Opinions on Purple Martin House

[Oceangirl]

Hello everyone! I am new to the forum, but not new to loving purple martins! In our first home, my husband built a purple martin home and we enjoyed seeing these wonderful birds nest in their home and have many babies. We moved several times since then and have decided to have a purple martin home in our current home. I wanted to share pics of our new home! We are waiting on our HOA to approve putting it up in our yard.

However, I do have a question. We thought it would be attractive to stencil in pictures of purple martins (the black martins are not permanently on the house yet - those are just cutouts). Do you think this would scare the purple martins away? I've seen these on several martin homes you can purchase.

Any opinions would be appreciated!

[Whippy]

Great craftsmanship. Well done.

I don't think the martins will mind the addition of the stencils.

I am curious as photos don't lend much for size accuracy. Is that a four room house or just two rooms with large cavities?

Coolwhips

[Oceangirl]

Thanks for the compliments on the construction! My husband made it all from leftover wood he had in the attic with a few parts we had to purchase from Home Depot (around $25). Although we haven't purchased the pole yet - we won't do that until it's approved by the HOA. I guess we still have a little time before the subadult scouts show up. I thought the stencils looked cute on the PM houses you could purchase online; I think we will go ahead with them!

It was meant to be 6" x 6" with 4 compartments, but after it was all finished, it was slightly under that measurement.

[Spiderman]

It will be fine with the stencils and the 6”x 6” nest boxes are okay. Martins houses are typically white so the Martins will see them from the sky.

If he builds a 2nd one 6”x9” is better. Martins will use it either way it just affects the number of eggs the Martins will lay and brood size that will fledge.

That is why most of us have gone to gourds over time to produce more fledglings and build a larger colony.

Good luck with your new location!

[Phil01]

Welcome to the forum! Lots of great information here and very experienced landlords!
That is a very nice looking house, great work. I agree with all above. The stencils won’t affect the Martins.
Larger compartments are always better/safer but 6x6 will be ok. It can get crowded in the smaller compartments with 2 parents and the hatchlings, especially as they get older.
Also, are you able to open the house up for nest checks?

Again, welcome to the forum and good luck this season.
Phil

[Dave Reynolds]

,, What a great idea,,, I don’t think the Martins will be bothered by the decals or the painting,

Dave

[Oceangirl]

It will be fine with the stencils and the 6”x 6” nest boxes are okay. Martins houses are typically white so the Martins will see them from the sky.

If he builds a 2nd one 6”x9” is better. Martins will use it either way it just affects the number of eggs the Martins will lay and brood size that will fledge.

That is why most of us have gone to gourds over time to produce more fledglings and build a larger colony.

Good luck with your new location!

When it was built (without the separators on the inside), I asked him about making just two compartments since they were slightly under the 6"x6" size, but four entry holes had already been put in the home. If we are happy with the turnout this year, we may eventually go to gourds.

[Oceangirl]

Welcome to the forum! Lots of great information here and very experienced landlords!
That is a very nice looking house, great work. I agree with all above. The stencils won’t affect the Martins.
Larger compartments are always better/safer but 6x6 will be ok. It can get crowded in the smaller compartments with 2 parents and the hatchlings, especially as they get older.
Also, are you able to open the house up for nest checks?

Again, welcome to the forum and good luck this season.
Phil

Thanks, Phil! Glad to be here and just so impressed with all the purple martin landlords - they have been so successful year after year. We like the stencils, so I am happy that there is a consensus that they won't bother the sweet birds. Hubby appreciates all the compliments on the house. He's quite talented and I'm very proud of him. I was wondering how parents and the hatchlings would fit in such a small space, but I think we read somewhere before building the home that it would be a satisfactory size. We have a pet bird (blue crown conure) and it's amazing how much of their visible bulk is feathers! Their little bodies are tiny.

We can't open the house for nest checks. He would have to take it apart and build some doors. I remember with our first home many years ago, we didn't have that capability either. We just took it down at the end of the season.

I'm hoping we attract some purple martins this year. I know we have neighbors that have martin homes. Maybe some of their grown babies are looking for a new roost!

[Phil01]

You’re welcome Ma’m! Yes your husband is very talented, nice work in the house for sure. There are a lot of experienced landlords on here that will answer any questions you may have.

Very cool you have a Blue Crown Conure. We have two parrots also. A Blue Eyes Triton Cockatoo and an Indian Ringneck. Parrots are extremely intelligent. They say the same as a young child and I believe it. Both ours are flighted, recall and target trained and can do many different tricks. We spend a lot of time with them.

My two cents for what it’s worth is… Being able to raise and lower the housing and open the house for nest checks is very important and will help you discover any potential problems early. The way I look at it is… I put up housing and invited them into my backyard. I should do the best I can to try and help them be successful and safe. Unlike other wild birds they rely totally on man made housing to survive.

If you have neighbors that had successful Martin fledglings last year there is a good chance they will return (if they survive the flight) as SY birds, looking for a new nesting site. The majority don’t nest too terribly far from where they were born if possible, but some do.

Good luck this season,
Phil

[flyin-lowe]

Two compartments isn't much but I would go with 2 larger compartments over 4 that are 6x6. Some feel it is alright as some of the manufacturers use that size. The problem is the average length of a purple martin is 7.5 inches. It would be uncomfortable for 1 martin in a 6 inch cavity, not to mention 5 or 6 once they reach fledge age. Even if you don't consider the comfort of the martins there are safety issues as well. One reason many new houses are around 12 inches deep is it allows martins to nest in the back and keeps some of the predators from being able to reach in and grab them. If it were me for this house I would close off one side, and make a hole in the center partition so the martins can use the full width of the house. Then if you decide to build more you can go bigger from the start. I know that not the answer you want to hear...

[SSMartin]

6x6 compartments they’ll lay less eggs generally. The birds know their space is limited. I have one of those heath 6” gourds with a round hole I hang every year. I have never had any birds nest in it or even look in it. I figure maybe a single sy male could roost in it since it gets crowded here in March but no takers yet.

I really like the house but maybe modifying it in the future will make it more attractive to the martins as well yield larger broods of chicks by making the cavities deeper. All in all it’s better then not providing any housing and the crescent openings is a great idea as well to discourage starlings. If you can hang some larger diameter gourds below it I think it’ll help but not sure how HOA will like gourds since they don’t increase property values.

[Oceangirl]

Thanks so much for your replies, Phil01, flyin-lowe and SS Martin!!!! After going over all your responses with hubby, he may modify the house some. We finally got approval from our HOA!

We'll post revised pics when it's finished.

Phil01 - totally agree on parrots' intelligence. We've had our blue-crowned conure since 2000. We got him when he was just a baby. He has a huge vocabulary (most of it learned during the first two years of his life). What is so amazing, is what he says makes complete sense (not just rambling). He also laughs and coughs like me and clucks like a chicken - lol. He is fully flighted, as well, but does not fly much anymore.