Chirpy Nest

[Mstan]

I am a second year landlord. My current setup consist of two Troyer gourd racks. One rack is circular with twelve horizontal gourds the other two tier with twelve verticals racks. I recently ordered and received two chirpy nest boxes that I incorporated into my circular rack. I was wondering if anyone had any experience with the chirpy nest boxes and what are the pros and cons.

[Les Frampton]

Yes, we’ve been using chirpy nests for 3-4 years now. We like them a lot but more importantly the martins like them. We have 24 now and 18 aluminum houses, and 6 plastic gourds. 48 houses and we usually have 33 pairs each year and fledge 150-160 . Have been doing this for about 40 years. We are in the “thumb” of Michigan. My wife and I are 78 & 80.

[dsonyay]

I have six. They are fantastic. The cavities are large and deep, ventilation seems excellent, and the removable nest tray is excellent as well. I’m really not sure of any negatives yet.

[Thomabear]

I have 42 of them and I like them a lot. I really like the large ventilation openings and elevated wire bottom nest trays which keeps the nests dry and with good air movement throughout the nest. I would think this has to help with parasites in addition to cooling. I also find that the sunken nest cavity keeps the entry hole well elevated above the nest which allows the martins to stay relaxed down below and less likely to flush out during an owl encounter. My first year of using them caused a horned owl to fail in an attempt to flush birds out. The martins love them and my "home" colony has been at 100% occupancy after the 1st year. My camp rack (18 units) was put up a little late last year and still attracted martins within a couple of days with 4 successful nests. This year (year two) I have 11 pair with a few more subbies exploring. I wouldn't be surprised to see 100% occupancy next year at that location. The owner (Tom Brake) that makes these is great to work with and honestly, I don't have any negatives to report.

[Mstan]

Thank you for all your responses. I believe I will invest in more chirpy nest boxes in the future.

[Bird Brain]

I've owned 12 of them for about 4 years now. A couple of negatives. The metal ChirpyNests are heavier than plastic gourds. So your gonna have more weight up there, and your pole sway will increase. Another concern I've always had is that a GHO or Barred Owl could simply grab the Chirpy Nest porch and rip the face plate right off. I've talked to a landlord nearby and he admitted to losing face plates on his Chirpies. He suspected it was due to wind, but I've never had wind blow mine off in 4 years. I suspect owls can yank them off. I'm a new landlord, so I don't have owls yet. I hope I'm wrong about this. But it is a concern I've always had. Do other ChirpyNest owners think that owls can grab the porch and tear off the face plate? I would love to hear some other opinions.

[Thomabear]

Bird Brain, I won't say it's impossible for the door to be ripped off but it hasn't been an issue for me personally. I had a pretty lengthy and rough attempt by a GHO the first year I installed the chirpynest houses and it was unsuccessful at getting the door off or flushing the martins out. I'm not one to implement a solution in search of a problem, so I won't address this unless it does indeed become a problem. In that case I would simply put a sharper (90 degree) 1st bend in the stainless door retaining tab. As far as weight, yes being constructed out of aluminum with slide out nest trays they are obviously heavier than the gourds which is plastic and not capable of accommodating trays. Still, I'll stick with the former since the nest trays make things so much easier for me personally. I live near the Gulf Coast where we have substantial winds, especially during hurricane season, and I haven't had any problems with supporting 24 units on the standard 3" pole. In fairness, I do keep my houses a couple feed below the top since I'm not home every time severe weather hits. The martins still occupy every cavity and aren't bothered. Some of the weather we get down here doesn't discriminate on housing types. I once had a 12 room Lone Star Goliad on a 2 inch pole that made me a believer in installing poles to a good depth, in a good sized hole with adequate concrete. After that done is done without worries.

[Spiderman]

My thought when I saw them was the heat of the metal versus a plastic gourd.

But if the guys in South Louisiana can use them and not have jumpers it must not be an issue.

[Bird Brain]

Thomabear, I appreciate the feedback. I feel much better about my CN purchase. Do you have a rack full of 24 Chirpies? And the weight is not an issue?

[Thomabear]

Weight isn’t an issue. I even added the stainless steel gourd arms and a 3/8” thick PVC canopy which adds a few additional pounds. Also, I find the worm gear winch is a plus for lifting. I keep my rack lowered a couple feet 24/7 just in case severe weather hits when I’m away. With the “tower like” rack design a good bit of the weight is lower on the pole anyway. Pic attached.

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[Mstan]

Thomabear, that is a great looking unit. I like the canopy. Your Martins have to be happy campers.

[Bird Brain]

Hey Thomabear. I still want to reduce weight as much as possible. My 3” pole is 17 1/2 feet tall because I added the winch extension. Why did you switch to stainless steel gourd arms? I’m guessing now to use stainless steel gourd arms for Chirpies and aluminum gourd arms for plastic gourds. Is that your strategy? Do the Chirpies work better with the steel gourd arms? Thanks in advance for the information.