needing input on martins houses

lockharttaylor · Sat Aug 20, 2005 8:12 am

Looking to purchase another house for the martins. Would like input on these two houses: Trio Castle Martin House- 24 compartments and
Coates Watersedge- 8 compartments. I have two houses now one with 8 compartments and one with 12 compartments. living in a new subdivision with a small pond within walking distant of our house. This year at the edge of the pond is two trees, This year at dark the martins would come there and roost for the night, hope that they will be back next year.
This was our first year of trying to get martins to come. Since we seen so many at a time and they were having a time of trying to land on the houses, we put up two old antenna for them to land on, before we coud turn around the antenna were full of martins.

We are close to two different schools , we are trying to get with the two different schools to see if they would to become involved in martin watching. The area between the two schools is a city park. Question how close can you put a house to a roost? Am trying to get the city to allow us to put housing up in the park.

Gary and Susan Taylor

John Miller · Sat Aug 20, 2005 9:12 am

That's a lot of projects going on there.

Both the Castle and Coates Water's Edge are good houses. We haven't yet convinced Trio (castle) to offer 6 x 12 deep compartments, so you would need to remodle that house. There are information sheets on the home page here. Otherwise, the Castle is a good solid house with a winch lowering system.

The Coates Water's Edge is a good budget house with better functional design. Martins enter one 6 x 6 comparment and turn left or right to enter the deeper nesting chamber. The Coates heavy duty pole is tricky to raise and lower as you have to search for alignment holes, but it's fairly sturdy. A better choice would be the PMCA multi purpose pole, on which you could put two of these houses, plus four gourds.

Re a roost, not a concern. But do look for a very open space and don't compromise there. I'm sure your fellow Texas landlords can offer more specifics.

Park sites sometimes take a lot of thought to get a good open spot that doesn't interfere with recreational uses. Sometimes you can find a spot in an existing landscapped bed. One person probably needs to be in charge of managing the house, while bird watcher can be invited to keep an eye on progress/problems.

Good luck to you.

John Miller,
St. Louis, Mo

CUL Lou~Mich · Sat Aug 20, 2005 7:02 pm

Isn't the Castle the house that has 24 pie shaped rooms?? If I'm not mistaken it's the Trio Castle. I believe I've seen that it is NOT recommended for use, since it is so small. Also think I've seen it said that if one is going to use it, it should be made into larger apartments by cutting through every other side wall, as it is being put together, then plugging one door. This makes it into a twelve room house, with two pie shaped rooms next to each other joined. CUL Lou

John Miller · Sat Aug 20, 2005 8:35 pm

CUL Lou

Yes, the Trio castle has sort of pie shaped rooms. If one modifies the house, it's actually a pretty good house -- especially as the nesting chamber is off to the side, out of view. (I do think aluminum houses need to be insulated for both heat/cold in most climates). But buying a pretty pricey new house that needs to be reworked ...might be better options.

John Miller

lockharttaylor · Thu Aug 25, 2005 9:10 pm

THANKS FOR YOUR REPLY. WE HAVE TWO TWO HOUSE UP NOW , ONE IS VERY EASY TO CHECK THE FRONT LIFT UP. THE OTHER HOUSE WAS FROM GARDEN TREASURES FROM LOWE. THE WAY TO CHECK AND CLEAN OUT IS BY ALMOST TAKING APART. NOT EASY TO MAINTAIN, BUT THE MARTINS REALLY WOULD LAND ON IT. RIGHT NOW THERE ARE NO HOUSES SURROUNDING US, AND WE LIVE ON A CORNER LOT. WHEN WE STARTED LOOKING AT HOMES , MY WIFE WAS INTEREST IN THE ONE ACROSS THE STREET WITH THE BACK FACING THE PARK WITH THE POND. BETWEEN THE BACK FENCE AND THE POND IS A SMALL DRAINAGE DITCH. IN THE PARK , THE FIELDS FOR GAMES ARE ON THE NORTH SIDE , WHILE THE POND AND TREES ARE ON THE SOUTH SIDE WITH TWO DIFFERENT RETAINING PONDS SOUTH AND EAST OF THE POND.

GARY AND SUSAN TAYLOR

Laverne · Fri Aug 26, 2005 9:36 am

Hi Gary and Susan.

Lockhart is in an area of dense Purple Martin populations. You should have no trouble attracting PMs to your housing. Getting the housing up late this year was probably the only reason you didn't have nesting PMs. Please do not use PM housing that you cannot raise/lower or open for nest checks. These nest checks are an important part of Purple Martin landlording. It is the only way you can accurately monitor the activity inside the nest cavity and truly know what is going on inside your housing. Well, aside from putting a nest camera in every cavity...

I feel compelled to plead with you - because I know that the PMs in your area are desperate for nesting sites and would probably move into a "boot on a fence post". (Have you seen that photo from Dale?) For my own peace of mind, I have to implore you to put up good housing. It doesn't have to be expensive. It can be homemade or home grown gourds. But, please, whatever you put up, please monitor it. During the off season - you could catch up on all the reading the PMCA has stored on their website. A good PM education is your best defense against failure. Good luck to you and best wishes for many seasons of success.

lockharttaylor · Fri Aug 26, 2005 12:28 pm

EVEN THOU WE GOT A LATE START, THE FIRST HOUSE HAD 6 BADIES IN THE FIRST HOUSE WE PUT IN END OF APRIL AND OTHER HOUSE WAS PUT UP IN MAY. WE FELT LIKE WE WOULD NOT GET ANY BUT WE DID THE SECOND HOUSE HAD 4 BADIES. MY WIFE KEPT TELLING ME THAT THEY WOULD GO TO IT AS SOON AS WE PUT UP, DO SOONER THEN IT WHEN UP , THEY WENT STAIGHT TO. I GOT A LOT OF PRACTICE LOWER THE HOUSES, I DESTROY SO MANY SPARROWS NESTS AND EGGS.

GARY AND SUSAN TAYLOR