An easy DIY Martin Feeder

[Nikkidodi - SATX]

In the past, I tried to feed mealworms to my martins, by placing them on the porches, but many would crawl off and fall to the ground before I could even raise the houses back into position and more would fall off before the Martins returned. So yesterday I decided to try something different.

I used a 13 x 9 inch cake pan cover like this one: http://www.amazon.com/Wilton-Recipe-Rig ... =cake+pans ,and drilled 2 small holes about 4 inches apart on the sides at each end of the cover in order to thread a 50 inch length of galvanized wire through (probably 18 ga.) I formed a two foot long hanger on each end by twisting the ends of the wire (similar to the top of a coat hanger) leaving a couple inches to wrap around my gourd’s bracket. Then I drilled a small hole in each corner on the bottom to allow any rain water to drain out, but not big enough for the mealworms to escape through. I suspended this “Martin Feeder” from the brackets that my gourds are attached to so that it hung about a foot below the gourds and tossed in a handful of mealworms. This literally took all of 15 minutes to do.

Within 5 minutes of raising the housing, 3 or 4 martins began visiting the feeder. I sat and watched one eager female, who has 6 hungry mouths to feed in gourd #2, make a dozen or so trips between the feeder and her babies in a little over 10 minutes. She was in seventh heaven!!

I came back out and checked the feeder an hour later, and it was empty. I was amazed at how quickly they accepted this feeder and the mealworms.

[Anthony Neira]

Good news, Nikkidodi, Did you know, there's an unlisted, BIG Roost at the Carver Center ? I found it about 3 -4 yr.s ago, & I'd like to get the cord.s this yr & list it. I found it when someone asked me to rescue a cat over there. I first thought I was looking at a swarm of starlings..but NO, LOTS of P.Ms! I called a member of the Aud. Soc. & she came over & said " Wow! P.Ms! We should keep this a secret so kids do'nt shoot them! " But of course, I read up on roost on PMCA, & I'll check it out this season. Good luck!

[Nikkidodi - SATX]

Thanks for that info, Anthony, I'll definitely check that out. I thought that there must be someplace locally that they gather, but never knew where. I saw a group skimming the San Antonio River in the new stretch near the Pearl Brewery last summer. That was pretty neat.

[DakotaLady]

Nikki,

Great idea about the cake pan cover for your mealworms. I built a bed and breakfast where I keep my egg shells and throw in my mealworms but the robins are eating them all. I like your idea and may need to craft one as well.

Thank you for posting.