For four years I lived in a condo development which had two purple martin poles with two aluminum houses mounted on them. The houses were the triangular shaped ones and there were several gourds hanging underneath. An elderly man, who lived across the pond from me, had erected the setup but performed a minimum of maintenance. He had some purple martin pairs in the AL houses and I think a tree swallow in one of the gourds. There were also starlings and house sparrows in some of the compartments. I moved and bought a house about five minutes away and go by the condo pond several times a day each day. Riding my bike by the pond today I noticed that the AL houses are just crammed with house sparrow or starling nests and the bottom of one compartment is actually being shoved out with all the nesting material that is crammed into it. It appears to me that maybe the elderly man is not able to care for the houses at all anymore or has moved or passed on. I am thinking of contacting the property management for the complex and asking if they would allow me to take over the maintenance of the purple martin setup. I have an idea that they would allow me to but then I would run into the problem of trying to rid the houses of the house sparrows and starlings. I think that I could take the houses down and remake them so that they had the crescent shaped entrances to keep out the starlings. Also, I might be able to rearrange the interiors so that there were less compartments but safer/larger ones for martins. I am wondering if I would run into public relations problems though in eliminating the house sparrow population that has built up. It is a good location for martins as there are two sizeable ponds and adequate open space PLUS they have had purple martins nesting there in the past. If anyone has had any experience with such problems or if anyone has any good ideas the how about sharing them with me.
Thanks is advance.
Carlton in DE
Your Help Is Requested
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Carlton
- Posts: 1959
- Joined: Tue May 17, 2005 6:42 pm
- Location: Florida/Deerfield Beach
- Martin Colony History: I moved to South Florida, from Delaware, in August of 2015.
I care for a 6 condo Sunset House as well as two Deluxe Gourd Racks, with 24 Chirpynest/Excluder gourds, along a canal in Pompano Beach, Florida.
At Quiet Waters Park, nearby in Deerfield Beach, I care for a Deluxe Gourd Rack with 12 TVG's. I also care for a Deluxe Gourd rack with 12 Excluder gourds with Modified Excluder entrances. I am substituting 6 Chirpynest boxes for 6 of the Conley II entranced gourds in 2026.
At another local park, Tradewinds Park in Coconut Creek, I care for a Trendsetter 12, 5 gourds rack with 60 Excluder gourds with Modified Excluder Entrances and 1 Deluxe Gourd Rack with 12 Troyer Vertical Gourds with Starling Stoppers over the Conley II's to keep out smaller starlings.
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John Miller
- Posts: 4866
- Joined: Mon Mar 22, 2004 9:11 pm
- Location: St. Louis, MO
Carlton
This sounds like a great opportunity to salvage a fading colony. I have a little experience in working with public sites, so here's some thoughts.
Contact the apartment management by letter and maybe send along some literature on purple martins. Contacting them "formally" indicates you are serious and professional. I'm betting they will welcome your offer. Follow your letter with a phone call. If they think you are a bird nut, assure them you are -- and that over one millon other "landlords" in the U.S. are as well.
Go into this this realizing you may only be able to manage the sparrows by non lethal means. I'd just mention to the apartment folks that one needs to control sparrows by nest removal, and that's enough said. If you close down the housing this winter and keep it closed until martins arrive, you'll eliminate many sparrows. Many folks find that sparrows shy away from natural gourds -- so hanging some under the housing may help out the martins.
This could be very rewarding for you personally and certainly for the martins. Maybe you can even get your community newspaper to do a story about the colony next spring.
John Miller,
St. Louis, Mo
This sounds like a great opportunity to salvage a fading colony. I have a little experience in working with public sites, so here's some thoughts.
Contact the apartment management by letter and maybe send along some literature on purple martins. Contacting them "formally" indicates you are serious and professional. I'm betting they will welcome your offer. Follow your letter with a phone call. If they think you are a bird nut, assure them you are -- and that over one millon other "landlords" in the U.S. are as well.
Go into this this realizing you may only be able to manage the sparrows by non lethal means. I'd just mention to the apartment folks that one needs to control sparrows by nest removal, and that's enough said. If you close down the housing this winter and keep it closed until martins arrive, you'll eliminate many sparrows. Many folks find that sparrows shy away from natural gourds -- so hanging some under the housing may help out the martins.
This could be very rewarding for you personally and certainly for the martins. Maybe you can even get your community newspaper to do a story about the colony next spring.
John Miller,
St. Louis, Mo
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Dick Sherry
- Posts: 774
- Joined: Wed Nov 12, 2003 5:30 pm
- Location: Tulsa, OK
It sounds like a challenge, but one worth undertaking. The house you described with the floor bulging open sounds like a Heath house. They are one of the cheapest houses in price, but are lacking in many features that allow for managing a colony. If you are given the go-ahead to manage the site, you may want to consider replacing those houses with ones made by a better manufacturer. If you can't replace them, then you might consider modifying them to end up with houses that have the following:
* Secured floors so they won't open and drop a martin nest to the ground.
* Some form of Starling Resistant Entrance to keep out the starlings.
* Double compartments by drilling a hole in every other partition.
* Hinged doorways so you can remove non-martin nests and conduct
nest checks on the martins.
* Add porch dividers.
I have taken care of a martin colony at a city park for about 15 years. Starlings have not been a problem, but house sparrows have. It is a Trio/Nature House 12-room house, so the Spare-o-Door trap they make has been invaluable in eliminating sparrows that try to nest in the house. You can be discreet in removing and eliminating them. When people ask about it, I just tell them about the martins and the problems the sparrows cause, and they usually accept that. If you stay with the Heath house, there should be small insert traps you can use. By taking a thin piece of aluminum, you can make an adapter with a 1and 3/8" hole in it, and put it over the entrance. This will let the sparrow in so it can enter the insert trap, but keep martins out.
I strongly recommend the porch dividers. Two years ago, I used them to separate all the rooms, and each of the last two nesting seasons there have been 10 active nests out of the 12 rooms. This house is in a park with a small lake, so it sounds similar to the location you described.
Good luck with this project. It is very satisfying to see a successful colony that you have a hand in managing, even if it is not in your own yard.
* Secured floors so they won't open and drop a martin nest to the ground.
* Some form of Starling Resistant Entrance to keep out the starlings.
* Double compartments by drilling a hole in every other partition.
* Hinged doorways so you can remove non-martin nests and conduct
nest checks on the martins.
* Add porch dividers.
I have taken care of a martin colony at a city park for about 15 years. Starlings have not been a problem, but house sparrows have. It is a Trio/Nature House 12-room house, so the Spare-o-Door trap they make has been invaluable in eliminating sparrows that try to nest in the house. You can be discreet in removing and eliminating them. When people ask about it, I just tell them about the martins and the problems the sparrows cause, and they usually accept that. If you stay with the Heath house, there should be small insert traps you can use. By taking a thin piece of aluminum, you can make an adapter with a 1and 3/8" hole in it, and put it over the entrance. This will let the sparrow in so it can enter the insert trap, but keep martins out.
I strongly recommend the porch dividers. Two years ago, I used them to separate all the rooms, and each of the last two nesting seasons there have been 10 active nests out of the 12 rooms. This house is in a park with a small lake, so it sounds similar to the location you described.
Good luck with this project. It is very satisfying to see a successful colony that you have a hand in managing, even if it is not in your own yard.