The question that's been asked a thousand times.

[Guest]

Now, it's my turn.

Here it is April 8th and I am so frustrated. I live in Plant City, Florida, about 25 miles East of Tampa. (home of winter strawberries) I've been trying for years. Now, I live in the exact right place with the exact right housing. But I can't get them to stay.

I have a house and gourds on a 15 foot pole 60 feet from the house. There is a lake several hundred yards away. The flying area is big enough to land a 747. It's 200 feet from trees. There are no owls. I have decoys. I play the "dawn song" each morning starting at 5:30 through a $200 Polk Audio speaker. There are no other birds nesting

Last year, I had some visitors, but they didn't stay. This year, they began to visit about three weeks ago but won't stay. Some days, there are 6 or 8. They hang around all morning, then leave. Most days they don't come back until tomorrow morning.

There is a pair that has been hanging around and hanging around, but they won't nest. I've tried with no nesting material and with pine straw.

We have a bazillion insects for them to feast on.

When the birds are at the house, they stay put even when I'm under it taking to them. They look down and talk back to me. It's wonderful. Then right after lunch, they fly away and don't come back.

In the afternoon and early evening, I see pairs swoop around the houses and try to land, but just continue on and fly off.

Every day I get all revved up only to be disappointed. The road along the fence is a farm road, and when the birds are visiting, they don't pay any attention to the occasional truck that passes by.

I am about ready to give up.

[chickadee]

Hi sorry about the trouble you are having.I'm puzzled.I'm not an expert maybe someone with more experience will chim in.but in the mean time I was wondering if you have enlarged those compartments on that house?I had a house like that four five years ago and that worked for me.because your spot looks sounds great.hope you figure it out.don't give up.try new things first.good luck

[Guest]

Yes, I've enlarged the apartments on the house. The gourds are said to be the desired size.

[djmains]

This may sound crazy and I'm not an expert but martins like to look down and they don,t like any thing hanging under there house in a colony thats not established yet.they also like a 10 foot drop and a 40 foot run I think you have done everything right your open, away from trees, but this is my suggestion hang those gourds on a seperate rack and put them 8 to ten foot from your existing house and do it soon martins know where you live now so turn the dawn song off and see what happens in a week or two also take those decoys down martins know they are not real when I tried to establish a colony my martins wouldn't stay they hated those decoys but just watch and observe what happens if they don't like them they will let you know good luck let me know the outcome. be patient and don't give up you will have joy!!!!!!!!!

[flyin-lowe]

When you say you have been trying for years how long has it actually been. There are more martins in Florida then further north but it is not uncommon for people to try for four or five years before being successful. I had a site similar to yours. Very open, close to water, a variety of housing, I controlled S&S etc. It wasn't until after five years I finally had nesting martins. Many people looked at my site and said it was perfect, yet year after year just a few visitors.
Are there many other martin colonies close by? Typically as you know the ASY martins will go to their previous years housing. Most think that the SY's usually go within 50 miles or so of where they fledged from. This is not set in stone but that is what I have often read and been told. So if you happen to live in one of thos parts of the state that does not have a lot of martins housing in the area then it might take a while for the right martin to find you housing. Maybe some others from Florida will chime in and tell us how populated that part of the State is.

[John Miller]

I wonder if martins in Florida are more fickle because they have a larger window of time to nest -- the further north you go, the less time available and maybe they get down to business more.

I'd check the accuracy of the crescents on the plastic house. The gourd plates probably are accurate, but I've found a few plastic houses that the crescents were too small. You have to make a "no-go" gauge to accurately measure. A photo of how to measure can be found in this thread.

http://www.purplemartin.org/forum/viewt ... ight=gauge

To try something, I'd get another pole and put the gourds on it with the house on the orginal pole. Maybe grasping at straws, but martins flying between the two to investigate might help convince them to stay. Sometimes landlords also report success after moving housing to slightly different location in their yards without any advantage that we can see as far as openness, but may be something meaningful to the birds.

I'm a little concerned about the fence, although the house may be several feet away. A fence attached or within jumping distance to the pole puts nesting martins at higher risk of predators, but probably would not deter visiting martins from initially staying.
John M

[Emil Pampell-Tx]

If you ever do get any to stay, then the fence will quickly become a problem. Snakes and racoons can climb the pole and use the fence to get a quick start. If you ever move the house, then keep it 3 to 4 ft away from the fence.

Your site looks nice and open, your housing looks good, so good luck, and hope you get some soon.

[Laverne]

Hello John.

I've got one suggestion for you. I don't think your "looking" Purple Martins like that fence. I think the pole has been placed too close to the fence. One of my neighbors stuck his pole next to a six foot wooden fence; even attaching it to the fence for strength. He also put guy wires on his PM housing pole and he never got any PMs to nest in his housing after that....I don't know why....but that's the only thing I can see that might honestly be causing a problem.

Good luck to you.

Sincerely,
Laverne

[Scully]

We tried for five years locally at an outdoor nature center, I put up a gourd rack about 60 yards from the visitor center. Decoys, no dawnsong. People drove by there but parked by the visitor center house.

A few visits, no success. Then they put up a Trio Castle just feet from the front porch of the visitor center and got martins the first year. I'm wondering how much human activity there is around your site.

Also, I'm wondering if dawnsong played too long and/or too loud could actually drive away martins (not saying you do that, just wondering).

Mike Scully

[Guest]

Well, I've got some things to think about now.

Get rid of the decoys
Stop playing dawn song
move it from the fence.
take the gourds off the same pole as the house

Hmmmmmm. What to do, what to do?

I'm going to put up a new pole tomorrow just for the gourds. I'll put it away from the fence and a little closer to the house. I know just the spot.

I'm going to try to move the other pole away from the fence, all 100 pounds of concrete.

JLK

[Laverne]

... OK - you could always just move the fence ...

Now, hurry up - you really are running out of time...

Best of luck - I wish you a wonderful season!

Sincerely,
Laverne

[Keith]

I have always been under the impression that two or three houses, maybe different types, would increase chances, but just moving the gourds as has already been suggested should help. Two or more Martins flying back and forth from houses might just make them want to lay claim quicker especially if one of them is a female. Those males will want to show their "stuff". May be just a wild idea I have, but you shouldn't give up just yet. Best of luck.
Keith

[Emil Pampell-Tx]

It just takes a lot of patience, we really don't know exactly why martins choose a certain location. It may take years, but it does seem logical to try to change the loaction of the pole, to have both gourds and a house on the same pole, and to have it in an open location near an inhabited building.

Here are some things that can happen:
1)sparrows show up and chase away the visiting martins
2)starlings (same as above)
3)hawks are bothering the martins during daylight hours
4)owls are bothering them at night
5)bluebirds or TS are chasing away visiting martins
6)plus a few other things.

The result is that only the landlord can determine what the problem may be. Usually the problem is that trees are too close, but this does not seem to be the problem here.

[djmains]

don't feel bad I moved my housing 5 times before i got martins don't concrete things in place until you get martins then stablelize everything moving the house away from the fence is a great idea racoons can get on the fence and clime the pole an eat your martins remember they like to feel safe make it so they know that you will protect them. once you have your housing in a good spot don't move it if you have martins flying arround once they get there flight pattern established moving the housing will cause them to leave and not come back!!!!!!