newbbie here!!

[Guest]

Hello everyone
I just bought a house in the country in northwest indiana on 2 arc...The house as a p/m box on it, but their lady that i bought the house from said they used to have them for 15 years but here husdand passed and she never kept up with it. she said they nested in 2003 but a summer storm came and the house got hit with lighting and they left...I cleaned it up and put it out but only house sparrows and grackles moved in..Its a 24 room alumin house on a tilt pole..First thing i will do is make it a pull up house with a pullysystem and slide out houses to clean..The house has 40yds on 3 sides and a tree that got to big on the 4th side and it blocks the one side...Any sugestions on how to start this great hobby...Thanks

[Dale Davis]

stanton21, Sounds as though you are starting off right by making easy access to the house.

If this site hosted many martins in the past then I would say with proper care and time it could host many martins in the future. This may take some time and patience to achieve though. Something serious must have happened to cause them to abandon the site in the first place. Getting a direct hit from lightning would do the trick IMO. You say that as soon as you cleaned it out that the sparrows and grackles moved in. This can be the reason they abandoned the site to begin with, and she assumed it was hit by lightning. If the ladies husband passed away and she let the site go, I would say the sparrows and grackles took over in no time at all.

I would guess even in Indiana it is getting late to hope for much this season but, you could still get visitors this season looking for housing for next year.

Open on 3 sides and a large tree on the forth shouldn't be a problem, unless the tree is extremely close to the martin house. Since you have no martins now I would position the house to where the entries are facing the open flyways. Do this now because once you get martins you do not want to change the position of the house.

Keep the S&S cleaned out at all times.

If you do not have now, put up adequate predator protection from the ground and air.

Come next spring you may want to invest in the dawnsong to help you attract them back to your site.

Best of luck to you!

Dale

[Guest]

Well thanks dale for the info..Today i drilled the holes for the house to slide up and down on the pole..Still trying to figure out the roof and the pulley system...For the tree i can get up there and cut some limbs down,or move the hole house close to the house near my deck because that gives them lots of room, i can see them all the time, and the pool is right there..
Well i will keep working on it and have it up by monday...Do i put it up for a few days then take it down for the night and clean it out if the sparrows take over..I shot 27 so far just because they try to nest in my vents...THANKS

[Guest]

Well thanks dale for the info..Today i drilled the holes for the house to slide up and down on the pole..Still trying to figure out the roof and the pulley system...For the tree i can get up there and cut some limbs down,or move the hole house close to the house near my deck because that gives them lots of room, i can see them all the time, and the pool is right there..
Well i will keep working on it and have it up by monday...Do i put it up for a few days then take it down for the night and clean it out if the sparrows take over..I shot 27 so far just because they try to nest in my vents...THANKS

[Dale Davis]

Yes, you will have to keep the sparrow nest cleaned out. They can fill a compartment up very quick.

Since it is late in the season you could go ahead and close off half or more of the 24 holes so you wouldn't have to maintain as many. Right now about all you can do is try to expose your site to martins in your area looking for a site for next year. Once the martins are gone from your area for the season clean it out and close off all compartments, or store the house in a shed for the winter.

Early on next season you may want to only open up 6 or so of the compartments once you start getting martins visiting. There again it will keep your housing available when they arrive but, easier to maintain S&S while waiting.

Good luck my friend.

[Guest]

Well thanks alot i will do that for the summer,I know were to get my info from.Great sight...Thanks

[CUL Lou~Mich]

Stanton21. I'd like to correct one thing, and possibly make a suggestion or two. First off. The Grackles are not Grackles. They are most likely European Starlings. They should be the size of PMs, black, with some irridescense, and some white spots tossed in. Big sharp beak, yellow in the spring, and yellow legs. Are these the pests?? If so, please try to shoot, or trap all of them you can. They are bad for any cavity nester. PMs, Tree Swallows, Blue Birds, Chickadees, Wrens, Woodpeckers of all types. They are not native to the USofA/Canada, and will try to kill all these birds mentioned, just for the housing. Also, the English House Sparrow is not native, and should be trapped or shot at any opportunity. They will kill baby Blue Birds if given a chance, and will fill all cavities to the point no other bird can even get in. If you have two acres, you might also be able to entice some Blue Birds to nest around your place. They like mostly open, partly mowed areas, (Just your yard will suffice) with some trees. If this fits your place, please do try to get some BB housing, and put it out. Place on a pole around six or so feet high, place a piece of tin around the pole. Try to cover as much of the pole as possible with the tin/aluminum sheeting, or place some stove pipe around it, or some PVC that's larger than the pole around it. Try to keep the areas around ANY poles mowed. This will keep some predators away. If you need more help with them, just ask. We've got lots of BlueBirders here too. Oh, if you pair the housing up (Two per pair, around ten feet apart) you might also attract Tree Swallows. Do NOT allow the TS to nest in the PM house though. They will chase the PMs away. As for the housing, I'd get some traps (NB Compact in the Archives at the top of this page is a good one.) and see how many EHS and EUST you can trap. There are also traps in the PMCA Shop above. You have certainly came to a great spot for information on PMs. You'll get lots of good advice by reading the Archives above, also all the posts you can read, and asking questions. Good luck on getting that colony back in shape. CUL Lou

