Another question from a landlord wanna be

omyakinback · Wed Apr 25, 2012 7:44 pm

In my 1st year have a 12 home made gourd rack and gourds, six room house with gourds underneath. Have kept starlings and ho sp at bay with gun, kinda fun shooting them isn't it? Great open space and I think it's a great location, near a lake. Have several bb houses in place. In fact a pair has already raised one family in one of the bb houses. My question is this, the bbs love to sit atop the gourd rack and hunt,which they sit on it a lot, but they never go into the gourds or attempted to build in them but does this scare away the sy martins. I had a sy Martin fly around this afternoon while the bb was there and never attempted to light. Thank you in advance for your help.

rrmartins · Wed Apr 25, 2012 7:59 pm

I've never had BB, but good luck to you.

Guest · Wed Apr 25, 2012 8:09 pm

Blue birds and PM's are very compatible. My blue birds use the martin racks all day as a perch to catch bugs, the martins sit right next to them at times. A few days ago a blue bird chased a pair of tree swallows off the gourd rack. Sometimes, they will also early warn of a hawk attack.

Good luck,

John

GeneP · Wed Apr 25, 2012 9:09 pm

Don't worry that visiting martins don't land right away. It's not unusual for them to fly by to take a look. If you've got the Dawnsong, use it to draw them to your site. As long as you've got them coming by you've got a chance at becoming a landlord.

lcline85 · Wed Apr 25, 2012 9:21 pm

I want to wish you good luck! I am in the same spot as you right now!

My BB's like to sit on top of my house too, it's the highest vantage point and I have read that it shouldnt be a problem. However how far away is your BB nest? My Blues are very tolerant of other birds being around their nest (I wish they wouldnt be honestly) But some Blue males are VERY protective of the immediate 20-30 ft around their nest. And in that case they will chase off other birds.

bwenger · Wed Apr 25, 2012 9:46 pm

I have used a 10' piece of electrical conduit and drilled a 5/16 or 3/8" hole through the one end and put a perch on it. The perch can be a simple as a small branch, piece of bamboo, or a driveway marker. I keep it from moving by using silicone around it.

I place this out in the yard away from my martin housing and allows the bb's and tree swallows to perch there, versus on the martin rack. Even though they do sit on the martin rack, they split the time between the two, so that some shy martins may be more prone to land.

Good luck this year.

Bill

Ed Pace · Thu Apr 26, 2012 2:22 pm

If you are trying to start a new colony it is different than an existing one. BB's and TS's become more aggressive as their nesting conditions continue. Therefore they are apt to chase the female's away from a new colony the males seen to accept more aggression. For the first year keep your BB's and TS's far away from your housing. After you establish your colony they can leave closer to your housing without a problem.

Ed

TammyBears · Thu Apr 26, 2012 3:54 pm

I'm a newbie myself. My male bluebird and even my hummingbirds occasionally sit atop my castle perches.
Doesn't seem to bother my martins at all, and this is a first year site for them. Usually when the martins show up the BB takes off anyway.
But the BB has a prosperous nestbox (5 hatchlings!) about 60 yards away so he is no threat.