2nd year noobie needs an opinion please

[Prison police]

Last year was my first year trying to attract PMs and with 1 visitor for about 10 minutes then gone. My question is this. Do I get the dawn CD or the song bird box ? I'm in central Ohio and need to get one real soon by the looks of the arrival map. Thank you in advance. Chad

[pmlover]

it depends on your location
i never used a dawn song but i had a perfect location
the main thing is to keep out the sparrows and starling s
ive killed 25 starlings and 5 sparrows this month.
What is your set up i wish you luck and i will be willing to help u in any way i can
Dick Morrow

[Prison police]

Dick, Thank you for your info and offer. I have the S&K red Barn and just added this year 4 gourds under it. I also have a older metal house that's in really great shape (this is the one the visitor checked last year.). They are both located at the back of my property with open fly ways next to a farm field. Closes tree to the barn/and gourds is approximately 50 yds away. I'm in the middle of 3 landlords with the closest about 1 mile away ( actually across from the farm field I mentioned) There is several other landlords about 5 miles away also.Believe it or not, I had 1 starling and 1 pair of sparrows bother me and I took them out. At this time, my units are let down and waiting. Thanks again

[deancamp]

I would if it were me. I used the bird magnet because it was easy to set up by my housing, but the dawn song CD sounds much better. Either one will definitely pull them in to investigate your housing if they're in the area.
Jeff

[Prison police]

Thanks Jeff. The box would be easier for me but I'm trying to justify the cost difference between the two. Time I buy a CD and a good timer , I just don't know. I like how the box shuts off when needed also. Does run off electric or battery ?

[deancamp]

It runs off of electricity. The bird magnet, decoys and prenested gourds is what I believe got my first birds.
Jeff

[Prison police]

Jeff, I have everything but the box and or CD. Fingers crossed. Thanks again.

[deancamp]

I'm pulling for ya!
Jeff

[jhcox]

Hey I have the S&K red barn I painted the entire thing white double the compartments and closed off the upper attic area to allow it to be cooler. So went from a 12 room barn to a double size compartments and only six rooms. But what I did and I’m sure yours is the same with the telescoping three sided pole was open the roof and place the Bird Magnet In the attic area with this speaker going out of one of the Crescent entrances. And blocked all of the other attic entrances with caps. Ran the wire down the pole zip tied it to the little keys that go in the holes to keep the telescopic pole up and then ran it to an extension cord which went to a timer that was plugged into the side of the house. I have another bird magnet in the eve of a dormer on the front of my house which is 20 feet high then links up to the same timer so they go off together. The one in the S&K is safe secure and in the dryer about 15 feet up in the air to attract the Martin’s to the house. JHCox Heiskell TN I really hope this helps you out somehow don’t for get a couple decoys too. Good luck happy Martin season all.

[jhcox]

Hey I have the S&K red barn I painted the entire thing white double the compartments and closed off the upper attic area to allow it to be cooler. So went from a 12 room barn to a double size compartments and only six rooms. But what I did and I’m sure yours is the same with the telescoping three sided pole was open the roof and place the Bird Magnet In the attic area with this speaker going out of one of the Crescent entrances. And blocked all of the other attic entrances with caps. Ran the wire down the pole zip tied it to the little keys that go in the holes to keep the telescopic pole up and then ran it to an extension cord which went to a timer that was plugged into the side of the house. I have another bird magnet in the eve of a dormer on the front of my house which is 20 feet high then links up to the same timer so they go off together. The one in the S&K is safe secure and in the dryer about 15 feet up in the air to attract the Martin’s to the house. JHCox Heiskell TN I really hope this helps you out somehow don’t for get a couple decoys too. Good luck happy Martin season all.

[TNMartins]

Chad,

I finally got my first pair last year - I also have the S&K barn and six B09 gourds under it on an S&K rack. Here a couple observations from last year:

- The martins went straight for the gourd. The rarely / never looked at the barn - I expanded the cavities in the barn (6 cavities total). I set a piece of thin bamboo across the 2 'antennas' - attached with a couple tie wraps as a perch. The bamboo perch sticks out about 2 feet past the barn on each side. The Martins did use this perch quite a bit, but also spent a lot of time under the barn on the arms of the gourd rack (protected there?).

