it and reward you with record-breaking hatches. You'll reduce Starling/Sparrow populations down to airgun maintenance levels.
BeemanR7
http://www.naturalinsectcontrol.com/product.php?id=000000485
It was February of 1989 when I discovered this trap. When I ordered the plans, I began to feed (bait) the local starling population in preparation for their eradication. It was a bitter cold winter that year and the ground was covered in deep snow and food was scarce for the Starlings. They readily took the bait. Wild bird seed, cracked corn, popped popcorn, table scraps, and a large pan of water were the baits that I used. Before long I had clouds of Starlings coming to my property to feed. I did this until I received the plans and finished building the trap (a couple weeks). When finished, I simply moved the trap out to the area where I'd been feeding the starlings. I spread my usual baits on the ground inside the trap, then went inside and watched the action from the warmth of my living room. Despite the risk of being called a liar, I tell you that I caught and killed 300 (THREE HUNDRED) European Starlings the FIRST DAY!!! By April 1 that spring (only 2 months later), when the first Purple Martins returned to my colony to breed, I had trapped and killed 750 (SEVEN HUNDRED and FIFTY) European Starlings. What few starlings that remained in my neighborhood after only 2 months of trapping were easily dispatched with my little Beeman R7. There were ZERO European Starlings to compete with my Purple Martins that year or any year since.
I've recently moved to another community and have planted all my Purple Martin houses at my new location. My Starling trap, nearly 30 years old now, has been rebuilt and is in use once again. I've nearly eliminated the Starling population here too. And this trap works equally well on European Sparrows (House Finches AKA English Sparrows). I still have my Beeman R7 and some new pellet rifles to deal with what few Starlings and Sparrows that remain. But until I used this trap, shooting was only a way to entertain myself and it only pissed off the Starlings and made them more aggressive. Now they're GONE!
If you have a serious European Starling and Sparrow problem and would like to eliminate them from your Purple Martin colony, build one of these time-tested traps. Your Purple Martins will love you for it and reward you with record-breaking hatches. You'll reduce Starling/Sparrow populations down to airgun maintenance levels.
BeemanR7
