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Questions for Great Crested Flycatcher nestbox

13 years ago

I'm wanting to place a nestbox for a Great Crested Flycatcher, but there are a couple of things I need to know.
How close will Great Cresteds nest to a house?
(is 40-50 feet away too close?)
Has anyone had any experience with them using a crescent style Starling Resistant entry hole?
Can squirrels enter a Starling resistant entry hole without enlarging it?

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Comments (4)

JeremyD
Original Author
13 years ago
Well, I just found out that Grey Squirrels can enter a 1&1/2 inch round entrance hole with no enlarging at all, so I'm 100% sure that they could do the same with SRE :(

This post was edited by JeremyD on Thu, Mar 7, 13 at 0:02
kendra2003
13 years ago
You can put a stove pipe baffle on the mounting post to keep the squirrels and snakes out of the nestbox. Great Crested Flycatchers are very shy, so mount the box high enough, and put on a predator guard (the stove pipe baffle) and you could see if there are any takers. Hopefully someone else can answer your question about the SRE. Starlings aren't much bigger than the Great Crested Flycatchers, so I'm not sure if it would work.
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JeremyD
Original Author
13 years ago
Thanks for answering. :)
I'm already using the plastic bucket baffle to prevent predators and the next-door neighbor has been kind enough to let me mount the conduit pole on one of the eight foot high 4x4 posts in her privacy fence.
This makes the house a total of 17 feet high, and I can lower the house to 10 feet for cleaning by loosening the screws on one side of the pipe strap a bit, although I think nest monitoring this way might impractical.
Aas for whether Flycatchers can enter a Martin style SRE, I think I've found my answer.
http://nature.gardenweb.com/forums/load/bird/msg061803451680.html

I'm still not sure about whether 50 feet is far enough from the house though. :/
I guess I'll just try it and see.
Jud_inTN
13 years ago
Jeremy. I've known of at least a couple of cases where GCFLs nested in a martin gourd or house within 50 feet of a house.

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