Photos Of My Gemini And Round Gourd Racks

[Steve Kroenke]

Photos Of My Gemini And Round Gourd Racks

This season I added a new gourd rack to my colony. It is the Gemini which is a two tier circular rack system with 32 gourds. The Gemini uses a three inch diameter square high tensile aluminum pole with a brake winch. I suspended 16 Troyer Horizontals with tunnels/porches, 12 Super Gourds, and four Excluder Gourds.

I attracted 26 pairs of purple martins this first season to the rack: 20 ASYs and 6 SYs. It probably would have been full but some martins refused to give up extra territory and continued dominating additional gourds.

The Troyer gourds had 13 pairs, the Super Gourds 10, and the Excluders three. I saw no difference in number of eggs laid or young fledged from the different gourd types.

For all the Troyer gourds, I removed the inside lip around the second entry hole to create a continuous tunnel rather than have two entry points. I did not have any entrapment issues in these Troyer gourds after making the modification. Last year, I had six martins that became entrapped in the foyer area of the Troyer tunnel during intense fighting. The martins were not stuck in the round entrance hole but in the cramped foyer between the main entrance and the internal opening.

After many martin fledglings became independent juveniles, they would return back to my colony and roost on the inside support bars and the bottom rack ring. No martins would roost on the top ring which could make them more vulnerable to owl attacks.

I also used two Round rack systems which are basically a single tier Gemini. Each of my Round racks had 12 gourds suspended on a ring. The Round rack uses a two inch diameter high tensile aluminum pole with a rope and pulley raising system. I used six Super Gourds, six Excluder gourds, six Troyer Horizontals with tunnels/porches, and six Troyer Horizontals with cling plates.

Both Round racks were 100 % occupied by ASY pairs. I saw no difference in number of eggs laid or young fledged from the different gourd types.

The Gemini rack is my favorite large gourd system and the Round rack is my favorite small one.

This is a photo of my Gemini rack with Super Gourds, Excluder Gourds and Troyer Horizontals with tunnels/porches. I like to use an alternating suspension system with a Troyer then a Super Gourd or an Excluder. The variety helps to minimize, but may not stop nest domination problems. Using a variety of gourds does have an aesthetic appeal.



This photo shows one of my two Round racks with Super Gourds, Excluder Gourds, Troyer Horizontals with tunnels/porches and Troyer Horizontals with cling plates. For these racks using a variety of gourds eliminated nest domination and created a nice look.

[bk]

Hi Steve, is that aluminum pole similar to the kits sold in the store here?
It looks like my t-14 pole. That would really simplify making a rack like this for me.

Thanks for all your posts,

Bill

rowlett tx

[Steve Kroenke]

Hey Bill,

I believe my aluminum pole is probably very similar to the one in the store here so it should work fine. These three inch diameter square aluminum poles are strong and can withstand powerful winds.

Once you build your gourd rack, I hope you will post a picture of it on the Forum.

I am glad you have enjoyed my posts.

Steve

[ron20m]

Steve I have two old trio houses that I do not like because of nest changes. It is a pain to not have any room to deposit the nest martial in. I have a Deluxe System with 24 Troyers which the martins seem to prefer over the Trio's.
Just this week found that gemini and now I'm positive I'm going to give that a try. I think it looks like a sculpture. I also like the "sitting area "it seems to provide.
Thanks for the photos. I was going to go with straight troyers but now you've got me thinking about mixing it up. Do you not have starling problems? I notice all your holes are open.

[Steve Kroenke]

Hey Ron,

I know you will like a Gemini! I like the mixed gourd approach on this system. I prefer this configuration as it may minimize nest domination issues because of the variety of gourd styles, may allow more gourds on the rings, and the horizontal/vertical combination just looks good to me.

I only use round holes in my personal colony as the martins prefer them and the few starlings that show up are easily eliminated via shooting/trapping. Since I can control starlings, there is really no need to use srehs when round holes work just fine and are preferred by the martins.

My neighbor, Bob, previously used all crescent entrances when I first moved out here. Since he works, there was always a possibility that starlings could move in to his colony when he was away and cause trouble.

I am retired and can provide a closer monitoring of my colony and his site. I mainly do this to chase away Accipiter hawks and merlins which are far more of a danger to our martins than starlings.

Since I am able to shoot/trap the few starlings that do show up and I usually shoot about five or six a year, Bob converted all his crescents to round holes and his martins have flourished. Starlings are not a big problem at all. I trapped 13 starlings during November and December of 2008 and during January of 2009. This is about two years worth of starlings for us. I did not shoot a single starling this season which is a first. The early trapping seemed to eliminate most of the starling problems even later on.

Starling competition problems varies from one area to the other and is usually more of an issue with our various satellite martin colonies established closer to Shreveport and in more urban/suburban locations. We use all srehs at these sites because starlings are a serious issue there and we can't monitor these sites daily.

