Is 20 feet too high

John Miller · Sat Mar 25, 2006 8:01 am

I seem to have become washed in purple spirit and engage in conversations about purple martins with lots of folks, making suggestions based on all our collective knowledge .

A question I've heard several times stumps me. Is 20 feet too high? Some folks who try unsuccessfully to get martins sometimes resort to raising housing this high.

I told one fellow it's a risk for storms, but that if he needed this height to get above flyway obstructions, then 20 feet in and of itself probably was not detrimental. I diplomatically added that his problem probably was his Heath House - ha. But I'm not confident that 20 feet is either more or less attractive to martins -- thoughts?

John Miller

Emil Pampell-Tx · Sat Mar 25, 2006 8:24 am

John, it depends upon if you need the 20ft to get above shrubbery, small trees, the rooftop of the house, or even small trees. The idea is to get above nearby objects..20ft is definitely not too high, I have seen them being used at 30 ft.

Now if you have a hugh open site with no trees or anything else, then there is no need whatsoever for a high pole...12 to 15 feet is plenty high...

CUL Lou~Mich · Sat Mar 25, 2006 8:31 am

John. Not to be a smart aleck, but I have a question. Don't birds fly higher than 20 feet?? Why would it matter to them if the housing is more than that? I don't think it would. I'd say the only problem would be the possibility of your pole bending in the slightest wind. CUL Lou

John Miller · Sat Mar 25, 2006 8:43 am

Thanks guys.

Emil if you think 20 feet in and of itself is not the reason this guy has been unsuccessful, then I correctly told him essentially what you've said. CUL Lou, yes, martins love to perch hundreds of feet up. But I've had two different guys tell me in the past year that one of their neighbors told them that the reason they don't have martins is because their house(s) is too high, so I was looking for some reassurance to tell folks not to listen to their neighbors, but to me - ha.
John M

RC Moser · Sat Mar 25, 2006 8:20 pm

I have a red barn as high as 40 foot atop of a TV telescoping pole, have 4 faithful pairs nest every season. It's braced to my detached garage at 16 foot. it's 20 foot at the low position. Seen pictures of the veteran's towers in LA as high as 80 Feet or more offering 600 or more cavities with trio housing, I wonder if it's still there? I agree you want at least 10 foot above any protruding objects IMO.

roblrich · Sat Mar 25, 2006 10:21 pm

The higher it is, the harder it falls.

rdhd · Sat Mar 25, 2006 11:11 pm

CUL Lou~Mich · Sun Mar 26, 2006 9:10 am

John. Although I'm NOT sure how high the tower was at Griggsville, it looked to be pretty high from the pictures I saw. When it was still being cared for, I understand there were many PMs living in it. I understand it's been allowed to fall into the category of S&S housing now, but I've never seen it in person, so not sure of that. Oh, there have also been a couple of reports of folks having housing on Citizens Band, or HAM radio towers also. CUL Lou

zoefluf · Mon Mar 27, 2006 12:42 am

My mom's octagonal house was 30' high with both PM's and bats living in it together every spring and summer for over 6 years. But Hurricane Katrina took it down on Aug. 29. It had a 2" heavy galvanized pole and it bent all the way to the ground. The house was broken up and scattered to the four winds!

Mom put up a new house but so far no PM's yet. Just some visitors. But the bats have returned and are very cozy in their brand new bat house.

Guss P O'Brien · Mon Mar 27, 2006 9:52 am

You have got to keep us updated on all the details with the bats and martins living together. Maybe it is not so special, but I've never read or heard of it. Maybe you could start a string with all the details you have about how they lived together on the same pole before Katrina hit. Any pictures or description of how they were arranged in the same housing?

electraglideman · Mon Mar 27, 2006 10:43 am

I don't have any trees in my yard but my all of my neighbors have very tall trees. I have a trio grandpaw thats on a 21 foot pole with two gourds hanging from the bottom and its full of martins. I have a troyer gourd rack thats only 15 feet away from the trio thats only 16 fet tall and there has never been a martin use it. The gourd rack is as far away from the trees as the trio and has many different kinds of gourds on it. I've had both the trio and the gourd rack for five years.

There could be only one reason the martins are not using the gourd rack.