Heath Housing

[oneidalaker]

I've seen a few suggestions for modifying Heath Houses such as installing a ceiling over the top floor to prevent martins from hopping from one compartment to another. I'm presenting a seminar in a few weeks and would appreciate the groups input as to other recommended Heath modifications for those attendants who may own Heath housing.

Thanks
Oneidalaker

[Dave S (Texas)]

Not being a S-A, but I'd recommend a heath house be 'recycled' for its aluminum content. JMO

[roblrich]

I agree with Dave. I bought a Heath 11 years ago as my very first PM house. You could not give me one even if you would install it. And when I tried to sell it for the aluminum, the guy charged me.

I saw a thread earlier about someone phoning Heath and informing them about PM's ability to enter one room and exit the other and Heath claims that was the very first complaint on this? Please...

I have a suggestion though. If someone has used this house, they probably have taken it down. If they have bought the unit but have yet to use it, before they alter it, just have them return it for their money back.

[Guest]

Unfortunately, both neighbors on either side have these houses. I just finished cleaning them out and to my horror, found a last year dead female in a perfect nest. The entry had been shut off with tape so the only way to build a nest would be to compartment hop. I guess I will put a roof over the top compartments (with their permission) and unblock the blocked compartment.

Sue

City by the Sea, TX

[klcretired]

oneidalaker,
Please don't take this the wrong way, Heath Houses are not very good PM houses , their compartments are way too shallow which allow easy preditation w/ no protection, you need better houseing if you want a colony to Multiply and stay , you need a PM House or Gourd Rack w/ deep nest cavities for protection of the Horror's that these Babies are put thru every year , also the Heath has a Bad bad pole, you need a strong pole w/ winch/cable or a pulley setup wich allow's you easy access to do maintance & nest checks ......back in the 1970's i had a Heath House and it was a Nightmare for me and My Bird's and back then i had no contact with anyone that would help me or suggest i get better houseing, so please don't take this the wrong way ...we are all trying to help you and your Birds by way of education.

[floridasunshinegoddess]

Dear Oneidalaker,

The Heath Aluminum Pagoda House looks pretty (that's why so many people have been suckered into buying one) but I agree with the others: IT IS BAD NEWS! Flimsy construction with sharp edges, small and shallow compartments and a pole that can't withstand much wind or weight. I know this because my sister and I purchased these houses and wasted our money! They didn't attract Martins either, thank God.

They aren't worth your time and trouble trying to modify.

[oneidalaker]

Folks, thanks for the input. Just to clarify, I personally do not have Heath housing.
I'm presenting a Purple Martin Seminar and I know that a few of the attendees do have Heath housing. I'd like to present the experiences if not the facts regarding Heath housing so that those attendees can make an educated decision on how to procede regarding their martin housing. So far it appears they have two options:
1 - Replace their Heath Housing with PMCA recommended housing
2 - Make modifications to their current houses and perhaps consider upgrading once they successfully attract martins. Modifications would include the following:
- Installing a ceiling over the top floor to prevent floor hopping;
- Installing porch dividers;
- Replacing the pole with a sturdier pole;
- Securing the different floors together so that the house doesn't come apart in heavy winds;
- Adding ventilation and drainage holes;
- Adding SREH holes; and
- Skip the above and replace with PMCA recommended housing
If anyone has any other suggestions I'd appreciation them so that I can pass them along.

Many thanks

Oneidalaker

[T Seber]

The best advice you can give will be to those who don't have them. Warn them not to buy one.

[mbuster]

I have never bought a Heath house but I assume that I have been using them. My Grandfather gave me four 2 story houses. Not knowing anything about Martins, I thought they were the cat's meow. They did look nice and they did attract Martins. I wound up making a 5 story and 3 story house out of them. Probably had 80% occupancy in the 5 story and 60% in the 3 story. My grandfather had put some tin in the top houses of 2 of them. I thought it was for extra shielding from the heat. I did have problems with the snap together floors coming loose on the bottom floor, but never had one fall completely out. I started bending the tabs after that.

Although I have had no major problems with the boxes, I would not recommend them to anyone. The cavaties are small and shallow as aforementioned (he,he). The plastic clamp underneath each level that has a bolt to tighten it to the pole, seems to break easily, leaving the house loose on the pole.

