Some Morning Photos Of My Purple Martin Colony

[Kyler]

Okie,
Also thank you for the comments. And yes I like them on the edge of the driveway because it is easier to mow. They used to be about a foot away from the driveway and this year I replaced all my poles so I moved them right on the edge of the driveway. Goodluck this season!

Kyler,

[Purple Auburndale]

Hi Steve. I see that you used to have martin houses in Florida. I just started trying to start a martin colony in central Florida with two houses. No signs of any lookers. Are gourds better attracters than houses when getting started. My houses are set in an open area away from trees. But no Martins passing through.

Good success with your established colonies.

[Steve Kroenke]

Purple Auburndale,

When I lived in the Tallahassee, Florida and surrounding areas including Havana and Wacissa, I used both gourds and houses. I had the best luck relative to martin occupancy levels in gourds though my houses still attracted martins. Gourds tend to provide martins with more territorial privacy and help reduce nest domination behavior by aggressive male martins which may try to control multiple cavities. I used many natural gourds, Super Gourds and mainly Trio aluminum houses in Florida.

You may want to consider a small gourd rack to add to your colony site just to give the martins some variety. The PMCA offers a great starter kit. Depending on the type of houses/poles you have, you may be able to add several gourds to the underside of the houses. But good quality plastic gourds like the Excluder, Troyer, and Super Gourd tend to be heavier than naturals so your houses/poles would need to be able to support the weight. Here is a link to a good starter unit: https://www.purplemartin.org/shop/produ ... er-gourds/

Be sure to add some kind of predator guard to the poles as Florida has a LARGE rat snake population and rat snakes can destroy a martin colony. My yards were INFESTED with gray rat snakes and corn snakes all of which can climb unprotected martin poles. The PMCA offers a good cylinder type guard for snakes and raccoons and you might also want to add some bird netting above that guard as an additional barrier.

You still have time to attract breeding martins to your colony site in central Florida. The SY martins are probably already in your area and they often colonize new sites.

Good luck and please keep us posted on how things are going!

Steve

[Purple Auburndale]

Steve, thanks for taking the time to reply to my inquiry and the helpful advice.

I will likely add a separate pole with gourds. Would the natural be cooler for s nesting martin family here in central Florida over a plastic? I realize that the natural will need replacement sooner. But if it adds comfort to a nesting family, willing to do so.

Thanks again.

[Steve Kroenke]

Purple Auburndale,

I am glad my advice was helpful.

I have used many natural gourds in the past but no longer do so. Just too much maintenance! But I will always like the naturals and started using them way back in the mid 60s at my boyhood martin colonies in Florida.

There are some great plastic gourds that are probably just as good as naturals and can be vented. I like the Troyer Horizontals and it is easy to drill two 3/8 inch holes under the "vent" canopies at the upper back of the gourd. The Excluder and Super Gourd can be vented with PVC elbows in the upper neck. And the Troyer Vertical has four canopies in the upper neck where you can drill vent holes. So I believe good quality plastic gourds like I mentioned above are excellent alternatives to natural gourds. In fact, I replaced all my naturals back in 2010 with plastic gourds and the martins completely accepted the change and have done well in them. My vented plastic gourds seem to "handle" heat/humidity just as well as my old naturals.

I believe it is a good plan to add a separate pole for gourds.

Please keep us posted on how things go with your martin colony. Good luck!

Steve

[birdman1969]

wow that is a brilliant site! your martins must absolutely swoon over you : ) can you comment where you get that netting?

[Steve Kroenke]

Hey Birdman,

Thank you for that nice comment! I hope the martins like me as I try to take good care of them!

I ordered some of my bird netting through the Amazonsmile program where the PMCA gets a small donation from my purchase; Amazon has various bird netting packages. I have also bought bird netting from Walmart, garden centers, and home improvement stores like Lowes and Home Depot.

Steve

[tor]

Steve,

Didn't you use to have the snake netting underneath the winch? Wonder how this works out when lowering the racks. Normally I put mine below the winches about a foot and a half off the ground, so the trab don't interfere with taking the racks down.

[Steve Kroenke]

Hey Tor,

I have used bird netting below and above the winch depending on high the winch is located on the pole. Most of my winches are lower down so I place the netting above the winch. Sometimes the netting does interfere with the winch handle but I just hold the netting up as I raise/lower a system. The netting does not impact the cable going through the netting.

When I lower a system, I sometimes use a short step ladder to reach the uppermost gourds on a rack. The netting does prevent me from lowering a rack all the way down to the winch. But this is not an issue for me.

On a few occasions I have placed a net trap at the bottom of the pole and on the ground. This will catch rat snakes, too.

Steve

[tor]

Hey Tor,

I have used bird netting below and above the winch depending on high the winch is located on the pole. Most of my winches are lower down so I place the netting above the winch. Sometimes the netting does interfere with the winch handle but I just hold the netting up as I raise/lower a system. The netting does not impact the cable going through the netting.

When I lower a system, I sometimes use a short step ladder to reach the uppermost gourds on a rack. The netting does prevent me from lowering a rack all the way down to the winch. But this is not an issue for me.

On a few occasions I have placed a net trap at the bottom of the pole and on the ground. This will catch rat snakes, too.

Steve

Yeah I figured you'd have to use a stepladder . I might try to do that next year. (net above winch)

[Foxie]

Beautiful on the set up and organization demonstrates effort, work and pride for accomplishment etc. Hope some of those Saints come our way
North to Buckeye Country. We will give them our Best. Admire your set up on the rack cross bars etc. Would you care to offer some info on
what you created. Currently have a Gourd Rack up and the arms are from cedar as per PM Plan on the set up with 2 inch pipe and pvc holding
the arms as per plans obtained from PM. Org. Working to remove the set up and replace with metal slide holder with metal cross arms etc.
Any info would be welcomed or drawings etc. Thanks.

[Steve Kroenke]

Hey Foxie,

Thank you for those kind comments! Having a large super martin colony is a lot of work but many martins are fledged each season and these often go to other colonies and even start new ones.

All my gourd racks are commercial ones. I wish I had the skills to build such well designed gourd racks! The PMCA has a variety of excellent gourd racks and I have used these before. You can check their online store. I have other gourd racks but we can't on the Forum provide links to other businesses or other contact information.

Here are links to the PMCA's online store:

https://www.purplemartin.org/shop/196/d ... urd-racks/

https://www.purplemartin.org/shop/197/o ... urd-racks/

I hope you have a great martin season!

Steve