[Guest]

Well thanks for the info...I kill all sh#% birds that come around my feeders and houses..I have wern and blue bird houses up allready..The houses came with the new house i bought, the guy that lived here befor me was a bird watcher so would like to keep it up for me and my family especly my kids that like to bird watch and get involved,i put up 3 more for the birds this year.Two of them have veery birds,2 houses have birds inthem that i can see becuse they shoot out so fast but the houses are full of sticks and a little hole for them to go in and out of so i dont know what they are..My thing is i am thinking of moveing the pm house in a different part of the yard becuse the south,east and west sides of the pm houes are open the north side has a tree that the branches are in the way..Can i remove the branches to open up a hole but the tree is still 10 foot away from the opening...Thanks

[Rich Jewell In]

Where abouts do you live. I live in Merrillville , South of hwy 30 on hwy 51.(Grand blvd.)

[Guest]

Valparaiso in,in washington town ship,you know were the popcorn factaryis?? thats my street.I live north of it..

[Guest]

This should give you an idea of a possible pulley setup:

http://home.earthlink.net/~chuckabare/t14mtg.htm

I use a garage door opener pulley instead of the one indicated (cheaper and easier to come by).





.

[CUL Lou~Mich]

The house with the small hole, and lots of sticks in it is probably a House Wren. Quite the character. They have a fairly nice song, and the male will fill a bunch of house if they are there. They are called "Fake nests". House wrens will sit on a post, and sing, they also jump around with their tail held up. They do have a nasty habit of pecking other birds eggs, but I've never had them do it. (Just heard folks mention it.) CUL Lou

[Fred Kaluza~MI]

Yo Stanton, nice to hear you're willing to rid your place of HOSP and Starlings. You're definitely on the right track stopping here for info. This is a great group with some extraordinary people! If you join the PMCA you also get a nice quarterly magazine. Although Martins are aeiral insectivores, you can get them to accept human supplied food when they need it most. The last few springs, (2005 included) have been especially tough on northern landlords. Late spring cold-snaps can cause insect unavailability just after they've returned from migrating. This year, many landlords in Indiana and Ohio reported dead Martins found starved in their cavities. It's really hard to start a new colony when there are no visitors! Good luck to you next season. P.S. be sure to keep your housing up this next few months as you will probably get some "wanderers" from mid August through late September. KEEP READING! Check the "archives". Martins are cool! Fred in Michigan

[Guest]

stanton21,

Another tip, a juvenile starling (one born this spring) will look a lot like a grackle. They are grey and I have seen them with grey beak and legs (beak yellow and legs orange when older). Just to let you know that a juvenile starling can be misidentified as a grackle. I think the legs are one way to id them as starling.

[Guest]

Well thanks for the info...I got my house up and the doors are locked for next spring,Everybody nocken but they can get in..LOL...Question for you??
I have a lot of pine trees that are about 30 plus feet around my back yard,i dont have wide open spacen on my property..I can move the house to the out side and that would give a 360 view of the houne but i would not be able the view the house with out walking back there..I was think of moveing the house closer to my house and deck so i can watch the pm closer up...THANKS

[CUL Lou~Mich]

Stanton21. Moving the housing closer to your house for better viewing is usually a good idea. Does this open the flight paths up any? Are the houses going to be more easily accessible for the PMs? Even though it's great to view them, one must also keep in mind what the housing is for. It's for the PMs, so one wants to make sure it's an improvement for the PMs before making changes. CUL Lou

[Guest]

well since i am going to start next spring,moveing the pm house closer to the house will open there flight range about 60ft in a 360deg to the nearest trees.In a nut shell in the middle of the yard and about 40yds from the house.I read somewere that they like being around people..

[rickluc]

Good to here from a couple of Hoosiers, stanton21 and 2jewells-In. I live on Lake Shafer. If the black birds have yellow around there eyes they are grackles. I have them too, but they don't bother the Martin House.
PS Is the SpellCheck down or is it my computer? Thanks