I am looking into buying a purple martin house but am not sure what would be good for my area. I live in upstate NY and it can get pretty cold up here in April & May. Last year it snowed in May but it usually isn't that cold.
I was looking into aluminum houses like the Lone Star Goliad or the Hilltop Trendsetter's. The Trendsetter's have insulated compartment ceilings and an insulated roof and the Lone Star's have insulated roofs but not compartment ceilings. Would either of these houses be ok where I live?
I know a wooden house would probably be better but I don't have the time nor the skill to construct one and cannot afford an already assembled T-14 & pole which is really expensive.
Would gourds be a better option possibly? I was really set on one of those houses but now I'm not so sure. Does anyone as far north as me use aluminum houses and have success? I want to make sure I make the right choice before I buy something.
Aluminum houses bad for northern landlords?
Hey, someone from home!!! We moved from Greece in 2007. Glad to see a Rochesterian on the forum. Where bouts are you?
I didn't live in an area open enough for martins. But I would think a T14 would be good. Wood is a good insulator. I would also check out what the other landlords in your are have? That would be your best indicator. Good luck and let us know what you end up with.
I didn't live in an area open enough for martins. But I would think a T14 would be good. Wood is a good insulator. I would also check out what the other landlords in your are have? That would be your best indicator. Good luck and let us know what you end up with.
D'Nese in Tennessee
2009-new house up, many visitors no one stayed
2010-3 pairs, 14 eggs, 9 babies 9 fledged
2011 20 pairs, 106 eggs, 79 fledged
2012 37 pair, 120 fledged
2013 37 pair, 173 fledged
2009-new house up, many visitors no one stayed
2010-3 pairs, 14 eggs, 9 babies 9 fledged
2011 20 pairs, 106 eggs, 79 fledged
2012 37 pair, 120 fledged
2013 37 pair, 173 fledged
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Dolphins Fan
- Posts: 24
- Joined: Tue Feb 14, 2012 4:03 pm
- Location: New York/Palmyra
No kidding I'm from Palmyra but the martin house is going even further north up to the thousand islands area where I have a cottage on Lake Ontario.
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Doug Martin - PA
- Posts: 1988
- Joined: Thu Mar 25, 2004 10:47 am
- Location: Pennsylvania/Fombell
- Martin Colony History: First pair in 2009 after 28 years of trying. 3 pairs 2010, 17 pairs 2011 and 35-45 pairs since. Many additional colonies are now springing up around mine in an area once completely void of Martins. I offer 50 compartments at my site consisting of primarily Excluder II gourds on Gemini racks. Also a wooden T-14. I utilize electric fence type predator guards on the base of the poles. Supplemental feeding is crucial in maintaining my colony. I platform feed throughout the season as needed. My site tends to be a stop over point for additional birds as they migrate further north.
Personally I stay away from aluminum up north. Reason? Because the birds did.
An ideal location on water would not matter. They will use anything.
Up north you can't beat a wooden T-14 or other style and some gourds. Look at some of the posts by Bernie Nicolli and other folks up in Canada as this is what strategy you may want to adopt as well. Insulation is good.
My birds love excluder II and troyer horizontal gourds in PA.
An ideal location on water would not matter. They will use anything.
Up north you can't beat a wooden T-14 or other style and some gourds. Look at some of the posts by Bernie Nicolli and other folks up in Canada as this is what strategy you may want to adopt as well. Insulation is good.
My birds love excluder II and troyer horizontal gourds in PA.
Supplemental feeding plays a major role in Western Pennsylvania. Finally got my 1st pair in 2009 after 28 years of effort. The colony has grown quickly to 45 pairs that I care for. Many new colonies have now sprung up around me in the past few years as well. Where there was none.... there is many.
The Thousand Islands would be IDEAL for martins!!! Best friends parents have a place up there and we had the pleasure of visiting, got to see the "love castle"???? I can't remember the names but beautiful area.
What are the other landlords using up there? That would be the best thing to scope out. Man, it's a small world!!! Keep in touch and let us know what you end up doing and also pic's too!!!
I would think Palmyra would be ideal as well??? Why not home where you can keep a good eye on them? How often do you get to the Islands?
What are the other landlords using up there? That would be the best thing to scope out. Man, it's a small world!!! Keep in touch and let us know what you end up doing and also pic's too!!!
