New to the forum with some thoughts and questions.

[Guest]

Hello All,

I am new to your forum. Looks like a great place to communicate with fellow PM enthusiast.
I have had a martin colony in a metal octagon shaped home for four years. I have had atleast 30 birds in my colony in the past.
This year I changed to a cedar home with the bat shaped entrances. So for I have not seen any PMs in or around the new abode. I am sure patience is in order and they will be here soon.
I have a perfect spot . My house backs up to a road in a Spring Texas. The normally perch on a street light a few feet from PM house and fly hiugh above the road.
I have palms trees but none encroach on the PM house and have had annual encounters with Cooper Hawks apparently migrating through the area usually stay for three days at the most.
I have had BB also.
Four species of wood peckers dine at my feeders daily. A pair of Pileated, Ladder Backs, Red Heads and a Downy. I have even put a Downy house in an Elm tree near my home.
We also have a Blue and Gold McCaw that enjoy all of thses birds through our back window.
I am contemplating finding another PM house and putting it in my opposite corner of the yard with a traditional round hole to be certain that my colony doesn't go elsewhere. I have some consternation that they may find the bat shapped hole unacceptable. But it sounds like you all hasve had success with the crescent and bat shapped holes.
I feel the new house is an up grade but maybe my colony does not think so.
Any body have any suggestions.
Thank Yall for having me.

[Guss P O'Brien]

There has been good success in the colony in my back yard with moving and changing housing, but I always have at least one pole in the colony that goes relatively unchanged from year to year- leaving at least one thing that is familiar to them.

I would suggest you leave the old octagonal house up and add the new house to it nearby. Once the birds take to the new house, you can then remove the old house or replace it with something new.

Perhaps you can put the old house back up and put the new house in a new location and still have time for them to recognize your site.

Here is how my moves went: Yr 1 one house location A. Yr 2 add new house at location B along with one house at A. Yr 3 added new levels to both houses. Yr 4 moved house at location A to new location C while the house at B remained. So far so good.

[Emil Pampell-Tx]

The entrance hole probably is not the problem but I really don't know why you haven't seen any martins...Did you possibly have a predator catch some of your martins late in the season - snake, owl, hawk, etc? If you did, the martins will not return for sure to that site, but you may be able to pick up some new birds if you had predation. I definitely think that your old martins would squeeze into the new openings one way or another if they returned to your site

Only 2 weeks ago, my son & I put up a new gourd rack at his new house, he has a wide open yard at Cypress (near the Spring-Cypress Road). He called us Wednesday to say that he had 7 martins, and we put up SREH on the upper 16 gourds, and round holes on 5 of the lowesst holes. The martins are using the upper gourds with SREH..This leads me to think that the martins, and there are a whole lot of martins in your area, would accept whatever you put onto your new house...I think they were afraid to return...Did all the babies fledge or did a snake possibly catch some late in the season?

[Guest]

I have been monitoring the new house this morning and have had two martins perch on the street light above this morning. I probably just need to more patient. It appears the forum members do not have problems with the new style entrant holes.
I did not think of leaving the old house up to get them use to the new one.
Really attracting martins has been easy in the past. Basicly I just put a house up and the arrived. I would clean it out in January in preperation for the next spring arrival.
As for as predators. I really do not believe I have ever had that problem. The PM arrive usaully in early March and leave in July or August.
I think I just need to be patient and they will be back.

[Emil Pampell-Tx]

Rick, most people that lose their birds do not think that they had a predator catch them, so that is a normal feeling. I will quit bugging you after this one last question: Did you have a snake guard on your old pole? A pole guard is a must around here, as a snake can easily climb any pole that you put in your yard..