However they seemed to build a good nest base out of mostly mud and leaves. Also the floors of this house were bare metal, with no sub-flooring to keep the nests dry. Instead, housing with individual doors that open from the front is recommended. Having the floors remove the way they did exposes all compartments at once which is not good when doing nest checks as it will disturb many martins and young at the same time with possible hatchlings jumping from one compartment to another. These houses do attract Purple Martins but are not the best for maintenance reasons. This top level then detached leaving the 6 6圆 compartments on the bottom level open for clean-outs. The roof was removable, leaving the top level with its 6 6圆 compartments accessible all at once from the top. The first house I had was made of Aluminum. S&S - Sparrows & Starlings (Eurasian house sparrow, Eurasian Starling) Partial colors developed.ĪSY - After Second Year, or adult, the birds third year with full color developed. SY - Second Year bird, the birds first breeding season. HY - Hatchling Year, the birds very first year. My Site History & Housing Years 1996-2012 Directions for modification for Trio housing including the addition of porch dividers can be found here at the Purple Martin Conservation Associations web site. It also helps prevent compartment domination from a single territorial male. The use of Porch dividers on houses such as Trio houses is recommended and prevents young birds from crossing over to other compartments. Below are a couple of photos of the "males" of each species - a good field guide is recommended so as not to confuse them, the females especially, with other similar native birds such as the House Finch. Please be sure to ID these two birds correctly however as females of many species can look similar. They will even kill the adults themselves. These birds are destructive to many cavity nesting, Native American bird species such as Woodpeckers and Flickers, Screech Owls, Bluebirds, Chickadees, etc., as they take over their nesting cavities or destroy their nests & eggs. They are not protected legally and should either be trapped and/or shot so as not to interfere with Purple Martins. They were introduced to this country many years ago, not realizing the devastating effects they would have on our Native birds. These birds must be controlled if you are to have any chance of a successful colony. Promoting conservation of Chimney Swifts. Purple Martin Landlords of North Texas - Roosts found in Texas and other locations.Ī map of the roost site and and excellent video of Martins coming in for the night. Join other Martin Landlords at the USA's largest colony. Purple Martin Information, Gifts and Supplies.īuy CRICKETS here for emergency cold weather feeding Growers of Gourds for Martin and birdhouses. New Creation Purple Martin Housing Systems & the "Chatterbox" PM Forum The Purple Martin Society of North America So, on this page I won't be adding information as such on how to attract martins to a site, other than my own experiences, but recommend instead visiting the Purple Martin Conservation Association which is full of information on every aspect of keeping Purple Martins, as well as the many informative links below. Since then I've made numerous changes and describe further down under "My site History" what has changed over the years, along with some seasonal photos.Īfter 16 years I no longer have the colony or housing, but still promote the proven methods benefiting Martins & of being a good landlord. Things such as regular nest checks, Starling and Eurasian House Sparrow control, modifications to improve housing and many other things. A few years later I educated myself some more on these birds and realized there was a lot of things I was doing wrong and that the type of housing I had was not the best! There was a lot more to being a Martin Landlord than just putting up a house. I did not have the knowledge then of how to attract them other than to keep the housing away from trees so I got a martin house and put it up and in May that year got a couple of pair. Wingsinflight - Purple Martins and maintaining a Martin colony.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |