Small,medium,or large colony?

[chickadee]

I miss the days where I had like 12 pair of martins. I was just more able to personally get to know them. Now with 68 pair I have the ones on the back of the Gemini that fly out and take off like stray cats. So just wondering what size colony's others have and prefer? And what number of birds is considered small medium or large size colony? And if you don't have martins yet please feel free to post what size of colony you are aiming for?

[MamaBruff]

OK, I will go first as a newbie... I think 32 is a good number!

My Trendsetter house and gourds will accommodate 16 pairs.... Heavenly in my mind... but there is plenty of room to add another house and gourds to total 32 compartments! I would like to have a vegetable and flower garden between the houses.

You have a good point about being personal with your purple friends; I don't think I would be happy with a large group.

Lucky you that you have a full house!!

[jr 2]

I have 38 compartments;;14 pair last year;;I have 2 more houses too redesign with 6 compartments each which will make 50 compartments;;that is my goal[50 pair]but I will settle with what I had last year;;;;;]neighbors are too close and all I have is a 40ft by 160ft. lot with house and out buildings;;;jr2

[JL Murray]

I had 25 pairs last year, this year have 50 gourds up...i plan to expand to anywhere from 60 to 72 gourds in the coming years and stop there

[4th Gen Martin Fan]

Mary,
I would like to have 20 pair. I feel that it would be sustainable as long as I do my part as a landlord and catastrophe does not intervene.
I would consider 20 pair to be a small colony but large enough to be sustainable.
Mark.

[wyatt]

I have 18 pair and that is perfect for me. I can manage it without it being too much work. The downside is having more martins show up than you can accommodate, but that would happen eventually anyway.

[Bulldog1]

Well 18 is going to have to do for me. At least until I am able to retire. I like to take pictures every time I do nest checks twice a week.

[Allan Day]

I have grown slowly to 72 gourds, I currently have a super system 36, expanded to 48 and an additional 24 two tiered circular rack.

I think 36- 48 would be optimal, where it's is less work. "Work" being the key word. I enjoy all my birds, but some times more is not always better. I'm not retired, If I was, I'd probably have 200

[Emil Pampell-Tx]

It all depends upon how much time you want to spend with them, and how personal you want to get with each pair. If you want to regularly babysit them intensely, then you do not want many pair. I don't name the martins, but I do number the gourds, I put the same gourd in the same place every time. My racks are homemade, so each gourd fits best where it was the previous year.

I have 250 gourds up, I spend a lot of time watching them, monitoring them, but if they seem to be ok, then I leave them alone. I have too many to do regular nest checks, but they seem to be able to take care of themselves in most situations. Rather than doing nest checks, I like to concentrate on improving each cavity so they can use them efficiently, safely, and quickly. I definitely would not recommend such a large colony for beginners, I would suggest you start slowly. I started in about 1969 so I feel comfortable with that many, but would like to stay at that level until I no longer can take care of them. The thought of reducing the colony and make them go to some substandard colony is offensive to me. I am happy right where I have been for about 15 years.

[John Miller]

whatever you choose, consider managing at least one other site -- perhaps at a park, retirement center or other locations, even if you have to buy the housing yourself. There is a VA Hospital here along the Mississippi river south of St. Louis called Jefferson Barracks. It's pretty well known. What a beautiful location it would be for a martin gourd rack. We might have to pester some administrator or grounds superintendent who has other priorities and considers us to be just a little nuts -- but go for.

John Miller

[Ed Gutshall]

I think where you live and how close your neighbors are makes a difference on how big a colony you can enjoy. Twenty or thirty pair make a lot of noise when the young are born and are being fed. I have two racks close together and one about 100 yards away. I enjoy having the two colonys more than I did just having a lot of gourds together on two racks. They act as two separate colonys, flying separate and coming in separate. The two racks that are 50 feet apart are actually one colony. I am satisfied with the 44 compatments that I now have and probably won't add any more. I got a pair the first year and have been enjoying them for 14 years. I took the advice from a lot of experanced people on this forum when I first got started. I will forever be thankful to them.

[Gobbler T]

I have 16 gourd's and I think that is all I'll ever have (full or not) Although a large colony is impressive to see, the noise of it all just seems to run together. You don't get to hear a single call clearly. Don't really know, I haven't been there yet!

[DornCounty]

16 is all I will have at home.. too loud otherwise... I echo John's comments about creating a public colony if you have the itch for more.

[Chuck4]

I plan to stay around 8-10 pairs. Anything above that would be too much for me to manage, and it would de-emphasize the birds personalities, which I like to follow.

[pmlover]

Mary I have 70 pairs similar to you and can relate to what your saying. I have some birds very tame and like you said others like a cat. I added another Gemini rack and 4 more gourds on one t-14 house. I now have 106 compartments for the little guys, However its a lot of work now.
I wish you luck whatever you do but this will be the maximum for me.
Dick

[Craig Dyer]

I had 40 pairs at my previous colony in Fort Worth. Have since moved & am starting over. I am aiming for 28 pairs (Goliad & Super Gourds). When I reach that number I will re-evaluate. I have more space (1/2 acre) at this new site.

One thing to consider are unintended consequences. My Fort Worth colony was in a residential neighborhood with neighbors close by. Forty pairs & their young can create one heck of a lot of bird droppings. My neighbors spent a lot of time washing their vehicles. Most were too polite to complain to my face.

[Louise Chambers]

Our sites (one at home, one at weekend site) are 45-50 pairs, in 3 gourd racks, and 30 some pairs, in 2 gourd racks. Two to three systems is plenty, to me, since we like to do weekly nest checks and keep records.

Size of colony has a lot to do with neighbors and lot sizes, as well as how much a landlord wants to invest in both time and money. And a lot of it is personal preference.

Mentoring other landlords, and/or managing a public site, is a great way to expand 'your' colony's size, as per John Miller:

whatever you choose, consider managing at least one other site -- perhaps at a park, retirement center or other locations, even if you have to buy the housing yourself.

[Diane Porter]

I have 8 gourds. Two years ago we had one pair, who raised three young. Last year we had 5 pairs. I am glad I didn't have more than 8 gourds on the rack, because the cable broke, and the rack came down on me, one of the aluminum struts crashing into my head and gashing my scalp. If I'd added another 8 gourds I might not have been able to get up from the ground after the crash.

Now I have changed the cable and installed a safety latch to keep it from doing that again. But I still think I'll keep that rack at 8 gourds. If those all get taken this year, I'm thinking I'd like another pole and rack, in better view from the living room.

So far, no martins here, but it's still cold. Pond is still frozen, grass still crunchy, and no bugs in the air.

[chickadee]

thanks for all the reply's. I am going to consider my colony a medium size. anything less then 40 a small colony and anything like Emils A large colony. I just have people ask me what size is it s,m,or large? so made me wonder. and this is where I want to be. because last year it was a lot more action in the sky and loader but I liked that part. but way much harder and took longer for nest checks. I have a state park with a body of water for boating 7 miles from my house. they always had martins. but last few years I noticed they had a few and was overran with sparrows and starlings. it is in front of some building. never nobody their. I have tried to find out who takes care of it. exactly how do you take care of another site when you are not always their? I figured that's why this one feel to pieces? but it is a good thought because it could need some help. I think last year 22 of their adult birds moved into my place because of the condition their.

[Dave Duit]

72 compartments available and had 45 pair last year. I decided that i would not go to 100 compartments because the numbers I have will be manageable and allow me to keep the colony healthy with nest checks, changes and end of year upkeep.