We recently erected a modified Trio castle at Bob?s colony to help out the huge number of SY martins that are currently arriving at our sites. This Trio has the key shaped holes and is modified with 12 double nesting chambers that use a square inner hole that is cut from the top down to produce vertical depth of about 3 inches. The square hole is about 3 inches by 3 inches. I have used this concept in the past with excellent results. This allows for a better and deeper formatted nest and the nesting material does not spill out into the foyer area. Porch dividers are added to minimize nest domination by possessive males and eliminate the "wandering baby martin syndrome". Large young may sometimes move along the porches to enter adjacent compartments; if the there is nest of small young, then the bigger babies may consume most of the food. The porch dividers stop this behavior. Bob also wanted to try out a new concept regarding perches. We both like a lot of perching space on our housing so he attached using appropriate size bolts long garden stakes to the Trio porches. You can buy these plastic coated aluminum stakes at Lowes. This has worked perfectly and the house is being colonized now by SY males. The martins can easily sit on the perches and gradually approach the house compartments. SY males tend to be initially timid and using extended perches allows these males to ?size up? a potential nest site first.
Bob is a big fan of Trio products and has used them for many years at his personal colonies and satellite sites. He has 3 other Trio castles which appear fully occupied with ASY pairs and he may modify these houses next year with the extended perches.
Folks who use Trio castles may want to consider adding more perching space to these excellent houses. Martins love perches around their nest sites.
Steve