- I added porches on 3 of the gourds ... after the Martins moved in. The Male hardly noticed it was there. The female took a bit to warm up to it, but it didn't take long. the gourd they picked was the one pointed at our house / driveway area where we park our cars. Are they most comfortable where they can see activity / humans / pets / protected from predators?

- I painted the barn solid white - roof and all. Put a handful of pine straw in each cavity. I got a bale at Home Depot.

- Most important I think - the placement of the housing. You mentioned there was 50 yards between two of your setups. I originally had my barn (no gourds) in the middle of a large part of our yard maybe 150'+ away from our house, but never had any luck (3 years). The year before we visited Ethridge, TN - where there is a very large Amish community - We went specifically to see Martins since I'd never actually seen a Purple Martin before. I was shocked at how close their housing was to people / buildings. In some cases the Martin houses were literally 10 feet away from a workshop door / house etc. The Martins totally ignored people / dogs / etc all right below them. In one case we spotted a rack with 96 gourds that was completely full - positioned just to the side of a busy furniture shop / barn on a farm. (192 birds - it was awesome) When I got home, I moved my pole *way* closer to our house. It's now about 40 feet from our front porch, and the pair we had last year chose the gourd that faces the corner of our house. Point of all this - Don't be afraid to place your housing close to human housing / human activity as long as you have a good flyway. We're in a neighborhood, and have trees on 2 sides and on the 3rd side our 2-story house. None of the trees are taller than the distance away from the housing (which I've read as a good rule elsewhere).

- I played dawn song from a computer speaker in a 2nd story window - pointed at the housing. 2 days later I saw Martins overhead and 5 days later I saw an ASY pair go into a gourd. That was April 29 (In Middle Tennessee). So you still have time.

- In the evenings the Martins seemed to show up about 6 minutes after sunset each evening. I had to watch close because they'll fly straight into the gourd and you won't even know they're there.


I'm still a newbie - and keeping my fingers crossed for this year. (24 cavities this year) But hopefully this might help you get going.

[Prison police]

Jhcox, that's a great idea. Thank you. TN Martin, that makes me even more excited after reading your post. . My S&K set up is just like yours with the gourds and rack and telescopic pole and house. ( Still red ). Mine is not converted but I'm taking baby steps. My PM set ups are about 45/50 yds from my house and about 20/25 yds apart from each other. Just don't know which to buy. The CD or magnetic song box. Anyways. Thank you for your post. Enjoy them PMs !

[jhcox]

I agree with TN Martin I would move them closer to your home where they feel safer around human activity. This is my fifth year I have four Set up’s three poles with a gourd each on them and the SNK house. The pair I had last year picked the gourd closest to the house which was only about 30 feet away from the corner of the house closest to our back porch where I would sit and watch them and they seem to be more relaxed and comfortable when I was outside or my dog was outside they never seem to be very skittish of us. My pair have not returned yet this year I haven’t even seen this a single Martin yet this year. I’m afraid my first pair from last year may have not made the migration back. So like I said I’m still a newbie myself but I do notice that they like to be close as they can to humans for security. JHCox Heiskell TN good luck. PS if you ever have an opportunity to go to Rainsville Alabama my understanding is it still the largest purple Martin colony in the world that I know of I’ve been there twice and talk to the owner he has I believe near 2000 gourds. It’s a sight to see all those purple martins flying around and screaming across his pond that darting in and out of all those gourds.

[jhcox]

I apologize that’s supposed to be 8 gourds on each rack and the S&K house so 30 cavities total. I have 4 more racks and almost 70 more gourds to Expand if I ever get a colony started. If I can get the 30 full I’ll put the others up as the colony increases for a total of i think 100 cavities. JHCox Heiskell TN

[flyin-lowe]

I used a CD player alarm clock from Wal Martfor several years. It had 2 alarms and the CD was around 70 minutes so I set the first alarm for 4:30, then the second for 5:45. Then as I was leaving for work I would hit the play button one more time. That was easier for me then running a speaker from a computer or some other type of timer. The player set outside against the house inside of a trash bag. I would get a lot of years out of them doing it that way.