Finally moving into a house from a condo late spring I was able to put up my first PM house. Instead of buying one I thought I'd try making one out of materials like sheet metal, foam, and hot glue.
Anyway, here are some photos to share. Not 10 minutes after hoisting it up the pole the sparrows moved right in. Dang they are determined little dudes. I have no Martins to report and only see chimney swifts flying around from time to time. Please let me know what you think -
The house I moved into had a large antenna on the roof. I took that down and recommissioned the pole. There were also a couple of T shaped poles for hanging laundry. I chopped one of them up and it is now the pole that is secured in the ground with concrete footer as the main pole with cleat.
Hint - If you ever use sacrete cement for a pole anchor and like me put too much water in the mix...fear not! Just mix in small clumps of dry grass clippings and it will thicken up the mixture.
The house looks good, and I hope that some martins find it and use it.
About thickening up the concrete mixture with grass is not necessary, as the thin mixture will quickly settle and go to the bottom. Just pour the mixture into the hole even if its too thin. The grass that you added will weaken the concrete, but it probably will still be strong enough to hold the martin pole.
I've built a number of Styrofoam purple martin houses and the martins really like them! I see you have a coating of perhaps fiberglass mesh on the outside and I hope you did the same on the floor of the inside, or the martins will scratch through in about 3 years or so.
Also the round holes and large compartment Styrofoam housing are a starling magnet from what I've experienced. The starlings literally have drilled through all the internal walls in my round hole earlier houses. So I only make them now with SREH.
The sparrows are tough to control, and the best way I've found is to wait until they have built a nest, then remove the nest and use it as bait in the two chamber wire trap the PMCA sells. Mount the trap right on the martin pole with bungy cords at about the 4 to 5 ft. off the ground level. I usually catch both the male and female sparrow within an hour this way.
He who harbors the nesting bird shall have health and happiness all the year
Bernie, do you wait until there are eggs in the nest or do you just use the empty nest ? Do you put the whole nest in one side and leave the other side closed or do you split the nest between each outer compartment ?
To control the cunning sparrows we need to take advantage of their tendencies. As folks have found out, if you rip out a sparrow nest they will immediately start to rebuild it and use the same nesting material you pulled out if you leave it on the ground in the vicinity of the purple martin pole.
So you don't need to wait for eggs. Just bait both sides of the trap with half of the sparrow nest for each side as bait. If you add some fluttering feathers, all the better. I don't think I have ever failed to catch BOTH the male and female sparrow (one in each side of the baited trap) in one hour or less. Sometimes one or the other make their way into the center portion of the trap, but they can't get out from there so you have them anyways.
He who harbors the nesting bird shall have health and happiness all the year
Thanks for the reply. When I pull a sparrow nest I always got rid of it so they couldn't use it to rebuild but I never thought of putting my trap on the pole with the nest in it. Seems all the females I catch in the trap find their way to the middle compartment but the males must be to wary to push thru that hole.
As an Update to this house - it has held up to the weather reasonably well. The pole has a slight tilt now due to the rough winter we had. It is a favorite for nesting sparrows and not a favorite for PMs as I've never had any nest or visit.
The thick foam may also maintain high temperatures in the summer. It will likely be retired and a new commercial style installed instead.
I would change the entrance holes to a cresent.It's troublesome enough to battle the sparrows,with the round holes your inviting trouble w/the starlings as well !yes, the house looks fantastic !....Berndog
