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2024 Purple Martin Arrivals
Posted on 3/8/24 at 2:41 pm
Posted on 3/8/24 at 2:41 pm
Has anyone had purple martins show up yet this year? Moved into my house two years ago and have yet to have any martins established in my purple martin house. Every house I've ever put up before I've had them start nesting the first year. No trees within 30 yards and its about 15 yards from a small pond. Any other suggestions?
2
Posted on 3/9/24 at 5:03 am to Yammie250F
Mine came in on Feb 7th, do you have a lot of hawks around your house area?
Posted on 3/9/24 at 10:12 am to 24nights
I do, lots of open fields around and always see hawks swooping around.
Posted on 3/9/24 at 4:30 pm to Yammie250F
I spotted the first one at my place in North AL on March 1st. All after second year males so far, no females. That's how it always is, though.
How far away from your old place did you move? If colonies in a particular area have been accustomed to gourds rather than a house sometimes they won't take to the house, or it will take a while for them to do so.
The birds you'll attract are likely from the established colonies in the area looking for a new nesting sight. If they were born in and fledged from gourds (natural or plastic) that's what they will look for first. Try adding a few underneath your house if you can. That may entice them to stay and grow into the house.
How far away from your old place did you move? If colonies in a particular area have been accustomed to gourds rather than a house sometimes they won't take to the house, or it will take a while for them to do so.
The birds you'll attract are likely from the established colonies in the area looking for a new nesting sight. If they were born in and fledged from gourds (natural or plastic) that's what they will look for first. Try adding a few underneath your house if you can. That may entice them to stay and grow into the house.
This post was edited on 3/9/24 at 4:34 pm
Posted on 3/9/24 at 4:39 pm to Yammie250F
quote:
I do, lots of open fields around and always see hawks swooping around.
Hawks won't stop an established colony, but they will keep new birds from nesting in a new area. You can't stop the hawks, though. So, you have to do what you can elsewhere to influence the Martins to stay.
I've had a hawk problem for the past few years. I've found the best thing I've done is using bird decoys, dove and Martin, to trick the hawks. They'll dive at the decoys, giving the Martins time to escape. I move the decoys every few days because the hawks will figure out they aren't real.
Encouraging other birds helps, too, because there is safety in numbers. Crows are the absolute best when it comes to spotting a raptor in the area. They, or the blue jays almost always alert first. Once that happens everything takes notice.
This post was edited on 3/9/24 at 4:41 pm
Posted on 3/9/24 at 4:54 pm to LegendInMyMind
Moved about a mile away from my old house. Went from a neighborhood to a couple of acres. I left my old martin house because the new owners asked me to. Other martin houses in the same neighborhood that had colonies but don't remember seeing gourds. Have an uncle that has had his house up for three years and this is the first year he's had them come to his Martin house so I'm not to bummed about it yet.
Posted on 3/9/24 at 5:08 pm to Yammie250F
Yeah, getting those first ones can take a while. You can try dirty the entrances up a bit with some mud. For some reason Martins don't always like fresh, clean digs, and some people swear by rubbing some mud just below the entrances (like it looks after they've been nesting a while).
Is the new house similar to the old one? It isn't vastly different with different entrance holes?
It took me a couple years to get the birds to nest in the new plastic S&K gourds with the crescent entrances. They'd check them out, and choose the natural gourd with round holes every time. I had a mix of both on each of my poles. Now, I have more nesting in the S&K gourds than the natural ones. I think they like the depth of them and the porches on them.
Is the new house similar to the old one? It isn't vastly different with different entrance holes?
It took me a couple years to get the birds to nest in the new plastic S&K gourds with the crescent entrances. They'd check them out, and choose the natural gourd with round holes every time. I had a mix of both on each of my poles. Now, I have more nesting in the S&K gourds than the natural ones. I think they like the depth of them and the porches on them.
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