I erected a purple martin house this spring and have a question. I have seen sparrows at the house and cleaned out their beginnings of nests. Yesterday I had my first martin at the house, and when I lowered it for a nest cleanout, I realized that I don't know which of these beginnings of nests belong to sparrows, and which might be beginnings of martin nests. Mainly each compartment has a few scraps of grass and mulch in it. I know what a completed sparrow nest should look like, but I haven't allowed them to progress to that point, so how do I know what to remove? Thanks!
Lucy
Recogizing purple martin nests vs sparrow nests
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CUL Lou~Mich
Lucy. The best thing to do if you're not positive, is to just wait. See if you can determine where the PM is building, versus where the EHS is building. Once you figure that out, then you can start removing the material. Another thing. A PM will have a nest that is not too big, and looks like the bird put some thought into it. An EHS nest will completely take up the cavity, with just a small tunnel from the door in. When you remove EHS nests, don't just toss them onto the ground. They'll have it back in the house before you get back to yours nearly. Toss it into the garbage can, or if it's safe, burn it. I toss them onto the ground, and light them, provided it isn't too dry, or too windy. That way, they have to do that much more work. Also, a PM nest will have small twigs if there are trees closeby. Good Luck. CUL Lou
lucyth,
To play it safe, you might want to watch the house and notice which compartments the sparrows are using. If they're actively nestbuilding, it won't take long for the nest to take on that familiar covered mass of grass shape they use. It might be better to let them progress a bit than to mistakenly remove the beginnings of a martin nest. I find, though, that the martins don't use the same types of grass or materials. My martins rarely, if ever, use any thin, wispy, blowing type of grass. When they use grass it tends to be heavier stems. Hope this helps...and welcome!
Patrick
To play it safe, you might want to watch the house and notice which compartments the sparrows are using. If they're actively nestbuilding, it won't take long for the nest to take on that familiar covered mass of grass shape they use. It might be better to let them progress a bit than to mistakenly remove the beginnings of a martin nest. I find, though, that the martins don't use the same types of grass or materials. My martins rarely, if ever, use any thin, wispy, blowing type of grass. When they use grass it tends to be heavier stems. Hope this helps...and welcome!
Patrick
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Louise Chambers
- Site Admin
- Posts: 6208
- Joined: Tue Nov 04, 2003 1:07 pm
- Location: Corpus Christi, TX
Hi Lucy,
If the first martin at your site just arrived yesterday, it is very unlikely that it would have done any nest building so soon. Is it an adult male, with dark belly? It will work at attracting a mate before any building gets underway.
The nest starts are probably all from house sparrows and should be removed. Martins prefer compartments with nest material in them, so you can place an inch or so of pine straw or wood shavings in every compartment. House Sparrows will bring in mostly dry grass & plant material, plus bits of trash. Do all you can to eliminate the house sparrows to make your site safer and more attractive to martins.
There are still a LOT of martins migrating up from South America, so there is time for landlords in all the southern states to attract birds. At established sites, nest building doesn't start until 6-8 weeks after the martins are back. New sites with younger martins will get started building nests quicker than that, and your martin will have better luck attracting a mate if you control the house sparrows. There is lots of information on the forum and elsewhere on the PMCA site that should help you out - good luck!
Louise
If the first martin at your site just arrived yesterday, it is very unlikely that it would have done any nest building so soon. Is it an adult male, with dark belly? It will work at attracting a mate before any building gets underway.
The nest starts are probably all from house sparrows and should be removed. Martins prefer compartments with nest material in them, so you can place an inch or so of pine straw or wood shavings in every compartment. House Sparrows will bring in mostly dry grass & plant material, plus bits of trash. Do all you can to eliminate the house sparrows to make your site safer and more attractive to martins.
There are still a LOT of martins migrating up from South America, so there is time for landlords in all the southern states to attract birds. At established sites, nest building doesn't start until 6-8 weeks after the martins are back. New sites with younger martins will get started building nests quicker than that, and your martin will have better luck attracting a mate if you control the house sparrows. There is lots of information on the forum and elsewhere on the PMCA site that should help you out - good luck!
Louise
You guys are good, and fast! I went with the most aggressive route suggested. Since the nests were all grassy, I pulled out all the old material and disposed of it. There is one male sparrow that is really determined he lives there, and he keeps returning to "his" house. I'm beginning to wonder if I should invite a hunter friend of mine over with a bb gun. I didn't want to resort to that, but that bird has got to get out of here! The martin that has been coming around has a female with him if I'm identifying them correctly. Also, I had some cypress mulch in a flower bed and I just put a layer about an inch or so deep in each of the compartments. Any suggestions or corrections to what I'm doing, I'd love to hear. Thanks!
Lucy
Lucy
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CUL Lou~Mich
Lucy. You say hunter friend with a bb gun. bb guns are notoriously inaccurate. Hopefully what your friend has is a pellet gun, and has it sited in to the correct distance. If you have a friend who will do this, AND it is safe, (No houses in the direct path of the pellet) and legal to do so, (Many cities do not allow pellet guns to be used) then go ahead and have your friend eliminate this pest. They will do harm to the other birds if possible, and left alone. Otherwise, perhaps you could look in PMCA Shopping, at traps, then pick one out that will work in your housing. Make sure it is small enough to fit inside, or attach however it attaches. (You don't want to just buy one, then find it won't work. Unless you have lots of money, in which case, you could send your extra to me. I could use it. ha ha ha.) Then if you catch one in it, perhaps hunter friend could eliminate it for you. CUL Lou