Newbie Here: Help me decide whether I have the yard for a Martin house

[WarmColors]

Greetings! I am intrigued by the purple martin and would very much enjoy housing them in my yard, but I'd like to make sure I have a very good chance of attracting them before I invest a grand into a setup and set a post in the ground.

I am located in New Hampshire and I am fairly rural and completely surrounded by mostly heavy forest in all directions. I have a decent sized field for a backyard that is basically an island in the woods. It's about 150 feet X 250 feet completely cleared. There are at least 2 ponds within 1500 feet and 2 large lakes less than a mile away, however all of this water is again, surrounded by deep woods. There are other homes nearby with cleared lots like mine scattered around and some open meadows and swamps throughout the woods. I have TONS of owls, ravens, and hawks too...

Here is a picture of the yard taken from the back of the house. The pole I drew is where I am leaning towards placing the housing, it is up against the back side (outside) of the garden fencing. It would have the 6ft fence posts and sunflowers growing ~6ft high pretty close to the base of the pole on one side but otherwise in an open area. Closest trees are about 65 feet away but as you can see they are very tall trees. This places the martin gourds about 150ft from the house, but in an area that I am around frequently all summer.

Second possible location is further out in the middle of the field marked with the red X. No fencing or tall sunflowers near the base, and again about 65 feet from the tree line, but further from the house (200 ft).


I have TONS of dragonflies, horseflies and honeybees all summer, and a million other flying beetles. I do not know of anyone else within a couple of miles of me with any martin housing but I have seen some within 20 miles of me that are in less forested areas.

Do I have a good chance of attracting them, or is the surrounding forest too much of a detractor?

Thanks!

[Cliffside_KSAT]

That's a beautiful plot of land you have! Yes, I think you could establish a colony site. Maybe not in the first season, though, but keep at it. Are there established colony sites in your area already? If so, your chances of success are even better!

The further north you are, the more discriminating purple martins are with their nesting site. However, there's some site location guidelines that generally hold true wherever you live.

1) Open areas, near ponds, lakes, etc. Sounds like you're all set there. Also, for a new colony site, consider cutting back the groundcover around the PM housing pole. The more cleared, the better.
2) Not many predators in the area. Owls, hawks, ravens, you say? Okay, you'll want to make sure whatever housing you provide has owl-guards and pole baffles. I imagine you have raccoons? Pole baffles will help...well...baffle them, too.
2A) Nest site competition: do you have any invasive birds like starlings or house sparrows? You'll be waging a constant battle against them. We all do. Mitigate starling problems by using starling resistant entry holes. Mitigate sparrows... well, foxes and raccoons have to eat too, right?
3) Needs good insulation up north. Consider wood housing, or if you're good with composites, maybe make custom fiberglass-reinforced foam gourds? Not sure if aluminum housing will work well for you, but there are ways to add insulation to aluminum houses.
4) Siting in your yard. I think this is the most critical factor. As a rule of thumb, use this formula to determine how far away the purple martin housing should be from a tree, human housing, etc:

(Height of object) + (Height of PM housing) = distance from object to place PM housing.

If you want to bend the rule a little, bend it in favor of bringing the PM housing closer to human habitation or structures.

Some other things that might help you succeed in your first season might be: Playing purple martin "dawnsong" (you're rural, so no neighbors to annoy). Put purple martin decoys on your housing (decent at attracting PMs, but fantastic for acting as bait for hawks and owls and allowing your PMs to escape).

Hope this helps, good luck, and welcome to the obsession!

[Unk Bond]

Hello
Very nice
How far from you
That some one else has a Martin colony [ Later

[WarmColors]

Thanks for the feedback! I really dont know where the closest PM colony is to me. I'm in southern/central NH and I know I have seen gourds near the coast about 20 miles from me (dont know if they being used), and I was at an ice cream stand about 10 miles from me this past summer and I saw 10-20 flying around the parking lot and field behind it. I'm pretty sure they were PMs they were definitely swallows, this was late summer and they were swooping around in groups and hopping around on the ground.

Also I definitely have sparrows and starlings but they will not be tolerated. They've already been harassing my bluebird houses.

