How far to place PM nesting box from...?

[Galadriel]

Hi everyone - we're new here and just purchased our PM 12 apartment house with 12 foot pole. Already we've seen PMs in two of our regular nest boxes. We want to help these birds out even more since much of their natural habitat is hard to come by.

We started birding back in the mid-70s and have lived in most parts of the country so very happy to join birding enthusiasts here! Right now we're in SW Virginia and we have a large meadow to accommodate these birds.

My question: How far should we place PM nesting box from our house/deck/cars to avoid getting poop mess everywhere?

[C.C.Martins]

Well its almost unavoidable. They poop where they will, and so too when the chicks poop, adults carry it out and drop it.

Should be a secondary or tertiary consideration really.

Iv an 18 unit GR in the front yard, I park about 30 feet from it, even with that many birds, I don't collect much poop on the truck.

[flyin-lowe]

I have a colony averaging 60 plus pair a year. My colony is about 30 yards from my house and I don't notice an issue with droppings. We have a pool, deck, etc. and no major issues. If you have a location away from the housing where they perch for long periods that can be an issue. They use my neighbors TV tower a lot and he complains from time to time. But most of the time they are either perching on their housing or away feeding so the amount of time they spend flying directly over my house and pool is pretty small.

[Galadriel]

Thanks all! Wow, what incredible progress you're making for these lovely birds. Appreciate your responses.