I would think Palmyra would be ideal as well??? Why not home where you can keep a good eye on them? How often do you get to the Islands?
D'Nese in Tennessee
2009-new house up, many visitors no one stayed
2010-3 pairs, 14 eggs, 9 babies 9 fledged
2011 20 pairs, 106 eggs, 79 fledged
2012 37 pair, 120 fledged
2013 37 pair, 173 fledged
2009-new house up, many visitors no one stayed
2010-3 pairs, 14 eggs, 9 babies 9 fledged
2011 20 pairs, 106 eggs, 79 fledged
2012 37 pair, 120 fledged
2013 37 pair, 173 fledged
Great idea Doug.Doug Martin - Fombell Pa wrote:Look at some of the posts by Bernie Nicolli and other folks up in Canada as this is what strategy you may want to adopt as well. Insulation is good.
Here are a couple of great threads on the subject from Bernie:
http://www.purplemartin.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=19946
http://www.purplemartin.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=14672
http://www.purplemartin.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=11842
Nice information. I absolutely love the different styles of houses.
D'Nese in Tennessee
2009-new house up, many visitors no one stayed
2010-3 pairs, 14 eggs, 9 babies 9 fledged
2011 20 pairs, 106 eggs, 79 fledged
2012 37 pair, 120 fledged
2013 37 pair, 173 fledged
2009-new house up, many visitors no one stayed
2010-3 pairs, 14 eggs, 9 babies 9 fledged
2011 20 pairs, 106 eggs, 79 fledged
2012 37 pair, 120 fledged
2013 37 pair, 173 fledged
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Doug Martin - PA
- Posts: 1988
- Joined: Thu Mar 25, 2004 10:47 am
- Location: Pennsylvania/Fombell
- Martin Colony History: First pair in 2009 after 28 years of trying. 3 pairs 2010, 17 pairs 2011 and 35-45 pairs since. Many additional colonies are now springing up around mine in an area once completely void of Martins. I offer 50 compartments at my site consisting of primarily Excluder II gourds on Gemini racks. Also a wooden T-14. I utilize electric fence type predator guards on the base of the poles. Supplemental feeding is crucial in maintaining my colony. I platform feed throughout the season as needed. My site tends to be a stop over point for additional birds as they migrate further north.
Thanks Matt!
That's great you found those posts for him. Now that's what I'm talkin about.
Doug
That's great you found those posts for him. Now that's what I'm talkin about.
Doug
Supplemental feeding plays a major role in Western Pennsylvania. Finally got my 1st pair in 2009 after 28 years of effort. The colony has grown quickly to 45 pairs that I care for. Many new colonies have now sprung up around me in the past few years as well. Where there was none.... there is many.
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Martin man RI
- Posts: 441
- Joined: Sun Dec 14, 2003 7:04 pm
- Location: MA/RI area
I feel the cut off for aluminum houses is southern NE. Points north of that
you should use wooden houses. I use trio double size houses and plastic gourds and the birds are fine with both. I have seen birds in aluminum houses in VT. But i would not advice that. Your area the same. I have many of the troyer horizontal gourds with the long neck and the birds like them in the early spring when the weather is cool. They protect them from
the winds. Your area is much colder too. In bad weather even a wooden house will not save a Martin. in 2005 Martins were killed by weather and
no matter what was used the death toll was beyond anyones imagination.
you should use wooden houses. I use trio double size houses and plastic gourds and the birds are fine with both. I have seen birds in aluminum houses in VT. But i would not advice that. Your area the same. I have many of the troyer horizontal gourds with the long neck and the birds like them in the early spring when the weather is cool. They protect them from
the winds. Your area is much colder too. In bad weather even a wooden house will not save a Martin. in 2005 Martins were killed by weather and
no matter what was used the death toll was beyond anyones imagination.
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Dolphins Fan
- Posts: 24
- Joined: Tue Feb 14, 2012 4:03 pm
- Location: New York/Palmyra
Thank you everyone for the help! It looks like I'll be going with a wooden house now. I'm very grateful to be informed of the best house for my area. Even though I think I have ideal habitat I don't want to risk using an aluminum house.
