How far to place Martin house from my house?

[Conrad Baker]

I read that Martin houses should be no more than 100 feet from my house, but my plan was to put the four houses, in a row 30 feet apart on my back property line. This would place them about 125 feet from my house. There are no trees or wires within 300 feet of the proposed site, so I made a perch out of half-inch pvc which has four pipes(crossed arrangement 6 foot long), on top of that (12 inches higher) four pipes
4 feet long, all on top of a 14 foot pole. I plan on putting the perch in the middle of the four houses.
Is this house setup too far from my house (the only thing behind the PM houses is a large sugar cane field. Should I move the houses closer to my house, and/or arrange them in a diamond arrangement or straight line? Any hints or suggestions would be appreciated.
On my previous post about eliminating the slippery floors, I put some 3M no slip in some compartments, and the rubber no slip matting in the others. I will report after this season (hopefully), which worked the best.

[John Atteberry]

Hello Conradbaker,
That should be OK but the martins like it closer to your house! I know of some colonies that are 150-200 ft. away from there houses and have martins! Just make sure your out there everyday or as much as you can so they get to know you and you know them better! I think personally that they like it when we check on them to make sure everything is ok with their nest! I check everyday after work at night and on the weekends in the morning and night! They got real friendly with me that the females stayed on the nest while I opened up the gourds are compartment doors! I touched their heads and neck with my fingers while they stayed on their nests! So they get real tame with you if you spend alot of time with them! I really like the sound of your site and think you will get a load of martins this year! My only question is why 30 feet apart? I have mine 8 feet apart and they love it! Try putting them 10 feet apart! I think they will love it being that close to each other as a colony! Plus it will give more room to expand your colony when your housing or gourds fill up! I have my three racks 8 feet apart in a row too 4-5 feet from my lake and gazebo! Thanks and good luck this year Conradbaker! John!

[Lane Stout]

With all your open space you should not have any trouble getting takers. Many agree that about 60 feet is the *ideal* distance to place housing from one's own home as martins really like being around humans.

With the houses placed closer to your patio, deck or back porch, viewing will be easier and also in better range to shoot any S&S from a convenient window with a pellet gun if needed.

Your perching pole/rods will be used if the birds have no other tall structures to sit upon. Good luck and keep us posted on your efforts and results.

[Conrad Baker]

The only reason they will be about 30 feet apart is that I was going to space them out evenly across the back property line. I haven't put the mounting pipes in the ground yet, so I can just about put them wherever I want. Do you think a diamond pattern with the perch in the middle would be better?

[Lane Stout]

Do you think a diamond pattern with the perch in the middle would be better?

If you have an open flyway (which it sounds that you do) it probably makes little difference. Place them to suit the look you like the most. I have seen photos of successful multi-house colonies ranging from straight rows to staggered and even seemingly random placement.

[John Miller]

I'd not be concerned about measuring x feet out. Martins love a house way out in the open. Many golf course sites are hundreds of feet from a human house. I suspect martins know to look for housing in proximity to areas where human houses dot the landscape, and they probably would avoid a site in a natural area where predators are numerous. As John said, martins also will get a little more tame if the house is closer in and you walk under it often. Closer allows you to montior for problems. But I enjoy a house situated pretty far out in the open where I can better watch them soar.

John Miller

[klcretired]

conradbaker,
My PM Housing & Gourd rack both are only 25 ft from My House that I live in and i get Martins every year, There are also alot of large Oak trees around my back yard and in all of my adjoining neighbors yards as well. In fact I have a S&S repeating trap standing right by one of my Oak trees not 20 ft from all my PM Housing....anyway i said all that to say this, don't be discouraged if you don't have all that room that is talked about, use what you do have and place your housing in the middle or the most clear area and i'm sure you will get martins , Oh , and i like all my housing being so close so i can monitor everything easily in case of potential problems and of course it makes takin' pictures easy tooo.

[LarryMelcher/KY]

Just my experience with martins close to buildings...
I don't think it is that important. Like Lane pointed out, the best reason to have your housing close to your home is for monitoring reasons. Starlings are very sneaky and if you have a window to sneak a shot, that is a definate plus.

BUT,
I manage colonies at 2 public locations, and Starlings that are building in the eaves of buildings are causing me problems. My project at Bernheim Forest... we have 3 sites we are trying. The one site that I thought would not work, was out in a nice wide open space but no buildings close by. This was the one that attracted the first nesting pair.

So I feel like the most open spot is best. Straight line or a pattern, but keeping them at least 30 feet to as close as 15 feet from one another creates one big colony working together to keep the skies safe.

[Emil Pampell-Tx]

I think any distance is fine except that if you have a 2-story house, you want to stay far enough away so the hawks cannot surprise the martins. As long as the pole is taller than the house, you are ok near the house.

I have my poles only about 30 to 40 ft fom the house, and I put them near so that I could shoot any pesky sparrow or starling that I am unable to trap, so a small window near the poles helps me control the S&S

[Al Denton]

My setup is 25 ft. from my house right outside of a room we spend most of our time in. I can see and hear things better from there, and I can also get a good shot at scoundrels through a cracked window there. There is also a 60 year old Japanese Maple within 25 ft. but it's barely higher than my setup. The other front yard birds seem to like it for cover. Other than that my setup site is open with great flyways. They seem to like it close to us.

[Guest]

I too had my slum house close to the house ,maybe 25' and only 8' to a small storage building and they like it fine.

I found that the PM's are daymmmm good pilots and do some great antics/rolls when needed.

dick

[Guest]

Our racks are within 10-20' from our house which is located on a saltwater canal. Available real estate to plant racks is very limited.

The house towers 25' or more over the gourd racks. Luckily, I have not seen a hawk or kestrel attack from the roof. The martins have a clear flyway in 3 directions. Last year, an adult male used to sit on our deck railing and supervise the closest gourd rack. I could open the back door, walk by and he would stay put.

We are able to observe all martin activity from our living room and take some great airgun shots at HOSP and starlings!

Sue
City by the Sea, TX

[Guest]

Conrad; You will enjoy your new hobby if you can see and hear your PM's. If you place your housing 125 feet away, your going to miss out on a lot of entertainment. Sparrows and Starlings will come and you'll want to be able to monitor these pests and remove them from your colony. Housing 125 feet away will not be an easy shot. I would place your housing in a diamond. Over the years I've had hawks make passes thru my colony. The hawk does his best to come in from blind area. If all of your houses are in a straight line you'll have most (if not all) of the compartment openings lined up. In a diamond shape these openings will cover more of the compass directions and more likely to have a PM see the hawk before he gets to your site. We're all in danger during the Spring when our colony populations are very low and there aren't a lot of PM eyes looking around. I am lucky; the hawks do move on north so I'm not hammered all season long.

[floridasunshinegoddess]

Back in the 80's, I lived in a mobile home and had a martin house about 10 ft from my bedroom window. The house was higher than my MH and there was good flyspace in all 4 directions.

The martins were as happy as could be and I never had any hawks bother them either.

It was great to be able to look out my window and watch everything close hand!

[LarryL-MN]

Hi Conrad. I would stay away from the trees but don't be afraid of the wires. I think wires are a hugh plus for a martin colony. My martins use the wires exclusively, even though I have lots house perches available. I have all my housing staggered so they can take full advantage of the wires. They love them.