Purple Martin and Blue Birds

[JHunter]

First post, apologize if this question has been posted before. I seem to have Blue Birds trying to nest in my PM house with PM present. Should I be concerned?

[C.C.Martins]

Welcome! You may get mixed responses about the blue birds, if you can do what Bob suggested and put up a house if possible 100 feet away, thats their territory limit. Dont want to molest them but when the season heats up their tempers may flare. Put up an acceptable blue bird house then think about plugging the cavity for a bit. I dont have much experience with blue birds but did a quick search in the forum and those were some of the suggestions.
Good luck, keep us posted,
Tom

[flyin-lowe]

To clarify, do you have an active colony with returning Martin? If so the BBs don't typically harass them enough to cause an issue. If you have a new colony and are trying to get etablished then you will risk the BB's running visiting martins off.

[clivia98]

JHunter, welcome. I had that happen to me last year and so I put up a blue bird nest box (bought it at Walmart) and within 3 days the blue birds were investigating the house. They took to the nest box and had 3 broods. All chicks fledged, too. Today, I still have the blue bird house up and have a lovely pair visiting quite regularly while my martins are snuggled in their own little houses. Good luck!

Jerry

[JHunter]

Thanks for the input! 2018 was my first successful colony in about 5 years. I used to have the PM house in my back yard but 3 large trees had encroached on the PM house and one year the sparrows were horrible! So I'm nervous that the PM might not stay. I have put up a BB house in the back yard and it seems to be working as I have seen them going in and out of it. I'll keep ya updated!

Again thanks for the input!

[flyin-lowe]

How many pair did you have last year? Also you said in your first post that you had a PM present. Is it still around? If it is and appears to be a returnee from last year that will help. If you just had a visitor drop by and you haven't seen it since then that is different. If you have an ASY that has been there since last weekend I would let him sort it out. If you haven't seen any martins since last weekend and the BB is still using the house I would consider closing it up to get the BB to move on and then open it back up. It is a very thin line when dealing with BB's and TS at a new martin colony. You don't want to shut out martins but you don't want to leave the housing open for them to start nesting in either.

[Chris B]

I suggest getting some 1 1/2" hole "bluebird boxes", put them up where you can see them (I bet they could be on a post near the PM housing) and enjoy watching the Tree Swallows compete for the housing. I had 5 TS come in today as I was putting up PM gourds. The BBs have already been here all year. PMs are a little behind and I suspect a nearby PM scout report was a TS.

Season ON in N. Alabama.

[Badger]

I've read on this site about putting up bird houses near my Martin's. I put up 3 houses. This seems to work. I'll get a bluebird in 1, tree swallow in 1 and a sparrow in one. The 3 birds will live close together but will keep others of the same type away . Example a blue bird will not let another blue bird in its range area. Once they nest they should leave the Martin's house alone. It is worth a try.

[JHunter]

I had 3 pair last year. I did not do the weekly nest checks as I was afraid of lowering the house would scare them away. But after reading and watching some u tube videos I plan to do it this year. I don't think the PM stopped but did have about 6 PM flying over head this afternoon with a female landing and taking a peek inside. I checked the house Tuesday and did not see any nesting material in any of the rooms. The bb house I put up in the back yard as nesting material in it and the BB have been hanging around the house.

I'll keep an eye on the PM house and if the ones I saw today down't stop I'll block off a few rooms.

Thanks!