martin lanlord wannabe

vtrommer · Fri May 12, 2006 8:13 pm

Hi,
I've been reading many of the posts and find them fascinating. We are trying to get martins for the first time this year and are looking for any help/info. we can get. My neighbor has martins already and we have tried several different things. We were told to leave all the doors open since my neighbor already had a colony, but then we were fighting to keep sparrows out. So we only left one door open and we had a martin staying at the house for about 3 days, but now he is gone! (We have had rainy cold weather also) We have eggshells and mealworms out as well. Is there a chance the martin may come back or we could still get some others? Does anyone know how many doors we should have open? The sparrows are terrible out here but my neighbor doesn't seem to have any problems with them. I appreciate any help. Thanks!

Donnie Hurdt MN · Fri May 12, 2006 9:41 pm

Hi there from another wannabe from MN. I will try to answer your questions as best as I can. First, I think with all the pressure from the sparrows in your yard they might have driven off your martin. Second guess would be maby he went over to your neighbors coloney to help stay warm with other birds. Or maby he just gave up after three days trying to attract a mate to your site.
A bit of friendly advise here, I would do whatever I could to controll those sparrows shooting, trapping, whatever you choose. If you have done any reqading on this forun at all you will know that this is absoutley nessary. I dont know what type of housing you have but I would invest in one ore more nestbox traps if they will fit into your housing or do some reasearch on the forum Archives or the PMCA shop to see what will work in what you have. It will take some time to cut down on their numbers for most people it is a never ending battle but that is what you have to do if you want to have a sucessfull coloney. Good luck to you this year.

John Miller · Fri May 12, 2006 9:43 pm

Get all those doors open! It'll warm up any day, and your guy may come back. He may be communally roosting with the neighbor's martins, or he may have moved on. But you need lots of compartment options for visiting martins, especially the females who like to investigate several.

I know sparrows are worrisome, but I really think because the next few weeks are critical, you need all holes to the wind. Your neighbor's colony likely will also bring you subs anyday.

A sparrow in residence won't necessarily intimidate visiting martins -- maybe a little -- but the choice of one hole will. You can trap the sparrows as they come.

Good luck to you,
John Miller

vtrommer · Sat May 13, 2006 7:51 am

Thanks for the input! Also, when the sparrows make nests in the martin house we tear them out but they poop everywhere in the house too. Do we just wash the house out with water or should we use a small amount of bleach? If we trap the sparrows how do we do it without trapping the martins? Sorry to ask so many questions but we really want martins!!! Thanks again for all your help!

vtrommer · Sat May 13, 2006 9:02 am

I would also like to buy the martin decoys if they really work. Does anyone have any of these?
Thanks!

Guest · Sat May 13, 2006 7:51 pm

Welcome to the forum.
Don't worry about the 'poop' - you can clean that out once the season is over.

If my neighbour had martins I would not spend my money on decoys - the martins are aware of your house, buy a sparrow trap instead. You can get both decoys and traps here at PMCA.

Good luck.

vtrommer · Sun May 14, 2006 6:52 am

Thanks for the welcome! So you are saying that the martins will use the house even if the sparrows have pooped all over inside and out? I didn't think that the martins would like that! We are getting some sparrow traps today! My husband shot one last night with a bb gun but I'd rather kill them more humanely. I can't figure out this one martin, he keeps going from our house back to the neighbors. I don't know if he is nesting with a female over there and wants to live in our house or if he is the offspring of one of the pairs over there.

Guest · Sun May 14, 2006 7:13 am

Your martins behavior is normal - he(possibly she) is trying to attract a mate.
I would strongly suggest that you read as much as possible about PM and ask questions. A wealth of information can be found here or at Chuck Abares' site:

http:///// ///.com/purplemartin.html

CUL Lou~Mich · Sun May 14, 2006 7:53 am

Vtrommer. One can't get much more humane than shooting the English House Sparrows, or European Starlings. That is if the gun is sighted in, and the person knows how to shoot. If it's just wounding them, then something needs to be done. Yes, the PMs will nest where there is bird poop. Don't worry too much about it. You don't say what kind of housing you have, so it's hard to advise you on traps. If you have a trio, then the SD-1 is good. If you have a wooden house, and the door/apartment will allow (Door large enough, apartment big enough) then the Universal Starling Trap is good. Shooting is great if it is legal and safe to do so. As for the PM going back and forth. He may like your house, but also like a lady over at your neighbors. He could very well be trying to lure her over to your place. Good Luck. Keep reading, and asking questions. That's what most of us are here for. (Keeps us out of mischief while waiting for our PMs to show up. ha ha.) CUL Lou