High wind

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Trosl1
Posts: 3
Joined: Wed Feb 17, 2021 7:57 pm
Location: Gonzales, La

At what wind speed to you lower your Martin houses. How low to lower the house
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C.C.Martins
Posts: 3177
Joined: Fri Apr 14, 2017 11:15 am
Location: Corpus Christi Tx
Martin Colony History: 2016- Visitors.
2017- 5 pair. 15 fledged
2018- 18 pair. 85 fledged
2019- 17 pair. 81 fledged
2020- 25 pair. 111 fledged
2021- 28 pair. 118 fledged
2022- 33 pair. 151 fledged
2023- 33 pair. 165 fledged
2024- 40 pair. 185 fledged
2025:
HOSP: 3 Starlings: 10
Home colony: mix natural, super, Troyer and excluder gourds, enlarged compartment house. All SREH.

Satellite colony: Oso Bay Preserve: 36 PMCA excluder gourds, 4 natural gourds; 16 room Lonestar Goliad with Modified Excluder entrances.
2019: Visitors
2020: 3 pair, 11 fledged
2021: 10 pair, 30 fledged
2022: 11 pair, 35 fledged
2023: 18 pair, 101 fledged
2024: 39 pair, 181 fledged
2025:
PMCA member

Guess it depends on your pole type and house. And your comfort level.
Its always windy in corpus, and I rarely raise them all the way up.
Keeps me from raising and lowering all the time.

I will lower at 45mph gusts and over, half way even a bit lower if necessary. Martins do not miss a beat.

Hope this helps.
A good house sparrow is a dead house sparrow.
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flyin-lowe
Posts: 3695
Joined: Wed Mar 29, 2006 8:49 am
Location: Indiana/Henry Co.

Let us know what type of housing you have as well as the poles. I have 2 T 14's that are on 4 1/2 inch round steel poles. I could leave them up year round and they won't budge. I have two AAA gourd racks on 2 inch square aluminum poles and if there are gusts over 30 MPH I'll lower them a few feet. If it is calling for more than that I'll go a little lower.
2025 HOSP count-7
2024 60 pair, HOSP count-44
2023 60+ pair, HOSP count-8
2022 60 nests with 262 eggs, HOSP count-14
2021 62 nest fledged aprox. 230, HOSP count-9
2020 42 nest, Fledged 164, HOSP count-8
2019- 31 Pair over 100 fledged
2018- 15 pair 49 fledged
2017 3 SY pair nested, 12 eggs total, fledged 10. 4 additional lone SY's
2016 1 pair fledged 4
2015 Visitors
2014 Visitors
2013 Moved 6 miles away, 1 pair fledged 2.
2012 30 pair fledged 100.
2011 12 pair 43 fledged.
2010 5 pair 14 fledged.
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brent
Posts: 1160
Joined: Sat Feb 10, 2018 2:43 pm
Location: Raceland, Louisiana

I have 16’ poles and keep the houses 2 feet lower because the weather can change instantly. I will lower them an additional 2’ if extreme winds are predicted and they are for tonight and tomorrow. See photos. Might go an additional foot just in case. Brent
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Brent
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Dave Reynolds
Posts: 2374
Joined: Mon Jan 31, 2011 4:35 pm
Location: Little Hocking, Oh.
Martin Colony History: 2017 Visitors
Satellite Site “Oxbow Golf Course”..
2018 - 15 Pair, 58 Eggs, 36 Fledged
2019 - 26 Pair, 128 Eggs, 97 Fledged
2020 - 30 Pair, 156 Eggs, 137 Fledged
2021 - 30 Pair, 162 Eggs, 144 Fledged
2022 - 27 Pair, 146 Eggs, 125 Fledged
2023 - 31 Pair, 157 Eggs, 130 Fledged
2024 - 41 Pair, 212 Eggs, 198 Fledged

Home Site "Little Hocking, Ohio".
2019 - 1 Pair, 5 Eggs, 5 Fledged
2020 - 1 Pair, 4 Eggs, 4 Fledged
2021 - 8 Pair, 39 Eggs, 36 Fledged
2022 - 13 Pair 64 Eggs, 46 Fledged
2023 - 16 Pair, 89 Eggs, 84 Fledged
2024 - 22 Pair, 111 Eggs, 104 Fledged

,, I lower mine if the wind gust get up in the 30 MPH range,, I lower them as low as I can,, Sometimes only 4 feet from the ground…. Good Luck…