[Hanover Bill]

That's a tough call. You have some things working for you, and some working against you. Removing the large pine on the right, and the tree in the forefront on the left would enhance your chances, but removing trees is a lot of work and there are no guarantees. Placing the pole in the center of your open area would also work to your advantage. On the positive side having the ponds, and lake nearby is a definite advantage.

When I started out I had no Martin colonies anywhere near my place, and the only source of water was a large reservoir a couple of miles away. I did have open ground in the form of a large field behind my house.

Patience is always the key when trying to attract Purple Martins, it took me 5 yrs to attract my first nesting pair, but a lot of people have waited a lot longer than that.

Best of Luck,
Hanover Bill.

[Doug Martin - PA]

Took me 28 years and I may have a more suitable location. The weather up in your area tends to kill off populations of Martins before they can really get going.

With that said anything is possible. I had a rough go of it but now with supplemental feeding folks in my area can get them in their first year of trying. Every unoccupied area needs a pioneer to get things going.
Perhaps if you change your name to Martin Boone it could happen.

Tree cutting, warm wooden housing and lots of loud dawnsong would be in order first. Then a prayer or two to boot. it helps if colonies are north of you as you may be able to attract migrating birds.

Then you have all predators to deal with if successful.

Doug

[WarmColors]

I've seen wooden housing mentioned a couple of times. I was planning on using SK and/or Troyer gourds with tunnels. Is that ok? I'm not in the north country/mountains of New Hampshire, I'm in the Southern half about 25 miles from the coast. I'm right on the border of zone 6a and 5b

That tall pine you see in the photo is a little further away from where the housing would be than the tree is tall. None of the larger trees would touch the housing if they were to fall directly at them, but they would probably come within 10-15 feet.

Also, I'm planning to get a 12 gourd rack if I end up trying. Is it ok to only start with 6 gourds until I have residents? Or is it more attractive to newcomers if I have a larger set up (all 12 gourds)?

Oh and one more silly question - do they poop a lot right around the housing? If I put the housing right up against the garden where I think I'd prefer it, am I going to have a lot of bird poop on my vegetables?

I know there are maps showing arrivals of scouts, but are there any maps where people mark where active colonies are located? I'm not sure how I'd best find out where the closest colonies to me are

[flyin-lowe]

If you don't mind you might take a screenshot of your entire property from Google earth. It is easier to judge flyways etc. from above. I have seen multiple martin colonies in my area that are more encroached by trees than that. I would scour through the previous years scout reports on the main page of the website and see if you can find anyone posting arrivals close to you. Martin colonies are one of those things you don't always tend to notice until you take an interest in martins. I bet you'll find something near you that might not have noticed in years past.

[jhcox]

The purple Martin conservation association. Scout reports are indicating colonies that are established so if there’s purple dots on the map near where you live, those are active colonies. Good luck to you.

[Bird Brain]

WarmColors. I have a 55 foot island clear spot in a tall forest in Texas. It's been 2 years in this location. I get several visits every year, but still no nesting pair. I've invested about 2 grand total in my gourd rack. My neighbors all ask me what it is. Not worried about the investment because I'll sledge hammer it out and take with me when I eventually move further out. Your situation will be difficult, but there are so many ways to make your setup more enticing. Make your setup as tall as possible. I bought the 16 foot gourd rack and then added a 1 1/2 winch extension, for a total of 17 1/2 feet. I think you could definitely benefit from extra housing height in your situation. Makes it easier for the bird to clear the trees and swoop in for a landing. Try to visualize the bird coming in for a landing when choosing housing height and location. They fly like airplanes and need a longer runway than other birds. Try to visualize a hawk attacking from a tree. Will they have time to evasive maneuver? Flyways are the most important thing in my opinion. I have several flyways. That's why I don't give up. If you have decent flyways, then you can eventually get martins, in my opinion. I like the wooden housing idea others mentioned. Get the tallest one you can. If a grand is no big deal to you, then sure, give it a shot.

[John Miller]

Well, I'm no fun, but I don't think you can attract martins to the site. Martins seem to be less apt to colonize housing adjacent to a solid line of trees, or edge of a forest, even if it's back pretty far. In your case, looks like there is forest on three sides at least. And we know martins are scarce in your area. I hope you can revisit the location you saw with gourds, get some photos and post here. Maybe there is an opportunity for you to volunteer to help at the site.