I never have used one of their poles, so I can't comment on them. I put mine on breakover poles made out of 2" square tubing, using chain link fence posts slid into the sq. tubing and bolted in place to slide the houses on.

I can imagine some of the horror stories I was fortunate enough to not encounter. I am replacing mine with Coates WatersEdge Suites, Troyer Horizonal Gourds, and Heritage Farm Quad Pods. I am keeping the one pole with 5 best of the worst houses this year during the housing transition, but it is history after this season.

[roblrich]

Mark, if you had 80% occupancy in one house and 60% in the other, I seriously doubt you had Heath housing unaltered. As of matter a fact, I would bet on it.

[mbuster]

If these are Heath, you would lose.

[roblrich]

I would lose what? I don't see a sinlge PM.

IMO, my statement stands. It's hard enough to get 60% and 80% occupancy in good PM housing (not gourds as 100% occupancy in gourds is common). To get that good of an occupancy in Heath is unheard of.

But nothing is impossible I guess, espcially if the PM's were desperate for housing. But I doubt they would be back the next season. I would be interested in a photo of this Heath 80% filled with PM's flying all around.

[Guest]

Hi All,
I had a heath, but only used it my 1st year. I had a pair of PMs. The other heaths' I've seen usually have sparrow/starlings. Not doubting you had PMs in it. Do you have sparrows or starlings?

Chuck C

[mbuster]

Roblrich
Is it an unaltered Heath IYO?? They are unaltered unless you consider the tin ceiling added on the top house and the addition of sheet metal screws to keep the roof on as altered. You would have lost the bet. Yea, I also noticed there weren't any PMs in the picture. I took it today. It is still too early for them to be here yet, but hopefully some will arrive any day now.

I don?t know that I have any pictures of these or any of our houses in the past, so you will just have to take my word on it for now. My wife said she made a video of all the PMs flying around to show her Dad a couple of years ago, but I don?t know if it shows the houses or not. If I run across any pictures of the houses, I'll post them, whatever the occupancy. I guarantee it will be more than what your opinion allows.

I stand by my statement as well. I have had greater than 50% occupancy in the 5 story house the last 4 years, and 80% last year. That would be 24 cavities. It started out as a 6 story. First couple of years we only had 4 or 5 pairs on it, but it grew every year. It became a 5 story after a storm came though, fortunately after the martins had left. The 3 story, I only had up the last 2 seasons, first year I had 2 pair, last year 12 cavities had PMs. According to my math, that is really 66.6?6 with 6?s to infinity% occupancy if you want a precise number. Could be I don?t know how to count. Some of the occupation could have been occupied by single fledged birds near the end of the season and not breeding pairs.

They may have been desperate, desperate enough to come back, and in increasing numbers, for the last 6 or 7 years. Maybe they weren't desperate at all, could be most of them were mentally challenged and didn?t know any better. But irregardless of their mental capacity, they were still PMs, so I considered them. I ain't bragging on the boxes. Far as I know, they might be magic boxes. Like I said, they were mounted on break over poles, so it is obvious that I didn?t let them down and keep any records. This year I have added what is IMO ?good PM housing? but didn?t check with anybody that knows for sure for confirmation. In the future I will document with photos and nest checks, what the occupancy is of the new houses. It is highly likely to be zilch this year with the drastic change. The 5 story is history after this year. It, by the way, is now in the location of the 3 story.

Chuck,
Starlings have not been a problem. Sparrows are another story, but they haven?t been a problem with the martins that I was aware of. I have found them to be pretty intelligent. After first few shots with a pellet gun, they become very wary, and fly off at the squeak of the door opening. It is a daily battle, but hey, you'll have to take my word on that, I don't see any of them in the picture either.

I do plan on building a trap now that I have read more on the forum.

[Guest]

Yes I Have seen over 50% octupantcy In this style housing in 3 or 4 places in cen TX Possible near 90% at Bryant station in one house. I dont know if they were heath but I had some houses like that in the 80's M.H.

[floridasunshinegoddess]

Mark,

I'm not doubting that you had Martins in your Heaths.... but since you didn't take it down, I doubt you can be very accurate regarding the number of pairs.

