Hello everyone! We just put up a new purple martin house this year. We were successful landlords last year with one pair producing three adorable fledglings. However, the house last year only had two compartments, so hubby built a new home for them this year with 4 compartments. Of course, the bluebirds almost immediately tried to steal the home, so he built another separate home for the bluebirds.
A few weeks ago, I saw some martins flying over our backyard (maybe last year's family?) But we have not seen any purple martins interested in the new home so far. Do you think it was put up too late in the season? We've seen them flying around, but none are flying low enough to the house to show interest or none have landed on the house. Any thoughts?
Thanks again for all the expert help! Here's a picture of the new purple martin house (white and green) and the little cedar house for the bluebirds!
Your martins from last year are only 2 years old now. I think 2 year olds show up just a little before the juveniles, so it's still early. I'm south of you and only have my oldest martins currently. I read somewhere that you should have at least 6 to 8 units to start. Not sure how far you'll go with only 4 units. That bluebird house is too high. Supposed to be around 5 or 6 feet to reduce House sparrow attacks. I went from one pair to ten pair on my second year. I'd hate for you to miss out something like that. Bluebirds are extremely territorial and won't nest that close together. You might get martins in the bluebird house.
Thanks so much for all your suggestions! I know martins like community housing (high rise condos - lol). But last year, we had used a house with only two compartments and we had one family in one of those compartments. Martins attempted to nest in the other hole; however, it was slightly too difficult for them to get in to - so we only had one. So, we are hoping we get a few this year.
Good to know about the blue bird house height. We'll have to lower it a bit. I think the compartments are way too small for the martins to have any interest in it, but we will see.
