Which would you rather have?

[Guest]

I've had the typical S&K house up now for 3 yrs. with only 1 pair of martins each year. So am thinking of using gourds instead. If you were setting up a new site would you use ONLY gourds? Stay with house? Am interested in your thoughts on this. Thanks!

[Guest]

if you had martins, i would leave the old house and add to it. either a gourd rack or another type of house. if you remove the old house, the returning pair (if it's the same pair) might not like the new housing.

[Emil Pampell-Tx]

I doubt that the problem is the house. I would suspect that you have one of these conditions:

1) trees to close to your housing, because the 1 pair should attract a lot of martins. Maybe new martins don't like your site due to trees. Also, are the compartments 6x6in or did you enlarge them to 6x12inches..Martins like the 6x12 compartments, and its safer for them in owl protection

2)lack of martins in your area

I don't know which of those two it is, but it also could be something different...

[TreeGreenwood]

Starting out, you can't go wrong if you provide a variety of housing. Most colonies in my area are in traditional houses. Most of my first year PMs chose the S&K house but my ASY male and his mate moved over to a gourd. Like Defed, I recommend adding gourds either under the house or on a separate rack.

[~Patrick~]

I think it's important to make the transition slowly. I'm still waiting for martins to accept my new gourds, even though they hang just below a house they've used for 5 years. They fight over compartments and ignore the gourds. They are definitely imprinted on houses. Each year I'll add more gourds and take away more housing. I'd like to eventually have all gourds.

Patrick