Steve

[The Olsons]

Steve,

This is a very cool and sturdy looking rack I like it a lot. I am going to google more on it....your martins look all very happy, healthy and fat; just the way we like it.

Thank you for sharing the pictures

Astrid

[teridickinson]

Starling competition problems varies from one area to the other and is usually more of an issue with our various satellite martin colonies established closer to Shreveport and in more urban/suburban locations. We use all srehs at these sites because starlings are a serious issue there and we can't monitor these sites daily.

Steve

How do you keep the sparrows out of those public sites? (and your sites as well?)

Teri

[Steve Kroenke]

Hey Astrid,

I am glad you like the photo of the Gemini. It is a beautiful gourd rack system and the martins really flocked to it this first season. I still like all my other gourd racks, but the Gemini is my favorite for now.

Steve

Hey Teri,

At our personal martin colonies, house sparrows are almost non-existent. We live in a house sparrow unfriendly terrain. We live in a very open location surrounded by high grass hayfields and woodlots. We don't feed sparrow type food at Bob's bird feeders. Not many people live nearby so this is simply not a "sparrow type" breeding area. I occasionally see one and this year a lone male did show up for about half a day and he left. I didn't want to waste a shotgun shell on him as he had NO chance of securing any cavity with around 450 pairs of martins in residence that would readily defend their nests. Since living here, I have shot only two house sparrows and none were any threat to the martins. So sparrows are basically a non-issue out here in "the sticks"!

We do have some sparrow problems at our various satellite colonies, but the martins for the most part keep the sparrows at bay. In fact, we will often remove a sparrow nest early in the season, and the next time we visit the site a pair of martins will have already evicted the sparrows and moved in. Establish martin colonies with lots of martins are capable of defending their nests from sparrows in many cases provided the thick sparrow nests are removed so martins can enter and take over.

Bob at some of the sites will "sneak" a killing shot at particularly persistent sparrows with his pellet gun and this has worked great! Also we have used the Trio door traps on occasion with success.

So the martins themselves keep most sparrows out, but we MUST remove the "martin-proof" sparrow nests so that the martins can enter the cavities and take over. If we did not remove the nests, then sparrows would be able to move in our satellites in greater numbers and cause more problems. And all of our satellite colonies are established sites and martins have nested in them for many years. These martins have strong site tenacity and fidelity and these martins will readily attack house sparrows that try to move in the cavities.

Steve

[Guest]

Can you tell me, or show with a close-up, how you attached the Troyer horizontals to the rack? I'm thinking of adding this type of gourd to the bottom of a T14 and wonder if this is an appropriate idea?

Congratulations on an amazing colony of martins! I have my first babies this year, which is my first year as a landlord. Your colony is my dream!!

Thanks for your help!

[Steve Kroenke]

Hey Ohio,

To attach the Troyer gourds to my Gemini, I use Gourd Mounting Arms (GMAs). GMAs are the perfect way to attach Troyer gourds to the Gemini and other racks that do not use the special hanging rods that are used on the Deluxe systems for example. On the Deluxe racks you insert the gourds directly on the ends of the rods and hold the gourds in place with a cotter pin. GMAs are metal and come in various shapes to accommodate both horizontal and vertical gourds. They are attached to crossbars with nuts/bolts and gourds are then suspended from the GMAs and held in place with cotter pins. I have included a close-up photo of a Troyer gourd inserted over a GMA and a close-up of a GMA attached to my Gemini ring.

If you want to attach Troyer Horizontal gourds to the bottom of a T-14, then you may want to use special hanging brackets designed for that purpose. You can purchase these brackets from the PMCA and they are called T-14 Hanging Arms. These brackets work very well from what I have seen and martins really like the Troyer gourds. The GMAs that I use on the Gemini may not be appropriate for a T-14. When you look at the close-up of the GMA, you will see how it attaches.

Good luck.

Steve

Here is a photo a Troyer Horizontal gourd with a tunnel/porch that is attached to my Gemini rack using a GMA.



Here is a photo of a GMA attached to my Gemini rack.

[Guest]

Thanks so much for the explanation and pictures! Off to shop!

[Bob Lockman]

Hey Steve.I think you have some good looking racks.I am looking at the AAA rack and the single round rack,I would like to know if you like one better than the other.Thanks.Bob

[Steve Kroenke]

Hey Bob,

I have three of the AAA 16 racks and use naturals and plastic gourds on them. These racks are often nearly 100 % occupied each year by martins.

I have two of the Round racks and have used naturals and now use all plastics on them. They are 100% occupied this year.

Both racks are excellent choices and it is easy to raise and lower and monitor the martin nests. When you use the GMAs, hanging gourds, particular plastic ones, is so simplied; no hanging wires to deal with. Just insert the GMA through the gourd suspension hole and hold the gourd in place with a cotter pin.

I personally like the Round rack the best. I guess I like the look of the system, particularly when I use a variety gourd styles to create the diverse look on the ring. Functionally they both work just fine and either will be an excellent gourd rack for your martin colony.

Good luck.

Steve