3 Years And No Success

[Rusty Axle]

I live in northern Indiana and have a 32-hole Taverner-style house with starling resistant-openings. 12 feet high. White with light grey trim and roof. The inside boxes are painted white. Box sizes are consistent with recommendations. There are perches in front of each hole to assist entry and exit.

The house is in an open area, with the nearest tree about 100 ft away. It is about 50 ft away from my home. And 50 ft to the other side is Syracuse lake. There are established colonies 1/8 mile away on the lake's edge.

I have placed pine straw in some of the boxes. And small mirrors in a couple boxes, which I understand may make the bird feel that the house is populated. House sparrows are lucky to last more than a couple days. The dawn song has been playing before sunrise for hours. There a Martin decoys on the roosting rods at the top of the house.

At the end of season last year there were 4 to 6 adult birds that showed interest for multiple days, flying around and looking in the entrances. In 2022 a pair investigated and the female entered a nest box to stay for a few minutes, but they never returned. This year a lone adult investigated briefly while I had the house down for maintenance, but never returned. The single adult is the only bird that we've seen this year.

I'm don't know what more I can do to attract birds. I can only speculate that since the house is empty and Martins are highly social, that is the issue. Still holding hope of establishing a colony this year. A 4th season with no birds will be disappointing.

[SSMartin]

If I understand correctly the inside of the nesting area is white? If so I would paint the interior black. I believe they will find a dark cavity more appealing and secure.

How large are the nesting rooms in this house?

I would hang a few larger high quality gourds from the house as well. That may increase your odds.

[Rusty Axle]

11" deep x 8" high x 6" wide.

[Birdiegirl]

Sounds like you have your housing in a good spot and are doing the right things by controlling house sparrows and playing the Dawn Song. Having another colony nearby is good- the young that fledged there last year will be looking for a new place to set up shop. The good news is that I don't believe the SY birds have returned to northern Indiana in large numbers yet, so you still have time to attract them! Many folks on here had ASY birds start their colonies, but my first year of success were three pairs of SY birds. In addition to SS Martin's suggestions, you might try making the apartments look 'used' by smearing a little mud on the entrances. I know how it feels to want a colony badly- I think most of us on here have been there. We're rooting for you- don't give up hope, fingers crossed that this is YOUR year!

[Rusty Axle]

I will paint the interior black and get some gourds. And smear some mud. Hopefully there are still a few homeless birds.

[defed]

i don't think the interior has to be black. the inside of super/troyer gourds is white and they use those by the thousand. sometimes it just takes time. took me 30 yrs. had visitors for a few of those and then finally a pair stayed. neither of that pair made it back the next year and i had to 'start over' but was lucky to get 2 pair and a few loner males. so far this yr, none have made it back (again) and it looks like i might be 'starting over' (again).....hopefully i had enough loners that some will make it back and find mates this yr.

[SSMartin]

I am not saying it has to be black but I think it being dark and blocking most light helps. Troyers gourds with the tunnel and thick walls block out a lot of light. I am not familiar with the house Axle uses so it was just a suggestion.

The dimensions of your interior sound good so that is unlikely the issue. I wish you the best of luck.

[MY FYN 79]

I feel your pain, but keep fighting the good fight.

This will be our 6th year and have not had success yet. I originally had our setup on a power pole in our yard, but folks here felt that could be part of our problem so last fall and over the winter I built a new standalone pole and gourd rack. Haven't seen any Martins yet here in Northeast Wisconsin.

Our story is below if it makes you feel better.

2019 had a sighting
2020 had a pair investigating.
2021 had more here, pair laid eggs and HOSPs ended up poking holes in eggs. Got serious about trapping HOSPs.
2022 started out good, tree swallows showed up and Martins ended up leaving.
2023 had a lot of Martins around, the numbers slowly went down and then eventually they stopped showing up.
2024 is going to be our year!

