How does songbird presence influence a new PM colony?

Lozinger · Mon Mar 07, 2016 8:23 am

I've had feeders out all winter and have a pretty good songbird population in my backyard. (Titmice, house finches, downies and red bellied woodpeckers, lots of blue jays, etc.).

How will these influence a potential colony? Does having a lot of birds around signal safety to the martins, or do they prefer their own territory? I've seen no evidence of any hawk or predator attacks this winter.

Should I put the feeders away for spring, or keep them up?

Thanks!
Dave

avesrun · Mon Mar 07, 2016 8:44 am

That's your call as to whether to continue feeding birds; I quit feeding them 3 years ago in hopes of helping to get martins (still waiting). The main reason I quit feeding was to not attract House Sparrows. My house sparrow numbers have dropped significantly. The feeders will attract accipitor raptors whether you see them or not. But then again, I'm not feeding birds and had a sharp-shinned hawk swoop down and fly off with a starling I shot yesterday! The hawks are everywhere; feeders or no feeders; but the feeders definitely attract them moreso. Good luck on your decision. I miss feeding birds and may restart one day if the martins come and nest............
timG

Archer · Mon Mar 07, 2016 8:44 am

As long as you keep the songbirds out of your housing, I don't see a problem. House sparrows, and starling can be devastating to a colony. Establishing a new colony with them around will be very difficult. If you do not have house sparrows and starlings, I see no reason to take down the feeder. Each location has its own dynamics.

Ladybug · Mon Mar 07, 2016 12:54 pm

Lozinger:
A very good question. I am sure lots people have thought about this before, myself included with no real answers.
Thanks so much for sharing.

2012- 1 pair- 5 eggs, 4 fledged.
prior--since - Still waiting.
2016- Hope this is Our Magic Year for PMs.
1 House + 2 poles=racks- 8 Gourds. J.

DornCounty · Mon Mar 07, 2016 2:40 pm

I feed a lot and have had no issues. Just have to keep them out of the housing.

John Carter · Mon Mar 07, 2016 3:48 pm

I feed year round especially to draw the sparrows as I trap year round too. With the sparrow traps and the starling motel I have very little problems when the martin housing is opened for the season. I am working on a life sized scarecrow as a starling deterrent...don't know when I will ever get it done. We do enjoy the songbirds as well as the martins. I have had a problem with a bully bluebird in one of the gourds....we moved the gourd to the flower garden, he was happy and raised a brood .

Sharon - Central TX · Mon Mar 07, 2016 3:57 pm

We feed a lot of songbirds but limit our seed to the type house sparrows don't like, as in millet. We try to discourage our neighbors from feeding it as well by educating them on how it attracts house sparrows and the damage they can inflict. We along with several of our neighbors have put out a bluebird trail and they certainly don't want to put up with house sparrows either. We put out Niger seed for the finches and instead of sunflower seed, which sprouts on the ground, we use safflower for the cardinals, titmice, chickadees, etc. The doves eat what falls to the ground. This type of seed attracts the birds we like and the house sparrows don't like it.
I don't know that it attracts Hawks because we have always had them. Before we put up our Martin housing, we were feeding the songbirds and have never stopped.
I wouldn't give it up unless I felt strongly that feeding the songbirds was a cause for more Hawks. That is something you have to decide for yourself.

Jose Rodriguez · Mon Mar 07, 2016 9:41 pm

I'm no professional by any means on Martins. This is only our third year with Martins. I can say this, we love our song birds. We've always had them in our backyard for the past 25 years we have lived here. They come because of all our bird feeders we have that are always full and bird baths. We have chickadees, rens, mocking birds, blue jays, cardinals, morning doves and much more! We enjoy them immensely as we do our Martins. I'm figuring the more bird eyes we have out there to sound the alarm of an approaching hawk the better chances everyone has of escaping. Mind you our gourds are right behind our backyard about 80' but it is load with song birds! Best of luck to you!