The Martins are here!!!!!!

[Siberman]

Purple Martins are now in Northeast Texas. You yankees need to get the houses cleaned out and ready!;)

[zippo]

Well if they show up in Tn now they'll freeze.:mad:

[Tc2]

Congratulations. They summer in a large portion of the Eastern US and winter in South America, so they've started the migration. So are you building some houses to try to attract these song birds? I guess building isn't the correct term - are you going to hang some large gords to attract them? I have noticed quite a few other birds increasing their activity around here, boy, one day above freezing and the place goes nuts :D

[Siberman]

I have several houses. I really like these:

http://skmfg.com

They're plastic but the openings really do keep the4 starlings out.

[Tc2]

Do you go with the 12, 14 or 16 family houses - talk about your extended families :cool: Sorry, couldn't resist. In all seriousness, do you get marlins to use the houses every year? Around here it seems to be hit or miss, one year we'll have them the next nothing. I blame the darn ferral cats - There are so many of them around here that we don't have any ground nesting birds. Havene't seen a grouse or a pheasant in I bet 3 years. I don't know if the cats will keep marlins away or not, they can't climb the poles so I would think they wouldn't matter. Hopefully we'll have some hanging around again this summer - marlins, not cats.

[Siberman]

I generally use the 12 unit. I would rather use more/smaller houses since (IME) dominant males will try to keep newcomers out of the houses after they've started nesting.

I had martins for years then pulled a goof by moving the house closer to my pond which is shaded by large oak trees. It took me about three years to get them back.They seem to enjoy being within 100' of a house (my present colony is about 25' away) but they require open flight space around the site. Smaller trees that are shorter than the pole are ok but anything larger should be at least 50' away.

And yes, the flocks will return to the same place every year. Mine came back early one year and sat on the power lines and fussed until I got the house put up, lol.

The cats may have something to do with it but watch the house at night and see if any owls are around. Also keep any vines from growing up the pole as squirrels/snakes/coons can climb them easier. If you see sparrows or starlings nesting in the house, get rid of them. One large starling can drive away an entire flock of martins and they're really not fond of sharing with the sparrows.

The latest thing is to close up some of the entrance holes and make your nesting compartments bigger. This supposedly increases the size of the hatch and keeps the nestlings further away from the doors (and predators).

Good luck.

[kwj]

Now I know why we couldn't get them here. Too many tall trees. And they aren't mine so I can't cut them down. dang it. Thanks for the informatin Siber. Maybe one day I will be able to have martins here.

[Tc2]

Hadn't given the trees any thought - until now. Our yard slopes a bit, so many years back I dug out a large portion of it and put the dirt on the upper part creating a raised flower bed (about 3' higher than the yard now) so the back yard could be half way level for the kids. The houses are on posts (were actually) in the lower part of the yard and the rose of sharon bushes in the raised flower beds have grown to about 8', which puts them higher than the houses the past couple years. I'm hoping that explains the disappearance. I've been toying with the idea of putting posts on the garage and the shed but I don't think that would look very good. Trim the bushes I guess. Has anyone tried using brackets from the eaves of the house and extending bird houses maybe 4' from the house? Or....and this might work too, attaching brackets to the fence corner posts, so the posts can be put up and taken down fairly easily......maybe I'll give that a shot, wonder how they'll do in heavy winds? Thanks for the info.

[Siberman]

I use the 12 to 15 foot telescoping poles. The "bracket on the house eaves" idea may work. I believe that's how the colonials did it.
Be patient with whatever method you use. It might take years for them to build in a new house.

[Don D]

I swear to God, I read that as purple martians. LOL

I have never really tried to get these guys to nest for me. Never really had the open space to do so. Maybe one day when we get a real house....

[Tc2]

Well Don, lately we've been seeing them about as often :rolleyes:
And Siber - thank you for the info, you probably saved me a couple springs/summers of puttering with houses. Don't get me wrong, I'll still putter, but at least now I might not make the same mistakes - now where is that chainsaw...................