Getting Excited
I can't hardly wait to see the martins return. I have been painting and replacing the natural gourds. We have had martins for the past ten years up to approx. 20 pairs. Then we thought we were doing good and replaced all the natural gourds with vinyl. Well we found out quickly that they were not adapting to their new homes and were leaving. So we immediately put up more of the natural gourds and left them brown. They Martins started to return. Not all of them did. Last year we change back to all natural gourds again and the martins are returning. So I am really excited to see what happens this year. Last year we did have 10 pairs. Hopefully we will have more this year. They usually begin showing up middle of March.
Yes ! Yes! Yes! Finally!!!! Two pair have finally make it. Just as pretty as ever.
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Emil Pampell-Tx
- Posts: 6743
- Joined: Tue Nov 11, 2003 1:26 pm
- Location: Tx, Richmond (SW of Houston)
- Martin Colony History: First started in Gretna, La in 1969 with a small homemade house, have had martins ever since at 2 different homes in Texas
That is interesting about the martins leaving when you had plastic gourds. I have about 55% natural, and 45% plastic. The plastic gourds are accepted here but the naturals often are chosen first, but it doesn't seem to be a problem here using plastic. I do modify the plastic (add tunnels, vents, porches, non-stick flooring in the inside, more drainage holes, etc)
PMCA Member, 250 gourds, 6 poles, 2traps
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ToyinPA
- Posts: 2227
- Joined: Mon Apr 10, 2006 6:07 pm
- Location: PA/Avis
- Martin Colony History: The 1972 St. Agnes flood wiped out all the Martins in my area. One day, in 1997-98, 5 or 6 Martins landed on the power wires crossing my back yard. I had no house for them. They kept coming back day after day. We got a martin house a few weeks later & they have been coming back every year since. I average 12-15 pair per year.
Having parrots we learned quickly that birds are very fearful of anything new, even the same thing but a different color. We tried to change out a rope perch in one parrots cage with a new one, but couldn't find the same color. She freaked big time & refused to sit on it. Then she stopped eating, so we ended up putting the old one back in. We discovered the same with toys, food, etc. She had to see it for a few plus days, see us touch/handle it, etc, to learn it was "safe/OK".SJohnson wrote:I can't hardly wait to see the martins return. I have been painting and replacing the natural gourds. We have had martins for the past ten years up to approx. 20 pairs. Then we thought we were doing good and replaced all the natural gourds with vinyl. Well we found out quickly that they were not adapting to their new homes and were leaving. So we immediately put up more of the natural gourds and left them brown. They Martins started to return. Not all of them did. Last year we change back to all natural gourds again and the martins are returning. So I am really excited to see what happens this year. Last year we did have 10 pairs. Hopefully we will have more this year. They usually begin showing up middle of March.
Try putting up a few of the vinyl gourds, close to your current housing, once your Martins have nested in the natural gourds. Load the vinyl gourds with nesting materials & make them look used. Once they accept the new look they may take to them better. I changed my Martin house from 2 S&K barns to 2 T-10 houses that way. They all kept checking out the new house & the next year when they arrived, I had replaced both S&K houses with the new ones, in the same locations as the old S&K barns. They moved right in. Having seen the new house the season before they remembered it was there & was now OK to use.
Toy in PA
PMCA Member