How To Install A Purple Martin House

If you live in North America east of the Rockies, purple martins can nest somewhere pretty close by. And if you meet their needs, you have a good chance of having purple martins delivered to your home. martin’s accept our housing and start their nest. Read: how to install purple martin houseBecause that’s the name of the game. Get the first purple martins to ship to. Until that happens, we just want to be the host.Once a pair of purple martins accepted our home and raised a family in it, our flock was on its way to growth. Next year, the same birds will return. At that time, the males will have glossy blue-black fur, and they will look handsome when perched on their homes. The photo on the left, of a grown man on the left, was taken by Chuck Abare, whose website has a wealth of information on purple martins. (Click the image for a larger version of it.)The second year, the children of your first tenants can also return with them. Young males will look mottled, as shown in Chuck Abare’s image on the left. (Click the picture to see a larger version of it.) With proper care, the colony will grow larger year by year. And the better we meet their needs, the more likely they are to become our tenants.

So this is what purple martins need

1. Colonial: Many martins nest in groups of 2 to 200 pairs. So give them cluster housing, you can start with three or four units and add more as your colony expands. The best thing for potential nesters is that martins have nested there. That’s why it’s so important to make the new home as ideal as possible, to get that all-important first pair of birds. Wooden, potted, plastic, or metal housesPurple Martins isn’t too picky about the material for their aviary. Many types of purple martin houses are available. Here are some possibilities:

grow your own gourd
Build a wooden apartment building
buy a ready-made martin house
hang plastic gourds that mimic natural gourds

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Read more: how to naturally curl your hair with a combPlastic “gourds” called SuperGourds make for amazing purple martin houses. they come with rain screens and clean doors. SuperGourds appeal strongly to martins and seem to lead to great nesting success. And they sure are beautiful! Elevated House A purple house must be mounted on a pole or pole that is at least 10 feet high. Don’t attach it to a tree, as cats and raccoons can easily climb up to the nest and purple martins won’t be able to move. Special martin houses are placed on stilts that can be raised and lowered vertically for inspection. Most systems use telescopic or winch poles. A winch system is easier to use, as martin houses can be heavy when they are full of nests and eggs or babies. We recommend using it with SuperGourds, but any type of gourd can be used. Their home needs to be in an open space so they can go directly into the house from at least two directions. Place their house in the middle of your most open area, they don’t want to squeeze through trees or dodge phone cords. There should be no trees taller than the martin house within 60 feet of the colony. Where they can see you The purple house should be near your own home. Purple Martins like to see people near their nests. (They know that human activity provides them with protection against predators. This is how it may have started, long ago.) Near water Birds would fly several miles to the surface if necessary, but they prefer to nest within half a mile of a lake or other water. I know people in my small town of Fairfield, Iowa, who have martins even though there’s no water in sight. But the town’s reservoir is only half a mile away. Read more: how to fix code 10 error intel management tool interface error(r)Each purple martin drawer must be at least 6″ x 6″ x 12″. Some martin homes are sold as only 6″ x 6″ x 6″. Research shows that these numbers are too small for purple martins to lay a full litter (up to 7 pups) and raise young. You can find martin homes for sale as little as 6″ x 6″ x 6″, but we don’t recommend them.SuperGourds are ideal.Don’t buy a purple martin house if it doesn’t offer you to open it up to clean the compartments. You need to get in there and make sure there are no sparrows or starlings nesting inside. All good purple houses allow the owner access! Don’t be afraid to check the nests. At least purple martins won’t mind. Remember, they like people. And they will be more successful if we do our job. Besides, it’s just the most exciting thing in the world to look at the martin nest and see the baby birds inside. sparrow (bottom, left) and starling (bottom, right).Both covet purple martin houses and will take over them if the landlord allows. If the martin house is successful, the homeowner must inspect the house every few days (or even daily in some cases) and remove any starlings or sparrows trying to build there.And for protection from cats, raccoons, and snakes, a purple martin house needs a predator guard around the column near its bottom. (You can see a predator guarding around the column in the photo in the middle of the page.) How it all started SuperGourds – the best housing for purple martins Premium Gourd Rack The Pole and Winch House Alamo martin When to put on purple Martin HousingRead more: how to make your own skateboard from scratch