Dan, I read your article on bluebirds and martins co-existing. I have 4 martin houses on 2 poles with 30+ martins now. I have a bluebird house I have been trying to attract bluebirds to. We have had a pair investigating the house and the male has been sitting on the top perch of my martin poles. Several times he has kicked, literally, martins off the perch. The BB's are not trying to go in the martin housing but just being territorial. I have a small backyard and with the two martin poles and my B & B feeder the bluebird house is probably only 8ft from my martin house. I cannot move it anywhere else in the backyard because it would be too close to the fence and we have neighborhood cats who roam. I can move to my front yard but cannot shoot sparrows out there. Do you think the male BB will just get more territorial if they do build a nest and have babies? I am afraid they will and think I need to either move it to the front or take it down completely. Your advice please? My martins come first.
Thanks.
Dan Drew-bluebirds and martins
Hi Trisha,
I know you ask Dan, but I have LOTS of cats in my neighborhood and they have never bothered my BB house. I have it mounted on a 1/2" piece of gas pipe as shown. They cant climb it because its so small so they leave it alone. I don't know how yours is mounted but this sure seems to work for me
I know you ask Dan, but I have LOTS of cats in my neighborhood and they have never bothered my BB house. I have it mounted on a 1/2" piece of gas pipe as shown. They cant climb it because its so small so they leave it alone. I don't know how yours is mounted but this sure seems to work for me
Tony
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Trisha,
I have a remote colony and the martins share a fairly small area with tree swallows, bluebirds and a few house sparrows that elude my capture. The tree swallows , bluebirds and martins have learned what house(s) belongs to who. Last year a tree swallow made the mistake of landing on the porch of a martin house. The martins almost killed that tree swallow before I had a chance to save the poor guy. I believe that in your situation the birds will settle their differences. It sounds like they are just testing each other. Since the martins are happy where they are and the bluebirds show no interest in moving in with the martins I'd let them work things out. 30 martins should be able to handle one (or two) bluebirds with energy to spare. Once the bluebirds lay eggs that will be all that they care about.
Mark
I have a remote colony and the martins share a fairly small area with tree swallows, bluebirds and a few house sparrows that elude my capture. The tree swallows , bluebirds and martins have learned what house(s) belongs to who. Last year a tree swallow made the mistake of landing on the porch of a martin house. The martins almost killed that tree swallow before I had a chance to save the poor guy. I believe that in your situation the birds will settle their differences. It sounds like they are just testing each other. Since the martins are happy where they are and the bluebirds show no interest in moving in with the martins I'd let them work things out. 30 martins should be able to handle one (or two) bluebirds with energy to spare. Once the bluebirds lay eggs that will be all that they care about.
Mark
Trisha,
It did not take long for you get the right answer... and quite soon I expect you will see confirmation that BLUE BIRD and/or TREE SWALLOW INTERFERENCE is usually a temporary and self-limiting problem at established martin colonies.
The kind of interference that is truly an impediment occurs at sites where there are no returning site-loyal martins... and can often go unrecognized for years by wannabe landlords despite doing everything else right.
Please post again when things settle down... just to reassure us. Usually the birds do not "hurt each other" during the negotiations.
Dan
It did not take long for you get the right answer... and quite soon I expect you will see confirmation that BLUE BIRD and/or TREE SWALLOW INTERFERENCE is usually a temporary and self-limiting problem at established martin colonies.
The kind of interference that is truly an impediment occurs at sites where there are no returning site-loyal martins... and can often go unrecognized for years by wannabe landlords despite doing everything else right.
Please post again when things settle down... just to reassure us. Usually the birds do not "hurt each other" during the negotiations.
Dan