Making a new PM house more inviting - odors?

[Birdguy / OH]

Birds do not produce or respond to pheromones. However, it is proven that they use visual and olfactory cues to home in on a nest/roost area.

As a new landlord trying to attract PM's I use pine needles and a bit of mud here and there to increase the visual attractiveness of some of the compartments on my house. But what if we could take some actual nesting material from last years activity complete with dust, dirt, droppings and sprinkle that into the rooms of our new houses to see if that makes it even more attractive to new martins?

Anyone try this? Anyone care to try it? I would think anything that makes it smell like a welcoming home to our feathered guests might be worth a try!

[C.C.Martins]

Intersting topic! I believe in all the visuals, i thinknwe should try to make a prospective home "homey" and like you have left mud on porches to look used. Smells i dont know enough about but read a thread from louise chambers about paint and it smell bothering martins. She said they readily accepted freshly painted houses to the point they were getting paint on their wings! Smell didnt bother them. They are a very visual bird and this would be an interesting discussion by those long in the business.
Good one
Tom

[Dave Duit]

Hi BirdGuy,
Interesting idea. The one thing that I would be aware of is possible mites left over in last years nesting material. Mite will stay dormant until martin arrive back in the spring. As soon as the scouts enter the cavity their body warmth triggers the mites to jump back on to their newly arrived host. Unless you can determine if the old nest materials have mites or not, I personally would stay on the side of caution. But, I completely understand your desire to try anything that may attract a new colony.

[paule]

Hey Birdguy,
I tried this back in the day. A pinch of Sevin and installed complete old nest into several cavities. I had a friend do the very same thing last year. I can still remember his call that morning describing how disgusting it was! Last year he got more visitors but no nesting. Hope this year he is successful.

Scientifically I can not say if this was or was not the reason for my success. I can say it did not hurt. All I know is wannabe martin landlords will sometimes try anything for a chance of attracting these wonderful creatures.
Good Luck
Paul

[kim w.]

If I recall most birds can not smell. There are a few exceptions.

[mwren]

Birdguy,
My first thought about "re-using" last seasons nesting material aligns with Dave's concerns about mites. I was recently doing some "late" cleaning of gourds from one of my racks. I came across some sign of Blow flys. As I looked closer, I actually found some flys that were still alive in a couple of nests! It is mid-winter here in Ohio, and I was very surprised to find any insects still alive. Fortunately, I have an orionthologist and and entimologist from Ohio University who have been doing some very interesting research focusing on parasites that feed on our birds the past few seasons. I collected the flys and the remains of the nest material and dropped them off at the lab on campus to get a positive I.D. on the insects. Sure enough....I had found both Bot flys and Blow flys still alive in January.
After this experience, I would think twice about using nesting material from a previous year. These birds are amazing as we all realize, and they might be able to overcome this head start the insects might gain, but why help the bugs?!
Some of the research that is being done in my colony and on my bluebird trails, concerns how these insects locate and choose the nests that they will use for their egg laying. Very intersting to say the least.
I plan to continue to use white pine needles in my martin nesting cavities to give them the "look" of a somewhat "used" nest that it seems birds like the look of.
Good luck this spring!
"Bird"

[Dave Duit]

Hi Mike,
Good insight. On a side note, did you get the presentation memory stick in your mail ? I mailed it on Wednesday.

[mwren]

Dave,
I should get the mem stick today if you mailed it Wed. Will be watching for it. You should be getting an envelope from me also. Thanks again for your help.

Bird

[Dave Duit]

Hi Mike,
If not today, maybe tomorrow arrival. Thanks.
Duit

[Birdguy / OH]

Good points! We definitely want to imprint a potential martin nester on a new nest site and not spread global plague and start a bot fly invasion.

There is a very real possibility to spread pests and parasites that part would definitely have to be ironed out. I'm not thinking of sharing nesting material - leaves and pine needles. More grinding up the dried mud and dust droppings and certainly any pests that are residing inside. Making it a fine dust? Mix with water and paint onto the walls of the nesting area? Before using maybe the raw material could be microwaved or frozen or in a bag purged with inert nitrogen? Just thinking out loud...

If anyone in SW Ohio would like to donate some healthy (non-blowfly infested nesting) material from last year I'd gladly like to try it out!

[C.C.Martins]

Birdguy, Nitrogen? freezing or cooking poop? Too much work but I do admire the outside the box thinking! Id leave any of the old nesting material, dust or whatever in the trash; a bug bloom is terrible for the birds and their health...and you if you ever stick your hands in it.

keep it simple, use a good clay like mud that paints well, smear it around the opening and leave it at that. Put some PM decoys up. Good fresh nesting material, you may have to change it out anyway. First year I put too much mud in the interior and the females would bring clumps out and drop them.

I took a look at the picture of your house you have, if its the same one looks good...just have to watch the round holes like a hawk for starlings. Your yard looks pretty good, wide open...may think about the PMCA 4 pack excluder gourds? with crescents...if you want to overload their senses go with different housing to offer as well.
Just some thoughts, my birds always go for the house first. Then they head to the gourds and settle there.

[Birdguy / OH]

Thanks for the tips! I have a new PM friendly house that replaced the old home built foam one. The foam ended up looking like swiss cheese with all the pellet holes. To attract I use Dawnsong, a small amount of mud and pine needles and two slightly "Owl worn" decoys sitting atop. I like your idea on the gourds and may give it a try this year. Enjoy CC - I spent a summer there fishing from your beaches (or trying to at least).

[C.C.Martins]

Sounds like a winner and you are welcome, you are on track, in my humble opinion gourds are the best way to go. Easy to maintain and the birds are more comfortable. Long story: I have a heath house that is not recognisable any more, added two types of tunnels with crescents and wing entrapment protectors, expanded the compartments on each level, painted the interior black. took a short length of light PVC 4 inches wide, cut a hole to fit in the nest cavity area and put a PMCA cap on it so i can do nest checks/changes. Vented the cap with louvered vents. Made it so i can remove the lid at end of season to clean and insulated the cavities, and vented the lid...oh yeah there are .5 inch elbow vents in the back of each compartment. Made the whole thing water resistant. All that was very fun to do, took forever but i filled it last year with birds...BUT its not going back up next year. As a good friend and mentor of mine said...lipstick on a pig, its still a pig. The birds like it but way too many working parts.
We do what we can to improve and afford but sometimes the best solution is the simplest. Im going straight gourds.
Fishing is world class here!