Our Satellite Purple Martin Colonies Are Thriving

[Steve Kroenke]

Our Satellite Purple Martin Colonies Are Thriving

Bob Bozeman, my next door neighbor, and I have five satellite martin colonies located in northwest Louisiana. One is located about three miles from our personal colonies and the others are located closer to the Shreveport area.

Bob started all these colonies way back in the 80s and they have raised thousands of martins over the years. When I moved here in 2005, I have helped Bob with upgrading the housing and managing the colonies.

Well managed satellite colonies can greatly help the local martin population in areas where many martin houses are not taken care and raise mainly house sparrows and starlings. Satellite colonies also give folks who don’t have suitable yards for a personal martin colony a chance to have a colony “at a distance”. And satellite colonies are excellent ways of advertising martins and perhaps encouraging others to start their own colony.

Bob recently visited all our satellite colonies and he said they were thriving! We pretty much have house sparrows under control and Bob discreetly shoots them when he can and we also trap, particularly prior to the martin season. Also our satellite martins are NOT wimps and they aggressively defend their nests against sparrows and usually win. The key is to keep the almost martin proof sparrow nest OUT of the houses early so that returning martins can enter their cavities and defend them. If sparrows are allowed to clog up houses and gourds with their nests, then martins have a most difficult time in competing with sparrows. However, there are always a few super aggressive house sparrows that manage to secure an empty cavity and these are either shot or trapped.

We use all crescent entrances at our satellite martin colonies because these colonies are located in more starling rich areas and we can’t monitor the sites daily. The crescents have eliminated most starling issues though we do have on occasion one or two starlings that manage to enter a crescent Trio cavity and even start a nest. All these starlings are shot.

Here are some basic stats on each of our satellite martin colonies.

Dump Satellite Colony In Longstreet

This satellite colony is located only about three miles from our personal colonies and doesn’t have a “glamorous name”! We call it the “dump" colony because the housing is located at the local trash compactor site. This colony gets the best personal attention from us because it is so close and we can easily check on the housing. Plus many local folks see our martin housing and often ask about the houses.

The colony consists of a modified Trio Castle with 12 double chambered rooms, a quad system with four Trios comprising 24 rooms, a multi-purpose pole with two of Bob’s designed aluminum houses comprising 16 compartments, and another multi-purpose pole with two of Bob’s houses comprising 12 rooms and four Super Gourds. The total number of cavities is 68 and nearly all are occupied each season.

Truck Stop Satellite Colony

Since Bob was a truck driver, it was only natural for him to establish a satellite martin colony at a truck stop! This colony consists of a multi-purpose pole with two modified Trios comprising 12 rooms and four Super Gourds, another multi-purpose pole with two of Bob’s houses comprising 16 rooms, and another Bob house containing 12 compartments. There are 44 cavities and most are occupied by martins each season.

Retirement Community Satellite Colony

Bob started this colony many years ago to provide the joy of martins to elderly retirees. The folks sure enjoy the martins!

The colony consists of a quad system with four Trios comprising 30 rooms and a multi-purpose pole with two Trios comprising 12 compartments. There are 42 cavities and most are occupied by martins.

Business That Sells Small Buildings Satellite Colony

We are fortunate that a friend Steve Malone who occasionally posts on the Forum and has a large martin colony of his own largely manages this satellite colony. Steve works nearby and can check on the colony when he is at work.

The housing consists of three multi-purpose poles with six modified Trios and 12 Super Gourds. The total number of cavities is 48 and most are filled with martins each season.

Tank Wash Business (Wash Large Trucks) Satellite Colony

At this site we have a 14 room Lone Star Alamo, eight room Lone Star San Jacinto, multi-purpose pole with two six room modified Trios, and another multi-purpose pole with two nine room modified Trios. The total number of cavities is 52 and most are occupied by martins.

Our five satellite martin colonies have a total of 254 cavities and we have well over 200 pairs of martins each season. Hundreds of martins are fledged each year and many people get to see our colonies.

I would encourage other folks to establish satellite martin colonies in their area to help the local population and give martins some great advertising. Other individuals may become inspired by your satellite colony to start their own colonies.

Steve

[taxidermy lady]

Great job Steve and Bob,
I have a question about the trio crescent! I have round and crescent because I bought the crescent to switch over. They are all round right now. I have read the excluder is what I should have gotten. Or should I just stay with crescent. I know round sure gets the starlings attention and their in the area but get shot here! So when or if I ever get a pair in the trio I will change to the crescent. But should I Have bought the excluder? Thanks

[Steve Kroenke]

Hey Sharon,

At one of our satellite martin colonies we used the original excluder entrance for one Trio house. This entrance is more restrictive than the crescent and we no longer use it. Martins had a more difficult time entering the excluder entrance at that satellite colony.

