Extreme Birdhouses

[Guest]

hi everyone.i am new here.i have a passion for birds and building birdhouses. unfortunately i know more about building birdhouses than i do about birds but i am eager to learn.it is a pleasure to be here and meet you all. here is some of my work. please follow the link to see more.

http://community.webshots.com/user/cranbrook2

[Dave]

VERY COOL !!!!

[Emil Pampell-Tx]

What a pretty setup. You must have put in many hours on that, I like it

[floridasunshinegoddess]

That house is stunning. Have you attracted any birds to it.... and what kind?

[Guest]

You are very talented. Do you have a shop that you put your things in?

You should be building martin houses



Lanell

[Guest]

thank you everyone for the nice compliments. i do get a lot of birds nesting in them.i am not sure what kind they are. i build some of them in my house and the bigger ones outside.i am building one now that is 9 ft wide and will be 6 ft high. thanks again
john

[floridasunshinegoddess]

John, I sure hope they aren't House Sparrows! Better get your bird book out!

[Emil Pampell-Tx]

Barb, I am always worried when someone puts up a birdhouse but don't know what kind of birds are in it. Lets hope that John is not raising sparrows!

[Guest]

Can you do nest checks? Can you clean out the compartments? Can you prevent ground predation? I'm afraid this house classifies as a lawn ornament on steroids! :-) At best, a starling hotel.

[Guest]

What I see here is clear a new guy looking for information.

Well what if he wants any bird to nest there?

I just have a hard time with a nature loving guy coming to site only for our harsh words and pushy views.

John I am sorry if any of my martin associates have offended you and your views of nature.

Some day I can see you with the best martin house ever built and not wanting to come back here.

Please stick around and learn about martins if you want.

Thanks

MN martin gal

[Guest]

Thank you martin gal, by no means am i offended by what anyone says .i actually never knew anything about sparrows or any other birds. that is why i am here. i just started building them this past year. all i know is 99 % of people who see them like them including the birds.and for anyone who doesn,t believe that just google extreme birdhouses and read for yourselves. i just googled homes for sparrows and i never knew what damage they do.so obvisously i will be aware of how i build my next birdhouse.live and learn. that still does not mean that all the birds are sparrows in them .i have all kinds of yellow,blue and red canarys.i also get blue jays ,Cardinals and doves. i will go outside and tell any of them sparrows hanging arond to move out by the end of the month or else. .i am not here to offend anyone ,only to learn.

[Matt F.]

John,
That is a magnificant birdhouse! You defenitely have a talent.

I agree with Lanell, if you decide to get familiar with purple martins and their housing standards, I'd bet you'd build some blue ribbon martin houses!

[John Barrow]

Hi John. I join in adding my opinion of what a beautiful work of art you have produced and appreciate your sharing that talent with us. No doubt building a masterpiece takes a good bit of time, thought and effort.

There is a lot of history involved in the evolution of martin houses--from native americans hanging natural gourds perhaps as long as a 1,000 years ago to european settlers constructing elaborately designed houses to accompany their own homes, to slaves hanging gourds on trees to attract martins, to today's products. I would encourage you to go to the PMCA main page and to their catalog link and order "The Purple Martin Book". It is a well written hardback book that not only tells much about the requirements of martins, but also sets out in writing and some photos the evolution of martin houses. One historical statement found in the book that fascinated me was that of early american settlers who said you could tell the quality of a wayfarer's inn by the quality of the martin house erected outside of it. And you will learn from this forum that folks are no less passionate about the martins today.

Welcome and best wishes with your endeavors to build and to learn. jb

[Scully]

John.. as yer prob'ly catching on to already, there's bird houses and then again there's bird houses. Each species has specific requirements as to how large the entrance should be and how big the cavity should be.

A huge plus is if you can open up the compartments without disturbing the nest too much to check the nest and to clean out the compartment. Also a big plus if the housing is easy to clean, remains cool on hot summer days, and doesn't harbor mites and other nest parasites.

Here in martin land we love martins but intensely dislike house sparrows and starlings, both of which are foreign species brought in from outside. Sparrows and starlings can destroy martin eggs and young, and starlings can kill or cripple the adult martins. A poorly designed house can be a death trap for martins and other native birds.

On the other hand, there are housing designs which pretty much exclude starlings (house sparrows are harder to exclude).

Beautiful handiwork by the way , I only wish I could build stuff like that.

Mike Scully

[Guest]

thank you john and scully.i will be reading up on everything to do with martins. and other types of birds. i will find out the proper specifacations for the size of hole and nesting area. that part is easy to change. and as far as cleaning them all the guts are floating inside( no nails ) so it is easy to clean them in about 10 mins . i will definately do some research before i do anymore building . the next one i build i will post pictures here first before i put it up.

[John Miller]

John

They are beautiful and there certainly is a market for bird houses as art or garden decoration.

There was an art fair in St. Louis last summer and the big sellers were small decorative bird houses on broomstick-like poles. All the media reports showed people walking around with these things.

Our magazine, Update, had examples of martin houses as art in the winter issue.

I've actually seen some old wooden martin houses in antique shops. I wish I had my grandpa's.

John Miller

[Guest]

i did a bit of reading and the size of there nest are ok .i just have to add 3/4 of an inch to the size of the holes. i have been asked to build one for a canadian woodworking magazine in the spring . i hope the education i get from here will help me build a better birdhouse for their sake.

[Louise Chambers]

Hi John -

There are some info sheets/pdfs on the PMCA's main page that might be helpful to start you off. Especially this one -

http://www.purplemartin.org/downloads/H ... ndards.pdf

which explains the features needed for a basic martin house, including pole features, cavity size, pole guards, etc.

Everyone discovers martins in a different way - I started with an interest in all birds and only got involved with martins after about 10 years of all round birdwatching, feeding, etc. Your path has brought you here through your interest in birds, building houses, and now to martins who are the most unique bird house users in North America, if not the world :-)

We're glad to have you join us here; your design and building skills are most welcome. We hope you'll enjoy learning more about not just martins but all cavity nesting birds, such as bluebirds, wrens, tree swallows, chickadees... and many more. There are some good books that deal with the whys & hows of all cavity nesters, one by Scott Shalaway comes to mind, called A Guide to Bird Homes. It's a good basic primer to start you off and help you learn more about potential tenants for your houses. The only native songbird in North America that will really use a multi room house is the Purple Martin - all other species are better off with a single home box. Let us know how we can help you, everyone will be interested in seeing your creations.

Louise

[Fred Kaluza~MI]

John I went to your website and saw some of your other creations. I especially liked how you use genuine "old" barnwood to create rustic designs. I know some other folks who like making birdhouses as well. Some is functional and others is strictly ornamental. Actually, If I had such nice looking models put up, I wouldn't want birds pooping all over them anyway! But, for the "real" look, I've seen some where the holes "look" like holes but are actually blocked off just deeper that a shadow's depths to keep "bad" birds out. Although I don't know exactly where "Cranbrook" Ontario is yet, your area looks quite open and may actually be good Martin habitat. Welcome to the forum and be sure to let us know if you try "going for the purple". Building traps is fun too! Fred in Michigan.

[Guest]

hi Fred it is nice to meet you. i live about 50 miles east of Goderich ontario. it is very windy here sometimes . the terrain is mainly flat and open with some treed areas. it is very good farming here. i get all kinds of different birds.some of them have really beautifuls sounds.