Point is, I'm told we'll get there and I trust in the system because I think a lot of folks have been where we are right now!

[flyin-lowe]

It is not at all uncommon in northern states to go several years before getting a colony started. I am about 100 miles south of you and my first colony was on a decent size lake (around 600 acres). It took me 5 years to get nesting pair. I moved to a new location about 10 miles away and when I started over it was the 5th year again before I got established. Just coincidence I assume, but it's not likely up here to put a house up and get them right away.

Martins are communal nesters and love to be with other martins. Barring something happening the adult martins will return to the same nesting site year after year. So you are trying to attract the martins born last year which don't have a home site yet. Banding studies have shown the majority of those born last year will nest within about a 50 mile radius of where they were born last year. You never know, there could be a colony from last year that had predator issues etc. and the adults will be looking so it's a good idea to have your housing up now. The SY's (those born last year) should be arriving in northern Indiana the next month or so.

Knowing how many blue birds, tree swallows, etc. there are in this part of Indiana I always kept my housing closed up until I saw martins in the area. If you allow blue birds or tree swallows to start nesting in them now they will run off any investigating martins that do check it out. The dawn song is your best attraction tool, ,keep it going until you get some who start spending the nights.

I have a friend who owns a house on Lake Syracuse and we spend several weekends up there each summer. Great place!

[ltwalsh]

Don’t give up it’s going to happen. i appreciate your efforts. Has anyone suggested the daytime chatter CD? I’ve had some succeeded using that CD.

This year seems to be a down year (at least in my area of FL). i’ve only got one nesting pair vs 3 last year. Its relatively a new colony 3rd full year but other colonies in the area are down as well.


Again don’t give up it’s worth your effort!

Larry

[SSMartin]

Don’t give up it’s going to happen. i appreciate your efforts. Has anyone suggested the daytime chatter CD? I’ve had some succeeded using that CD.

This year seems to be a down year (at least in my area of FL). i’ve only got one nesting pair vs 3 last year. Its relatively a new colony 3rd full year but other colonies in the area are down as well.


Again don’t give up it’s worth your effort!

Larry

Larry,

You don’t have any subadults visiting yet? I have lots of subadult males but they don’t seem to have any luck with females. I agree the numbers seem down at least for females.

[Rusty Axle]

All of the responses are appreciated, they are very helpful.

For anyone who finds themselves in the Syracuse area, we live next to Lakeside Park so if you are at the park and see anyone outside be sure to say hello.

Four birds visited yesterday and were mildly curious about the house. Their behavior leads me to believe they are from an established colony, as they were focused on feeding and moved on after a few passes around the house. All looked to be adult males.

[Rusty Axle]

We have tenants!

A young couple took up residence on May 12.

And two days later they have brought some friends by to take a look.

We certainly enjoy listening to their unique call and watching their graceful flight!

Thank you to all who offered suggestions and encouragement.

[Dave Duit]

Congrats Rusty. Good to hear you have some that are staying. Now it is just a numbers game from here out. If you have successful pairs that fledge a few babies and if they survive the first year; then your colony may start growing. Only about 25% of fledgling survive their first years full migration and improve each year the survive. If you have 5 babies, then about one may return. The parents will return if they are successful. Best of luck. You are a good martin person who takes the hobby seriously. I hope all turns out great in the future.

[SoIndyDon]

Most important point: What are local colonies using - gourds or houses?
You're in/ near Amish country like me in southern Indiana. The Amish use gourds. Raised in gourds, martins look for gourds. Raised in houses, they look for houses. Hang some gourds from the bottom of your house. That worked for me and those I mentored down here. One person I helped went from 2-3 pair in a aluminum house to 70 pair in 4 gourd racks in 3 years.

[Rusty Axle]

That is a good point regarding housing type. What I've seen on the lake and in the area have been traditional houses. I'll pay more attention to the farms outside the area.

Regardless, my tenants stayed for only a few days. I can only speculate that they found housing in an established colony.