The Trio crescent will exclude most starlings and it probably eliminates most starling competition at our satellite colonies. We do have a few breaches but not many. Try to keep the crescent a 1/4 inch or lower above the porch to make it more difficult for starlings to force themselves through. However, many of our crescents are the standard Trio crescent door and few starlings have managed to enter.

Bob has started making the crescents flush with the porches to further reduce starling competition. I personally don't like flush entrances because rainwater "just pours" through and some martins have a harder time entering them. We have started using nest trays in some of the compartments with flush crescents and this has eliminated most of the rainwater issues. We plan to use nest trays in more of our satellite colonies in the future.

So I think you will be OK with the Trio crescent under most conditions and the excluder tends to be more restrictive. Since you are trying to attract your first breeding pair of martins, I would make it easier for them to enter the gourds/houses.

Steve

[madattiver]

Thanks for all you and Bob do for the martins. With all these extra birds that have been fledged I am sure you have helped quite a few other people start colonies of their own. This really makes it enticing to try out a satellite colony up here too. I am going to start collecting the materials needed to start one up and wait for the right opportunity and location to set one up.

[Steve Kroenke]

Hey Adam,

We appreciate those comments!

I hope you will be able to find a good place for a satellite martin colony. If more landlords would do this, then I really believe the martin population would increase in many areas.

When we are checking on our satellite colonies, folks often come over to see the martin housing and talk about martins. We take that opportunity to encourage them to check the PMCA's website to learn more about martins and look at all the outstanding martin products.

I wish you the best and hope you have a great martin season!

Steve

[taxidermy lady]

Thank you Steve, I will keep my crescents for now! I have a few round and a few crescent on it right now! I had a female hanging around with him yesterday so we'll see what goes today! Good luck!

[DornCounty]

taxidermy lady..

I would PM as to not derail this thread but they are disabled, so I would encourage folks not to respond to my reply.

Stock Trio crescents do a very poor job keeping starlings out. Unless you can make modified like Steve, I would use the excluder. Martins in my public colonies have very little issue with them. I put 12 stock trio cresents on, nearly all were compromised by starlings. I rigged a raised porch that stopped the entries but, it is what it is.

Steve....

Great job with all the satellites!

[madattiver]

Steve,

I started a spreadsheet yesterday on all the items I need to construct and set up a satellite site. This will help me stock pile supplies as the funds are available. I should also be able to watch for some of those items to go on sale and snag them up. I just have to make my garage work bench so I can start cutting and saving my wood pieces for the north star I plan on building. If the satellite site does not pan out I can always sell the extra north star to help someone get a really good house to set up a new colony here.

[Steve Malone]

Steve,
I did a nest check last weekend. The houses are almost at capacity. There are several nest of babies from just hatched to 7 or 8 days old. There are 5 out of 8 gourds that are occupied. I couldn't check the middle units because the rope is frayed and I was afraid it would break. I don't know if I should leave it alone or use a ladder and lower the unit and replace the rope. The are no sparrows or starlings around, which is amazing.

[Matt F.]

Thanks for all you and Bob do for the martins. With all these extra birds that have been fledged I am sure you have helped quite a few other people start colonies of their own.

I'll second that Adam!
Steve and Bob are Martin superstars!
Aside from the labor, they have, and continue to, donate a lot of top notch Martin housing, pole systems, and accessories to these satellite colonies.
Fantastic work as always Steve and Bob!

[madattiver]

----

[Steve Kroenke]

Hey Adam,

It looks like you are really getting serious about a possible satellite martin colony! We need more folks like you who may invest the time and resources into satellite martin colonies. Thanks for your interest!

Steve

Hey Matt,

You are much too kind! We do appreciate your comments and know there are many outstanding martin landlords, including yourself on this Forum who have done great things for the purple martin. Thanks again.

Steve

Hey Steve,

Again Bob and I really appreciate all you have done to help us manage the satellite colony. Your dedication is the main reason that colony is doing so well!

I have never had a frayed rope on any of my multi-purpose pole systems. But as the ropes get old I know it can happen.

I wonder if it would be best if you could put some kind of clamp just under the multi-purpose pole hub to keep the system from falling should the rope break. I know you would have to climb up on a ladder to do that. But lowering the system could be dangerous should the rope break. That would prevent conducting any nest checks for that system unless your ladder was tall enough to reach the houses.

Then after the martins leave the rope could be replaced. I have some old ropes that I no longer use and I believe they are still in good shape. We could use one of them to replace the frayed one.

However, if you would prefer to replace the rope now then that is fine.

Thanks again for all your help with this satellite colony.

Steve

[Steve Malone]

I'm going to try to change the rope this weekend because I don't want to take the chance of it breaking. Also, I'll be able to do nest checks.