Reconfirming Tree Swallow Distance from martin house!!

[BIOteacher012]

Just wondering......as I follow the Dan Drew Trihabitation protocol.....my tree swallow boxes are currently placed 35 to 37 feet from each of my martin poles. The TS are showing interest in one of those boxes. Will I get good protection from other TS at this distance. The website says 25 to 35 feet is key. Some forum members are mentioning 30 feet to be the key.

So, is my distance too much? I have already juggled some of these posts back and forth, but want to get this right. Your responses will be much appreciated.

Thanks!!

[flyin-lowe]

Have the TS started nesting at all yet? I am not sure if it is the height they prefer or what but before I had martins I had to leave my T14 down and blocked off or they would not start nesting in their own gourd. Once I saw them bringing feathers into the nest I would then raise the T14. Sometimes they would perch on it but they would no longer try to use the cavities. The distance you have should be fine but remember there are no absolutes when it comes to mother nature. Last year I had a pair of TS nest in a gourd on a Shepard's hook about 40 foot from my PM housing. Then I had TWO pair of TS nesting on the same gourd rack within 3 feet of each other. There is a huge TS population in my area so I guess when all else fails they will move in together.
I know it is frustrating but if you haven't seen any martins yet I would leave your PM housing down until the TS start nesting or until you see martins. If not they continue to show interest in your PM housing and if you open it up to soon then the TS will move to it and you will have to start over again.

[ThomasOutlaw]

There was a previous thread that had a lot of useful info on this particular subject... http://www.purplemartin.org/forum/viewt ... light=tres

[Bill Hyde]

Hey, Teach!

Don't sweat the small stuff. No matter what you do, it won't matter in the long run. Until the tree swallow pair actually starts egg laying, they seem to patrol a circular territory having about a 75-ft radius; and, to make matters worse, the male perches atop your martin house and tries to use it as his command center. If your setup didn't have an active pm colony last year, you may want to leave all the entrances closed, and put your TS gourd on a shepherd's hook near the martin pole. Then you wait.

Typically you wait until the first egg is laid in the TS gourd. Then you can move the shepherd's hook a few feet away from the martin pole. On successive days, you continue to move the shepherd's hook farther from the martin pole until you can place it roughly 35 feet from the martin pole. Then you wait some more . . . until you observe martins at your colony site. Tree Swallows tend to defend a smaller territory once they have eggs in their nest. You can open up some entrances once the TS pair has eggs in the nest.

All of the second paragraph is subject to change if you had a nesting pair of martins last year, or if some ASY martins show an interest in your colony site. In that case, the tree swallows will usually become good neighbors to your martins after putting up one or two brief challenges.