First time purple martin landlord

[birdgardener]

After retiring, we bought a house where I thought we could attract purple martins. We are less than a mile from a lake that has purple martins nesting in aluminum housing. I installed a 8 unit vertical gourd system (with a large handful of white pine needles in each gourd) on a 2" square aluminum pole with a pulley system on May 8, 2024. The next day a ASY male showed up. The day after he introduced a female to the set-up. One week later a second pair showed up. Two weeks later a third pair showed up. Three weeks later a fourth pair showed up! They are bringing in nesting material and the first pair started bringing in leaves about a week ago. Yesterday June 4, the first pair had 3 eggs. Some of the other pairs have started to bring in leaves as well. About a week ago a house sparrow showed interest and started building a nest. I put out a repeating ground trap with cracked corn and caught a female house sparrow. I think it was the male house sparrow's mate. After removing the house sparrow nest, the male has not been back so far and one of the purple martin pairs have been building a nest in the gourd the male house sparrow had taken over. So far so good. I also have a predator guard on the pole. I have been enjoying them immensely the past month!

Dan Kahl
Buffalo, MN

[C.C.Martins]

Dan, welcome sir!
The very next day?? That is fantastic! Nest building, green leaves, predator guards, sparrow control and a good system to boot! Well sir, sounds like retirement agrees with you! And your budding colony. That is quite the introduction!
Hope they do well, this is a great resource for questions.
All the best and again, welcome to the forum.
Tom

[Jones4381]

Congratulations and welcome! Very good site you have there...stay vigilant and enjoy.

[Martintown33]

Can’t say I’ve heard of a more successful start, sir! Excellent job! Sounds like you’ve been at this for years ! Congrats and enjoy your new loyal friends… they will be back every year to give you hours of enjoyment… especially if you keep up the great care you’ve started with…
Rob

[Phil01]

Welcome to the forum Dan! Man, it doesn’t get any better than that! Great job jumping on those HOSPs right away. Lots of knowledgeable landlords here should you have any questions. Enjoy your new colony and retirement.

Phil

[birdgardener]

Thanks for the welcome and affirming thoughts. As a kid, our next door neighbors always had purple martins. I was always enthralled with them. This is the first time I have successfully attracted them.
Dan

[dsonyay]

Congratulations! It’s definitely an exciting moment when that first martin arrives! Having a nearby colony is so helpful.

My season is winding down, while yours is just starting.

I hope you have many years of success.

[birdgardener]

My nest check this week showed 2 gourds with 6 eggs each and 2 gourds with 5 eggs each. There were 2 other gourds with green leaves. Do martins sometimes pick 2 gourds and complete nests in both before deciding which nest to lay eggs in? The most martins I have seen at one time is 9. A second ASY male showed up last week.
My vertical gourds with the Conley II entrance came with no ventilation holes, but a spot to drill them. Would you recommend drilling the holes while the gourds are occupied? I live in MN and we do not have the intense prolonged heat of the south. So far we have not had a 90 degree day yet.

Dan
Buffalo, MN

[Martintown33]

Hi… ventilation is not only for heat, but to create air flow, to keep condensation down, which creates a drier healthier nest environment… it also helps to keep mite numbers down.. you could definitely drill the gourds, but I would catch the plastic shavings , on the inside, with a rag or something , to keep the little shards of plastic off the nest and eggs. Make sure to drill upwards at a 45 degree angle to keep the rain protection lip, over the hole functional..
good luck,
Rob

[Phil01]

Ditto to everything Rob stated. I’d definitely drill them out.
Phil

[tor]

After retiring, we bought a house where I thought we could attract purple martins. We are less than a mile from a lake that has purple martins nesting in aluminum housing. I installed a 8 unit vertical gourd system (with a large handful of white pine needles in each gourd) on a 2" square aluminum pole with a pulley system on May 8, 2024. The next day a ASY male showed up. The day after he introduced a female to the set-up. One week later a second pair showed up. Two weeks later a third pair showed up. Three weeks later a fourth pair showed up! They are bringing in nesting material and the first pair started bringing in leaves about a week ago. Yesterday June 4, the first pair had 3 eggs. Some of the other pairs have started to bring in leaves as well. About a week ago a house sparrow showed interest and started building a nest. I put out a repeating ground trap with cracked corn and caught a female house sparrow. I think it was the male house sparrow's mate. After removing the house sparrow nest, the male has not been back so far and one of the purple martin pairs have been building a nest in the gourd the male house sparrow had taken over. So far so good. I also have a predator guard on the pole. I have been enjoying them immensely the past month!

Dan Kahl
Buffalo, MN

Dan,

Sounds like you are doing all the right things first year. Congratulations. Great news. Keep up the nice work.

[birdgardener]

I have ordered Troyer gourd caps with the vent. Do I still need to drill out 1/4” vent holes?

Dan
Buffalo, MN

[Phil01]

I would still drill them out. I have all Troyer horizontal and vertical gourds. I have the dimples on all drilled out at an upward angle plus ventilated caps. IMO you really can’t have too much ventilation once the heat of summer arrives. I’ll keep the plug in the caps till the temps get consistently in the high 80’s then unplug.. I’m WAY further south though…
Phil

[tor]

I would still drill them out. I have all Troyer horizontal and vertical gourds. I have the dimples on all drilled out at an upward angle plus ventilated caps. IMO you really can’t have too much ventilation once the heat of summer arrives. I’ll keep the plug in the caps till the temps get consistently in the high 80’s then unplug.. I’m WAY further south though…
Phil

Agree,,, you just can't get enough ventilation during the heat of the summer.

[Martintown33]

If you’re concerned about rain getting in through the small vent holes, A 1 inch elbow vent would work, but agree the more ventilation the better.. but like Phil I’m in very hot and humid environment. I use 2, 1 inch elbow vents in all my gourds..
Rob

[birdgardener]

Thanks for the advice. My first batch of Martins have hatched now. One out of 4 pair. I found a single egg in a fifth gourd. Do Martin sometimes lay an extra egg or do you think this is another pair laying eggs?
Dan
Buffalo, MN

[Martintown33]

Congrats on your success! As far as the one egg, it could be the first of more to come. Martin females lay one egg a day, usually in the early morning. If you nest check again in 2 days , and find 3 eggs , or one egg for each day, then you know you have an active nest, with a female laying her eggs..
good luck!
Rob