[WarmColors]

Well, I'm no fun, but I don't think you can attract martins to the site. Martins seem to be less apt to colonize housing adjacent to a solid line of trees, or edge of a forest, even if it's back pretty far. In your case, looks like there is forest on three sides at least. And we know martins are scarce in your area. I hope you can revisit the location you saw with gourds, get some photos and post here. Maybe there is an opportunity for you to volunteer to help at the site.

Why couldnt you just let me waste $1200 and years of hope?

Here is a sky view of the property with the distance shown to that large pine tree (90ft), and it is 150 feet to the far side of the field from the proposed nest site. But yes, very thick line of trees in all directions, truly an island in the forest. Pond and lakes are not far though

skyview - Copy.jpg

(171.11 KiB) Not downloaded yet

[killerv]

That setup will be just fine like it is, just hope some martins find it.

[defed]

Why couldnt you just let me waste $1200 and years of hope?

Here is a sky view of the property with the distance shown to that large pine tree (90ft), and it is 150 feet to the far side of the field from the proposed nest site. But yes, very thick line of trees in all directions, truly an island in the forest. Pond and lakes are not far though

skyview - Copy.jpg

i have yet to view the satellite map, but i would lean towards not getting your hopes too high. even if you had the perfect site, it seems martins are pretty scare out that way....only 2 reports in the entire state and not too many in the surrounding regions. take it from someone who tried for 30 yrs, on a pretty good site in a more populated (yet still fairly sparse) area, before finally getting some. it's very discouraging....and i didn't have any where near that invested to make matters worse. i did add a 2nd fancy store bought gourd rack last year after getting my 1st pair in my homemade set up (2 pairs in yr 2)...hoping for more this year to finally give me some insurance going forward.

[MJM]

Hi there, glad you are interested in Martins! As noted by some others, your site isn't the biggest hurdle you have- it's the general lack of Martins in your area. If you search online for the scout arrival reports- you will see only a few dots in NH versus hundreds elsewhere. They just don't hit your area much, the few that go that far northeast generally catch the river in Vermont and go up to CAN from there. I'm sorry, but if I were in your position I would not spend money on a $1200 martin house setup (even if you have the money) unless you want to just look at it. Maybe go with a small 6-compartment house and pole for around $200 and see what happens, or better yet look to see what other native birds in your area could use help/housing. Again, not trying to be a downer, but realistically you're in an area with very few Martins and with a site that isn't "perfect". Regardless of what you do, best of luck!

[Martin man RI]

Hi I am few hundred miles due south of you in a area much saturated with hundreds of Martins in Rhode Island have studied Martins for years
At one time Even New Hampshire had numerous colony's state wide the most popular for years was the colony in Weir beach area at Funspot.
Now abandoned. There are few colony's in central NH along the lakes, And a great return in large numbers to coastal locations. I would say
from your picture absolutely no. Most of the Coastal Locations use conley gourds and they have filled up if you were to get birds these are the locations
you would see birds from the birds have learned to stay clear of much higher elevations where its much colder. There is a very active colony near
the Mass/NH boarder so the species is recovery in your state. What we have done in the last 20 years is located all our colony's in prime locations
Country clubs lake and Large Bay location. Sites with over 100 acres are needed locations can be small but must have a large lake on locations
or Bay. Dont give if you want to get Martins move stuff to prime location. State parks are good locations. Plum Island State park has had martins
for generations just over the boarder. Its all location location location. Many of the colony's are in wide view of the public. And you have to
used t-14 or super gourds conley holes to add to success. Locations well north of you have seen the great recovery and people have learned
to go with public locations. Plus it will help spark interest in the hobby once people see the colony. The state of New Hamspire has seen a small
recovery of the species but are still well behind the other five New England states things were much worst 20 years ago until residents stated to
place gourds in the Rye/Hampton locations. The birds are popular in this locations because there are hundreds of open acres and swamps and plenty of food.
Good Luck!
RAY
Barrington Rhode Island.
Landlord for 30 years.