Dave
PMCA Member
Little Hocking, Ohio
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brent
Posts: 1160
Joined: Sat Feb 10, 2018 2:43 pm
Location: Raceland, Louisiana

Really Dave? That low? I was always afraid to lower them lower than what I stated but with extreme winds possible tomorrow I might lower them a lot more. Thanks for the information. I’d hate for the houses to be blown down. Brent
Brent
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Thomas Maddox
Posts: 438
Joined: Fri Jun 25, 2021 5:23 pm
Location: Sulphur, Louisiana

Brent, I never lower mine. Last Spring we had a few days of 60+ gusts and a few other days of sustained 30 mph winds without issue. Now this is with a 3" square aluminum pole. I added a 2" square aluminum pole this year, but it just has 8 gourds on it. During hurricane Laura, back when I had only an S&K house, I left it up(I was really a poor landlord back then.lol). We had sustained winds of 160+ and it was fine(the house was at its highest level). Honestly though, I think I'm going to quit chancing it. It doesn't take long to lower them and the PMs don't really mind for more than a couple of minutes.
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flyin-lowe
Posts: 3695
Joined: Wed Mar 29, 2006 8:49 am
Location: Indiana/Henry Co.

TrosI, you may or may not know this but once you have martins at your site you don't want to lower the housing after dark. Get them down during the daylight hours or leave them up and hope for the best.
2025 HOSP count-7
2024 60 pair, HOSP count-44
2023 60+ pair, HOSP count-8
2022 60 nests with 262 eggs, HOSP count-14
2021 62 nest fledged aprox. 230, HOSP count-9
2020 42 nest, Fledged 164, HOSP count-8
2019- 31 Pair over 100 fledged
2018- 15 pair 49 fledged
2017 3 SY pair nested, 12 eggs total, fledged 10. 4 additional lone SY's
2016 1 pair fledged 4
2015 Visitors
2014 Visitors
2013 Moved 6 miles away, 1 pair fledged 2.
2012 30 pair fledged 100.
2011 12 pair 43 fledged.
2010 5 pair 14 fledged.
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Phil01
Posts: 291
Joined: Wed Apr 29, 2020 6:42 pm
Location: Fernandina Beach FL
Martin Colony History: 34 Cavities offered.
24 unit gourd rack with Troyer Horizontal and Vertical Gourds. Sunset Inn aluminum house with 4 Troyer Horizontal Gourds.

2020- 1 pair, 4 eggs, fledged 3
2021- 3 pair, 15 eggs, fledged 8
2022- 5 pair, 26 eggs, fledged 21
2023- 10 pair, 53 eggs, fledged 27
2024- 26 pair, 125 eggs, fledged 83
PMCA Member

I keep mine a couple feet down all season. When wind is gonna be sustained above 30 or severe thunderstorms are predicted I’ll lower them halfway.. The Martins don’t care. I really should just leave them halfway, but they look sooooo cool raised… lol
Phil
PMCA member
Fernandina Beach, FL
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Thomabear
Posts: 468
Joined: Tue Jun 02, 2020 10:10 am
Location: Cut Off, Louisiana

I got tired of raising and lowering and really couldn’t be around 24/7 to monitor weather since I have racks at my home and camp that’s about 3-1/2 hours away. Now I just leave both down a couple of feet, leaving the lower entrances at 10 feet and the upper entrances at 14 feet. My The setups are Troyer K24 and K19 gourd racks with all chirpynests installed on both. Both poles are 3 inches in diameter and cemented in 24 inches with 3-60 pound bags of concrete each. They both experience the occasional high winds and haven’t budged. Both units are fully occupied and the birds don’t mind a bit.
2019- 6 Pair, 30 Fledged
2020- 8 Pair, 32 Fledged
2021- 10 Pair, 39 Fledged
HOSP count 130, Starlings 2
2022- 31 Pair, 146 Fledged
HOSP count to date 17, Starlings 1
2023- 28 Pair, 124 Fledged
HOSP count 47, Starlings 1
2024- 40 Pair, 192 Fledged
HOSP count 37,

PMCA Member
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Martintown33
Posts: 1203
Joined: Tue Jun 01, 2021 6:21 pm
Location: Laplace,La
Martin Colony History: Colony started in 1998. 2 s&k modified houses and gourd rack

Agree, martins don’t mind if you lower.. I usually go to about 10 to 9 feet in high winds.. it does depend on your pole strength, top weight, and how you have it cemented into the ground..
Rob
PMCA member
Laplace, La
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