Gourd Rack Location in Relation to Older House

[mrigney]

Hi everyone,

I'm new to the PM game. My parents had a colony when I was a kid. When my wife and I moved out to the acreage we're on now, my parents gave me an old house they have. Unsure of the brand or history of it. I think it has 16 compartments, but not positive and it's dark outside so I can't see it. We put the house up last summer before we moved out to the property. We weren't living here, but visited the property regularly, and thought I saw some PM visitors on ocassion.

Given the age of the house, and being unsure what martins really preferred, we went ahead and bought a gourd system to supplement the existing house this year to try to improve the chances of a colony. It just got here yesterday (8 Super Gourds and a 12 gourd rack system) and we're hoping to get it up asap.

My question: how close in relation to the existing house should I put the gourds? Overall space is not a problem. We live on 17 acres, and about 9 out of it pasture. The house right now is probably 100' from the house and probably 50-75' from a clump of scrubby bushes and young pine trees (the clump is from where some dirt work must've been done years ago and piled thing sup into a 20' diameter clump). Just trying to get optimal placement to maximize our chances of attracting some visitors this year. Thanks in advance for the help!

[Whippy]

I hope others chime in with better details but, I will tell you how I have mine set up. I have a 1/4 acre back yard. My entire home is 1/2 acre. My gourd rack is in the middle of my main back yard and I put my Trio and T-14 about 30 feet away. Only reason was for space limitations and position availability. My T-14 and Trio are 7 feet apart - the poles are 8 feet. I was thinking of eventually removing the Trio and leaving the T-14 which is why I put them so close but, after watching them jump from house to house and all the fun they were having doing that, I just left them both.

Based on what I've experienced, it doesn't appear that distance has a magical number. A lot of folks place them where they can get their mowers and tractors in between others do it with space limitations.

I was trying to add a photo but for some reason that isn't working for me now. I'll try to add one later.

Good to have you aboard.

Coolwhips

[deancamp]

Mine are 15' to 20' apart, but that was just my preference. 10' foot is not to close. I think I would put the new rack within 20' with keeping in mind the best place to view them from your deck or wherever it is you will want to set and enjoy them. If there is anyway you can get an areal view of your setup it would help with recommendations. Good Luck!

[Spiderman]

Mine are 15' to 20' apart, but that was just my preference. 10' foot is not to close. I think I would put the new rack within 20' with keeping in mind the best place to view them from your deck or wherever it is you will want to set and enjoy them. If there is anyway you can get an areal view of your setup it would help with recommendations. Good Luck!

This is The right answer. Ten to twenty feet apart.

They are communal birds and want to be pretty close to each other.

More eyes to watch for predators from all different directions.

[Dave Reynolds]

... My poles at my Satellite Site are 20 feet apart,, I used that number because I had lots of room to put them in... At my house, I have them about 10 to 12 feet apart... Good Luck

Dave

[randyM]

My colony is comprised of 15 housing units and gourd racks combined. Each unit is about 20 feet from the nearest unit with the base of houses or racks at 10'-12' from the ground. Units range from 35'-120' from my house and 40'-150' from the nearest tree row. Martins at my colony tend to more frequently nest in the units located closer to my house and most distant from trees, however all 15 units had at least 1 successful nest last season. Based on that info, I'd suggest you place your new gourd rack at least 20' from your existing bird house and in the opposite direction away from your brush/tree clump and if possible in the direction closer to your home.

Good luck this season!

[mrigney]

Hey! Thanks for all the useful replies. Here's a satellite view of the relevant part of our property. I've marked the location of our old house with a red dot. The columns of shrubs/trees to the east/west are 70-90' away from the current location. Was thinking of putting the gourds at the magenta dot. That would give us good viewing from our covered back porch on the west end of the house.

Any thoughts? Hoping to get the base of the pole set tomorrow or Monday before we get a deluge of rain later this week.


Tried attaching a picture and it told me the file was too large. Here's a link to the image I was trying to attach: https://photos.app.goo.gl/bV9CJB9kibMCspzy8

[deancamp]

I think your placement is good to go. Lots of open flyways and good visibility from your porch. Good Luck filling it up!

[Badger]

I have 48 gourds on 2 poles. When I installed my second pole I placed it about 25" from the first pole. This give them plenty of fly room and if the wind would blow 1 down it would not hit and knock the second pole down. Hope this helps a little.