Direction of Openings?

[BrianV]

Hello - I've recently put up my first martin house in Northern Illinois (McHenry County) and opened it for business yesterday. I haven't seen any martins yet, but hopefully some will arrive. Anyway, the doors - openings - holes - whatever they are called currently face the north and south. Is that correct? There is plenty of room on all sides of the house, so could have the openings point east and west if that is better. What do you think? Thank you

[-=DKC=-]

Hello - I've recently put up my first martin house in Northern Illinois (McHenry County) and opened it for business yesterday. I haven't seen any martins yet, but hopefully some will arrive. Anyway, the doors - openings - holes - whatever they are called currently face the north and south. Is that correct? There is plenty of room on all sides of the house, so could have the openings point east and west if that is better. What do you think? Thank you

I have a gourd rack so my openings face all 4 directions. They like them all.

You might consider orienting the openings so you can best monitor them for problems and so you can best see them to enjoy your birds.

[Whippy]

Brian,

I have a gourd rack with gourds facing all directions. I have 16 gourds. The two that are currently occupied face to the West. The only thing I can attribute this to is the fact that there is a long run way for them to leave the gourd. They like to swoop down and pick up speed as they depart their gourd. The other gourds facing that same direction do get a lot of visitors but have not been occupied yet. Although I do get visitors on all other gourds these 8 that favor that West direction get the most attention.

Thinking of wind direction perhaps have the opening facing east and west might shield them from any cold north winds in the early part of the season. But, then again, I've been doing this for only 3 years and by no means an expert. Hopefully more experienced landlords will respond as I am also interested in what the responses will be.

Coolwhips

[MaryanneKaht IL]

We are in northern IL McHenry county, howdy neighbor! In our experience direction of opening doesn't much matter, but too close to trees does...Some uninformed people insist because it's a bird, housing needs to be near a tree!

[-=DKC=-]

Whippy and MaryanneKahtIL raise good points. Probably the most important consideration is open flyways.

[BillieJR]

Welcome to the group, BrianV! Good luck with your season! I hope you are successful!

[BrianV]

We are in northern IL McHenry county, howdy neighbor! In our experience direction of opening doesn't much matter, but too close to trees does...Some uninformed people insist because it's a bird, housing needs to be near a tree!

Thank you. Have your martins returned? I haven't seen any this year yet, and there were plenty around last year.

[Dave Reynolds]

Open Flyways,,,, Open Flyways..... Open Flyways.....

Dave

[flyin-lowe]

Assuming there are open flyways in all directions I would take two other things into consideration. The most typical wind direction, and your view of the houses. At a new site I only start opening the cavities that I can see from my house, so if I get only a pair or two I can keep an eye on them. Once you get more pair and start to fill up that won't matter as much. In my area "most" storms come with the wind blowing to the east. So when I had a house with only two sides I face it north and south so if we had blowing rain there was less chance it would get wet inside.

[MaryanneKaht IL]

Our first ASY birds showed up on April 13 this year in spite of the terrible weather. We have not seen sub-adults yet. Last year we saw the first SY birds the end of May...Good luck!

[John & Linda - KY]

If a martin wants to nest in one of your compartments it won't make any difference which way the entrance faces. So I aim most of the entrances toward our covered patio that's about 20 ft. away and enjoy watching the activity, especially when they're feeding and fledging. -- John