Apparently I live near a colony! Got some questions...

[Jangles]

I've got questions for you experienced landlords. But first, let me explain what's going on.

So I was walking around my neighborhood with my wife yesterday and saw TONS of Purple Martins swarming in the sky. We detoured to see what was going on. Well, it turns out I have a neighbor who lives probably about a quarter mile away (by way of crow flight, not by road) with an established colony! He had at least two houses, looked like maybe trio pioneers or something of the sort, but he may have had more. They all had gourds. This makes so much sense now! Let me explain what I mean here.

I'm a newbie. This is my first year. Built a custom T-14 in winter and engineered a winch pole. I've got the whole setup and it's set to the right specifications (owl guards, SREHs, 18 feet high, 25+ feet from home, etc...). Well, I started playing the daytime chatter right before we were getting reports of SY birds coming back to the US (I'm in Houston TX). Anyway, at the very beginning, like the first week, I would get swarms of ASY male visitors. It was very curious. I was wondering where the heck they were coming from. It was as if every time I turned on the daytime chatter, they'd come almost immediately. I was thinking "Are they in the trees nearby just hanging out?" But I knew that couldn't be so. Martins don't live in trees. Well, they'd come by for an hour or so and circle my T-14. Many of them would come in for a landing, then back off at the last second. Lots of action, but no takers. it was very frustrating. After a week, this stopped. I don't get any activity anymore, and I play the dawn song from 4-6AM and daytime chatter from 6:30-noon. Haven't seen a Martin in weeks.

So now that I've learned someone already has a colony around me, I'm wondering if they were checking me out when I first played the music at the beginning to see who was nearby. And now, they know it's nobody, so they don't bother anymore.

What does this do for my chances of establishing a colony? I was thinking of all the scenarios. Am I hoping that he will hit capacity soon? I assume until then, his colony is far too appealing for me to get any wanderers, right? What if he hit capacity last year and added another house this year. I'm screwed, right? He'll never hit capacity, and I don't have a snowflakes chance in hell!

Any suggestions of general commentary on my situation is much appreciated!

On a side note, if you are this person with a colony in the Summerwood neighborhood near Atascocita TX and read this post, please let me know! I would love to pick your brain!

[Dave Duit]

First of all, I want to thank you for putting up housing that meets all the good requirement. You sound like a very responsible future landlord. The ASY martins have extremely strong "site fidelity", which means they are already established at a nearby colony and will return to that colony year after year. They will not leave their colony unless there were serious problems the year before, such as continuous predator attacks from owls, hawks, poor control of sparrows and starling that took over the housing or serious bird mite infestation. The only way you would attract ASY martins would be because of these reasons listed, unlikely event. But, the good news is that you could attract a new colony from SY martins born last season. It may take years to attract your first year, so hang with it and you will eventually get a colony started. Make sure you have an open fly zone to and from your martin houses. 40 feet from the nearest tall tree and within 100 feet of your residence. Perch rods and wires are also a good attractor. Try smearing a little mud on the outside of the entrances, it will appear to the new martins that there was a successful nest the year before. Continue the daytime chatter and dawnsong. Set out some crushed egg shell on a nearby raised platform feeder. I hope this insight helps.

[Emil Pampell-Tx]

Your chances of getting martins depends on several factors:
1) How near to the housing are trees, how many trees, or do you have a wide open place for your setup. A wide open area is the best, a lot of nearby trees is the worst condition, the martins are afraid of hawks if trees are nearby. When martins are looking for a different site, they will usually choose the most wide open sites. You may need to remove some trees!
2) You will not get any martins until they are looking for a different site. There are many reasons for a martin to leave an established sit. A few are was their housing removed, tree encroachment, snakes, owls, hawks, plus many more.
3) Abundance of martins, you should be in great shape here. Your area has many martins
4) Are the cavities 6x6, or maybe 6in x 12in. The larger cavities are preferred
5) Sparrows and starlings will prevent the martins from staying,,,get rid of them by trapping or shooting

It may increase your chances if you have nearby martin colonies, that is much better than being miles away from a colony.

Best of luck to you

[BigT]

I always tell newbies to consider the function of a Martin House to be like an Aircraft Carrier and not a Heli-pad. As they leave their compartments they loose a little altitude before accelerating to altitude. They need room to do this. Good Luck!

[Luv Ya Purple]

What does this do for my chances of establishing a colony? I was thinking of all the scenarios. Am I hoping that he will hit capacity soon? I assume until then, his colony is far too appealing for me to get any wanderers, right? What if he hit capacity last year and added another house this year. I'm screwed, right? He'll never hit capacity, and I don't have a snowflakes chance in hell!

Any suggestions of general commentary on my situation is much appreciated!

On a side note, if you are this person with a colony in the Summerwood neighborhood near Atascocita TX and read this post, please let me know! I would love to pick your brain!

I thinks it's a good thing to have a neighbor so close with nesting martins. I am about 3/4 a mile from a colony and it took me 4 years to get my first pair. Some people get martins the first year other people it takes many years. You do have a chance.

[Courtney-NC]

I was in the same boat as you for several years. It took me 9 years to get a pair to stay at my home site (I manage an active public colony as well). I am firmly convinced that the only reason I got that first pair (last year) was because that landlord didn't put all of his gourds back up that year. He withheld 4 (said they were in bad shape), and the extra incoming martins had nowhere to go, so I got an ASY male and a SY female last year. Two words: forced dispersal!
I am up to 3 pairs right now with more visiting. My point is, hang in there! The other landlord's site will eventually get full, and those SYs (or even late-arriving ASYs) will need somewhere to go. They have seen your site and know where it is! If your site meets the space requirements outlined by previous replies, you'll get some eventually!

[Jangles]

This is great information and help. Thank you all!

I knocked on this guys door the other day to ask him about his setup. His father-in-law put up the houses 9 years ago (there are 3 of them). They are a bit rickety and not particularly well taken care of. He takes them down once a year and cleans them out. Other than that, he's a "let nature happen" kind of guy. All of his gourds are missing porches, but clearly the Martins still come there.

Dave Duit, I'm going to give your idea of mud on the balcony a shot. As for the open fly zones, this is something I think my PM house is very on-the-fence with. I don't have a huge back yard, and I did everything in my power to get the pole 25' away from my home, but that's as far as I could possibly get it without installing it on top of the fence. But I did put it in the corner of my yard and it is 18' high, so they've got plenty of open space if they fly straight forward. I'll take pictures and post soon, would love to hear some comments, but like I said, there are no better options at my house.

Emil Pampell-Tx, the trees are ideal where I live. None are too tall. I think the Martins will like it. And yes, the cavities are 6x12. I built the T-14 from Chuck's Purple Martin Page. Thought that was a nice build.

Big T and Luv Ya Purple, duly noted. Thanks for the info.

Courtney-NC, that's great information. How far was the active colony from you? Same, about a quarter mile? Fortunately, since I now know he hasn't added new housing in 9 years, he should be full soon, right? I'll go put out the "Vacancy" and "All utilities paid" signs.