I thought I had 20 or more pairs last year.... but it wasn't until I did nest checks and kept accurate records that I could see I had only 15 successful pairs.... and that's all I count. I don't count subbies that tried but were unsuccessful or nests where eggs didn't hatch or single males.

Anyway, the first year I had my Heath up, I didn't have any Martins even check it out. The second year, I put gourds underneath it and the Martins filled the gourds. At the end of the season, a subadult pair actually nested in the Heath and fledged babies!

So, it can be done.... Just the Heath doesn't offer ideal conditions. The subbies had probably bonded to my site and were happy to find ANYPLACE. I'm sure they would have preferred one of my natural gourds if they could have gotten one.

I also had a wooden Heath house up and a subadult pair nested in it too. The eggs were infertile. I took it down the next year and was going to modify it... but was unable. It was also made cheaply and had plastic coated cardboard walls.....

Both these houses didn't provide any way to do nest checks but then with the pain in the rear telescoping pole they're on, you wouldn't be raising and lowering it much anyway.

By the way, my sister still has her Heath up.... for 4 years now and she has never had a Martin nest in it. (She also has a wooden Heath that has never been occupied.) She put some gourds under it (I suggested it and gave them to her) 2 years ago and she has had a couple of pairs nest in them. I was going to throw away my Heath but she wanted it... She had lost her "steeple" in high winds and couldn't find it to replace it... Also one of her tiers was in bad shape. So she ended up with a 3-tiered Heath with a steeple on top... Looks attractive but that's it.

Since she can hardly get the pole up and down (it's rusted), she doesn't do nest checks or clean the nests in the gourds out at the end of the season.... I'm trying to get her to set some $$$ aside to get a good gourd rack with a pulley. Half the fun of having Martins is checking on the eggs and babies... and I've told her if she's going to have Martins, she needs to be responsible. I helped her get started... I don't want her to become a slumlord!

[Guest]

IMO the good people posting on this forum are all here for the sake of the birds, and that is why it so helpful.
For years before we moved to Florida from Oregon, I have wanted to have martins near my home. I pictured an attractive white house with green trim because it would make such a lovely lawn ornament. I actually had designs on the hexagonal house! It is only through finding this forum on line that I was detoured from my evil intentions and persuaded to start with a gourd rack.
I rarely see posting here having to do with bragging rights or peevish attitudes. When questions arise, you will always see 90% of the experienced folks here offer gentle suggestions, and almost always people give one another the benefit of the doubt. How on earth would any of us tell if another was lying? And why would we want to accuse one another?

[Emil Pampell-Tx]

I had a Heath house when I started my supercolony at this place. My daughter gave it to me as a Christmas present. I didn't like it but I didn't have the heart to tell her that. I put it up on a 4x4 pole, and I got martins in it the very first year. It was full to the best of my knowledge, but there may have been an empty compartment in it. I was extremely busy in those days and I hardly looked at it because of my work schedule..

The next thing that happened was that I had no martins! Either the owls or a snake got rid of them. I immediately took it down and have not used it since, because I went to gourds.. This was the first time in about 15 years that I lost all the martins.

I had an ideal location in a martin rich area, and those houses will fill up under those conditions..Starlings were no problem with the small rooms, but I did shoot some sparrows..

My reason for posting this is to verify that they will fill up if the conditions are right...We always get back to this, if you have a wide open place like I had at my house, and if there are martins in the area, even a Heath house will fill up down here in the South...

Lastly, I do not recommend that you purchase them, the rooms are much too small in my estimation....they are hard to modify...they have no access doors,,etc.. Mine is up in the garage attic

[mbuster]

floridasunshinegoddess,
I admit and concede to improper official counting. Sort of like counting points on deer antlers - in the south, if you can hang a ring on it, it is a point while out west they only count tines coming off of one main branch. What would be a 10 point here is a 4 point there. If the room had a PM in it, in my count it was an occupied room.

emil,
You clariify my point exactly. I hope my returning martins take preference with the new boxes. If not, my hopes are to be not totally ababdoned this year by leaving up something they used last year. As I read and learn more, I hope to do the right things for the martins.