D'Nese your talking about Boat Castle in Alexandria Bay and it is beautiful I've been there many times. Our cottage is about 30 minutes from there. Your right it is an ideal location. We are right on the water and there are a lot of martins around. I'm not sure what kind of houses other people are using I'll have to get a closer look next time. I haven't seen anyone using gourds that I know of though.
I go up there twice a week on my days off but I don't have much fear of house sparrows or starlings because there are hardly any house sparrows and I'm going to be using SREH for starlings. Martins might be around where I live here in Palmyra but I've never seen any or know of anyone who has them. I also have a lot more house sparrows and starlings here at home. I do have tree swallows so that might be a good sign that I can get martins although it might take longer to attract them. There are also a lot of large trees in the surrounding area even though they are probably far enough away.
D'Nese your talking about Boat Castle in Alexandria Bay and it is beautiful I've been there many times. Our cottage is about 30 minutes from there. Your right it is an ideal location. We are right on the water and there are a lot of martins around. I'm not sure what kind of houses other people are using I'll have to get a closer look next time. I haven't seen anyone using gourds that I know of though.
I go up there twice a week on my days off but I don't have much fear of house sparrows or starlings because there are hardly any house sparrows and I'm going to be using SREH for starlings. Martins might be around where I live here in Palmyra but I've never seen any or know of anyone who has them. I also have a lot more house sparrows and starlings here at home. I do have tree swallows so that might be a good sign that I can get martins although it might take longer to attract them. There are also a lot of large trees in the surrounding area even though they are probably far enough away.
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Scott D.- La
- Posts: 823
- Joined: Thu Jun 08, 2006 8:35 am
- Location: Louisiana
I have a different opinion since you cannot construct a T-14 nor can you afford to buy one. Aluminum can be made to perform like wood, it's just a bit of trouble doing so. I have 2 Coate's Watersedge houses that are heavily modified and can perform very similar to wood. You can click on my name and find them as they are only a couple pages back and see what you think about them. Nothing wrong with looking at the concept.
Welcome to the forum: This web site is a purple martin web cam is on the beach in Rochester. It will help you see how the birds are doing in all kinds of weather, giving you certain warnings how the birds are reacting to the cold weather. Check it out around april 1-15 th. http://newyorkwild.org/martin/martin_video.htm
Ed
Ed
Last edited by Ed Pace on Thu Feb 23, 2012 9:20 am, edited 1 time in total.
Scott,Scott D.- La wrote:I have a different opinion since you cannot construct a T-14 nor can you afford to buy one. Aluminum can be made to perform like wood, it's just a bit of trouble doing so. I have 2 Coate's Watersedge houses that are heavily modified and can perform very similar to wood. You can click on my name and find them as they are only a couple pages back and see what you think about them. Nothing wrong with looking at the concept.
You did do a great job on your Waters Edge houses.
Here's one of your threads for reference:
http://www.purplemartin.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=15852
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Dolphins Fan
- Posts: 24
- Joined: Tue Feb 14, 2012 4:03 pm
- Location: New York/Palmyra
Thank you Matt & Ed for the links and thank you for sharing your input Scott. You put a lot of work into those Coate's houses and did a great job with them. Ed that link of the martin houses off of Lake Ontario looks like they may have a Lonestar Alamo house.
I see the T-14 is $609 on PMCA without the heavy duty pole! Ouch your talking almost $1,000 for the house and pole without any nest trays ect. My old man is good at wood building I might just get the plans and have him build one for me. It still wouldn't be cheap by any means though. Kind of stinks that wooden houses are a lot more expensive if you ask me.
I might just be better off with all gourds. Martins seem to prefer them to houses anyways so that might be the best option.
I see the T-14 is $609 on PMCA without the heavy duty pole! Ouch your talking almost $1,000 for the house and pole without any nest trays ect. My old man is good at wood building I might just get the plans and have him build one for me. It still wouldn't be cheap by any means though. Kind of stinks that wooden houses are a lot more expensive if you ask me.
I might just be better off with all gourds. Martins seem to prefer them to houses anyways so that might be the best option.
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Bob Buskas
- Posts: 600
- Joined: Sat Nov 15, 2003 8:08 pm
- Location: Wetaskiwin Alberta, Canada
Check your private messages on this forum, I sent you one.
Bob Buskas, Alberta, Canada (The Northern Sky's Colony) Supplimental feeding is the key during bad weather, but you must train them to feed ahead of time.