Distance between housing

[LAK]

First post as I am brand new to the forum. Great forum by the way.
I am entering into my 4th season and am wanting to expand my housing. I currently have a pole of 6 Bo 11 gourds with the wind tunnels and cooling caps and a pole with a winch system about 20 feet a way with Hertiage Farm Pod housing.

I just bought another pole with 5 BO 11's and one double gourd. Plan to add different housing next season.

My question is what is the shortest distance I should plant my pole in the vicinity to my other poles:?: I have several options as I have enough space to distance it as far as 100 feet. I have seen pictures and the range varies. What I thought I might do is place them all in the same general vicinty but am not sure if that would attract more martins or if I spread it out more would be better. I am sure there are several thoughts on the subject and would love to hear from anyone as to what you have done. Thanks.

[John Miller]

You want space to mow betweeen. I'd mostly consider what looks nice and what seems to fit the landscape.

Might be some value to the martins to having one separate location....if they don't like one location, they might like the other, and fewer birds in one spot might reduce risk of predation.

if you keep them all in the same area, I'd go at least 25 feet apart, if feasible. Only reason for going that far would be so that when you lower a rack and are standing there doing nest checks, the displaced martins will land on the other housing and wait; if housing is closer they all may flush and keep circling.

have I thoroughly muddied the water (grin).

[Emil Pampell-Tx]

I have my gourd racks about 12 to 15ft between poles

[klcretired]

Hello LAK,
Welcome to The Forum, We are glad to have you, There will be alot of answers for you on this question i assure you.
I have been a Purple Martin Land Lord ever since 1970 and i have had Colonies in both Shreveport, Louisiana and in Texas, IMO , now this works for me so after i post i'm sure you will get alot of other answers to choose from and alot of Controversy but again IMO, I placed Both My Gourd Rack and Lonestar Goliad House Measuring Pole to pole 8 Foot from each other. I have never encountered any problems and both sites are easy to Manage and look at to see what is going on, I have a Small Back yard so this is what i had to work with. If I had a large Yard or acerage i think i would still have my Housing close to each other for easier Management.

[Dave Reynolds]

LAK. -- Welcome to the Forum.. A friend of mine, has about 15 houses, all spaced around 8 to 10 feet apart.. He has over 100 birds every year . I think the birds like to see other birds near by. Just a thought.
Dave

[Jerry Parent]

Hi Lak,

I have discussed this topic with many landlords and I have come to a concussion that closer is better than father away. Since I brought my poles closer together the occupancy rate has gone up. I would recommend 10 to 15 feet which has worked very well for me. That is the reason that I used crushed rock in the hole to hold up the pole instead on cement. It makes the poles easy to move until you find the proper set up for colony. Good luck with your new pole and in explanding your colony.

Jerry Parent

[daveh]

LAK, I agree with John miller about lowering a rack and the displaced birds go land on another rack until check is done. I have 5 poles spaced 30 ft from each other, all in a row. It's also easy to get the Kubota tractor around them to mow at that distance.

dave

[Emil Pampell-Tx]

It depends upon the size of the gourd racks or houses. If you have a pole that has 6 to 8 cavities, then your poles can be very close together, like 6 to 8 ft.

I have 48 gourds on a pole, so they need more room, so 10 to 12 feet would be the minimum for my setup..The martins need some room to escape hawks, and having the poles too close is not good if the pole has a lot of cavities.

[Dave Duit]

Much like Emil above post; I have two 24 gourd racks that I distance 12 feet apart. This distance seems to work for the martins. the distance allows the martins an easy flight approach for the gourds that are facing each other between the racks.

[LAK]

Thanks everyone for you feedback. it really helps to know what has worked in the past. The comments all make sense. It does appear that the consensus is between 10 and 15 feet apart depending on the size of your housing. Good luck to everyone on a prosperous Martin season and thanks again!

Lisa

[baileysambone]

LAK,
I sent you a personal message.

[baileysambone]

LAK,
I sent you a personal message.