Is playing daytime chatter as effective as dawnsong?

cbyeagley · Thu May 22, 2008 9:23 pm

I am in my 3rd year (or is it 4th) of trying to attract purple martins. I have had visitors (had a pair two weeks ago) but they don't stay. After they came and left, I purchased two more gourds (the SK super combo) with crescent holes, to go with two gourds I already had, also with crescent holes. I also have an 8 unit quadpod, but my visitors seem to check out the gourds. I haven't seen them check out the quadpod, which is a really nice little set-up with built in predator guard. Does anyone know if there have been studies on the success rate with quadpods. It is a fairly expensive little unit and well made, so I'm curious about their success. Also, I just purchased the daytime chatter (it arrived today), but have been playing the dawnsong from about 7:00 am to around 1:30, when my husband cuts it off before he goes to work. I am not aware that there are any active colonies that are within 5 miles of our house, so I don't know if that my be some of the problem in attracting martins. Also, the few visitors I have had, have usually showed up mid morning. I would like to know when some other folks "first" martins showed up, and did they immediately stay or leave and come back? Still waiting.

Guest · Fri May 23, 2008 12:36 am

Quad pods seem to be a mixed bag on this forum. Some say the birds and they love them. Others say they love it but the martins tend to overlook it. Maybe just a case of something new to them. Give it time. As for the dawnsong vs chatter. go with the dawnsong for sure. I played mine all day, will help more than hurt, so play away! Martins have been known to disburse 50 miles and sometimes more. So I wouldn't be too concerned about no colony within 5 miles. As long as your site is a good one, just give it time for now.
As far as when they show up. It can be anytime. I have had them show up from morning to right before sunset.
Good Luck! (post a photo of your site)

Guest · Fri May 23, 2008 4:05 am

My wife and I are making our first attempt at martin housing this year, and I can tell you that both dawnsong and daytime chatter are the NUMBER 1 REASON we have any martins at all. We had our house up for three weeks before we began playing the dawnsong cd and never saw a martin. The first night we turned it on (It can be used 2 hours before dark), we had a male martin sitting on the power lines behind our house in less than five minutes. Within thirty minutes we had seen 5 males and 4 females. We played the cd religiously, and bought the daytime chatter cd as well. Two weeks later, we have a breeding pair living in our house.
I would advise that you start playing the cd earlier than 7 am though. The cd booklet says to start it at 4 am. I found a great way to do this. I have an ipod and I made a playlist of dawnsong and daytime chatter. Dawnsong plays for 2 1/2 hours then it switches to daytime chatter for about 7 hours. The nice thing about the ipod is that it has an alarm. I set it for 4 a.m. and it comes on while I sleep.
Hope this helps.

Mary Dawnsong · Fri May 23, 2008 6:09 am

Here's an informative chain about the Quad Pod from last season:
http://www.purplemartin.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=8324

Martins tend to be reluctant to use housing that is unfamiliar to them. However, given time they usually learn to use quality housing of all types. This is especially true in a larger, established colony. Martins will probably accept just about any type of compartment available in a strong colony.

cbyeagley · Sat May 24, 2008 6:19 pm

Here's a picture of our gourds and quadpods. Thanks for your comments!

Guest · Sun May 25, 2008 12:02 am

You know what I would do? Just a suggestion but I would actually put the pod closer to the rack/pond/your house.

Mary Dawnsong · Sun May 25, 2008 2:24 pm

I agree with Susan.
Hard to tell how far away the Quad Pod is, but closer would probably be better. The martins are going to feel safer 50' from your home than they would 100' away.

cbyeagley · Sun May 25, 2008 3:52 pm

I also believe it would be better to have the Quad Pod closer to the gourds/pond/house. We started out with a plastic SK apartment house that was about 10 feet to the left of the gourd pole, with crescent openings, and had visitors check it out, but never stayed. Then, we had a storm, with strong winds, and it blew the house over and bent the pole, so that unit is toast. Bill says we can't move the Quad Pod because it is in concrete, but it is in a sleeve, so I am going to try to get another sleeve, then maybe try to move it. Not only would the PM's prefer being closer to the house, but I would too, as I could enjoy them from a closer viewpoint.

NOMORE-Beggin4Birds · Sun May 25, 2008 8:06 pm

HELLO : " cbyeagley "

This is YEAR (5) of trying to get PM'S to COME and STAY ! Everything appears to be JUST right at my site, BUT . . . . they do come, but do NOT stay and nest. I have also asked the same question about the Dawnsong and the Chattersong. I know that that the Dawnsong has brought them to my site, but I am still not sure of how much the Chattersong really works to get the birds to come. Sometimes ( like again this year ) I feel like turning both of them off completely and seeing what happens. Sometimes I am inclined to think that it will NOT hurt, as the birds may be confused when they come and see NO BIRDS while the songs are playing. We FAITHFULLY play both of them and still not sure whether it is the right thing to do or the wrong thing to do !!!

" Beggin4Birds "

~Ray~Gingerich · Mon May 26, 2008 12:21 am

I started using daytime chatter this year, I don't turn it up too loud, only about as loud as the martins would normally be and I'm having better results than ever, off course it could be coincidence since I made some big changes such as cutting the woods back several hundred feet, anyway the martins are going crazy over my site this year, I have one pair nest building and another pair looks like they might start soon, also have 3 sub adult males not paired up yet. I would try the dawn song for a few minutes very early in the morning to get their attention and then switch to daytime chatter. Wishing you the best.
Ray