I'm not to sure about these decoys?

[Guest]

I have had two direct hits by hawks or owls. I'll bet they were surprized and have sore ankles/broken toe nails..........

To decoy or not to decoy ,that is the question?

dick

[Donna - TX]

That is a hard question for some people to answer. Everyone has their own opinion. I have never used decoys....
1. I have hawks that stay here all season.
2. I never ever let the hawks land anywhere near my colony.
3. I think they are attracted to the decoys that are still there and one of these times it might be a martin that did not get off in time.

I know some people believe in decoys but I don't. You will have to make up your mind on which way you want to go.

[marshainpuntagorda]

Hi, I have a decoy and they did attract Purple Martins...I keep it there all season. We have Red Shoulder Hawks who build a nest every year 1/4 mile away and so far they haven't bothered the Martins...I am more concerned about the Cooper's Hawks...it is interesting to see the interaction between the Martins and the decoy. Good Luck with your site this year, Marsha

[CUL Lou~Mich]

Over the years, I've seen many more "Good" reports from decoys, than "Bad." Not saying it's right for everyone, nor wrong, just that it has worked for a few folks. Of course, I am aware that there must be PMs in an area to "Decoy" in first. I'm still fairly sure that's my problem. Just simply a lack of PMs. CUL Lou

[Guest]

Last year was my first year and I didn't get any, so I ordered a decoy and put it on the perch in May (too late for arrivals here). It did attract attention from a lot of martins on their way back South, so I'm hoping I'll have better luck this year. It's been on the perch since then and the house was raised most of the time and I can't see any sign of damage on it from attacks. So I ordered 2 more for this year. I think they're probably helpful if you're just starting and trying to attract your first martins. You could always take them down if they become a problem. I also ordered both the song CDS, got some pine straw for nests, made some fake eggs, put some small mirrors in a few units, will smear some mud on the houses, etc as suggested by the articles on this site. I really, really want to get some martins--I'll try every suggestion!

[Emil Pampell-Tx]

Bonnie, the most important thing is to make sure that you have the housing as far away from trees as you can get it. That is by far the best thing for attracting martins.

[James Strickland FL]

I put them up and I have had hawks hit mine in the beginning of the season but I have never had them get one of my living martins. The hawks figure it out that the decoys are not alive and they just stay away from my site. So they do help me.

[Guest]

May be some merit to that come to think of it,,,,

dick

[Guest]

Emil, my site is not ideal and it's possible I will never get any martins, even with all the amenities I'm providing. I'm perched on top of a hill in the hill country, my house is pier and beam, and towers above the martin houses from the north. The yard is long and narrow, then there's a 3 ft drop from the retaining wall to the fence line, which is basically lined with scrub cedar on my neighbor's property. The martin houses are only 6 to 7 feet from the fence and cedar even though they're much higher. I only have one big live oak on the left side of the property and I got the houses as far away from it as I could--about 30-35 feet. My deck looks down on the martin houses, and my house is probably no more than 20 ft away. I have a small ornamental pond that I'm sure is too small for martins. On the other hand, there's an unobstructed view for miles in every direction except for the tree on the left, and our neighborhood swimming pool is in a natural cliff setting and is used frequently by martins--it's never covered and is about 1/10th of a mile away. What do you think?

[Emil Pampell-Tx]

I think you have a good chance of getting some, especially since there are martins in the area

[Guest]

Thanks for the encouragement, I'll let everyone know what happens. It's still way early for this area, but I think I will go ahead and open up some of the units this weekend, put some nesting material in, etc. Port O'Connor is only 1 1/2 hrs from here!

[db]

I witnesses two hawk attacks on my home made decoys last year. On the first of those, the hawk grabbed the decoy and made a loop around the pole and grabbed it again. Based on the theory of the hawk getting the slowest bird, I think having a few decoys is very valuable. I'll be using at least three again this year.

[RC Moser]

IMO if you can't be around your set-up 24/7 decoy can buy you PM's a few presious seconds. IMO hawks usually zone in on the slowest bird when on there final approach. Many of us probably never see most of the attacks beings it only last a few seconds. Anything to take the attention off my PMs can't be bad. Hawks are kind of like Dive bombers, Falcons are the real supersonic fighters IMO.

I have seen a few hawk attacks (coppers, Sharpshinned, Redtails) they have to have a edge to be even 30% effective IMO. On the other hand Prairie falcons and Merlins are quite successful. I rarely see them miss. Most of the time you won't notice hawk attacks, but you will notice you PM acting differently like almost afraid to land and in the evening they bolt Straight in no socializing for what I noticed.