Once a colony is established in your yard, it will continue to grow year after year, and likely so will your enthusiasm. Perhaps you can even encourage others in your neighborhood to erect purple martin houses of their own. Or how about your local park or schoolyard?
This flyer is intended to offer the most up-to-date information on attracting these cherished birds to your yard. Good luck!
LOCATION
This is your most important decision. Houses must be situated so they can be easily seen from the air and there must be clear, unobstructed flight available to and from the house. This usually means the most open area in your yard away from large trees. If you have several possible sites available and wish to erect only one house, choose the location that offers the easiest access for the birds, as well as the best view of potential feeding grounds, such as a large open lawn area. Large fields and lakes are also good feeding areas for purple martins.' If you like to sleep late, choose a site away from your bedroom since purple martins begin their melodious chirping right at dawn each day. Although purple martins do not mind nesting near human activity, locating the house away from busy areas will help ensure success.
HEIGHT ABOVE GROUND
Purple martin houses are generally mounted at heights ranging from 8 feet to as high as 30 feet above ground but, for practicality, the 12 to 15 feet range is adequate. You will find that most commercial mounting posts are adjustable up to a height of 14 feet. Some commercial mounting posts are designed to be cemented directly into the ground, while others come with a ground socket which allows quick and easy removal of the post from the ground if necessary. Posts can also be mounted directly to the side of your house, much like a TV antenna. The best post designs are those that allow the house to be lowered without tipping it sideways. One such design is a telescoping post that comes in several sections that slip inside each other once a locking key is removed. Some houses are designed to allow the post to slide directly through the center of the house, and a pulley and small winch lowers the house straight down. This is the best, but most expensive, design. Lowering the house in this manner is important for replacing fallen young, evicting unwanted guests such as starlings and English sparrows, and for annual inspections and cleaning during the off-season. The house could also be lowered even while occupied with purple martins in the event of a hurricane or tropical storm, although many poles are advertised as
- being able to withstand winds up to 85 miles per hour.
HOUSE OPTIONS
Commercial, pre-fabricated, aluminum purple martin houses are unequivocally your best choice. Aluminum houses are light-weight, highly durable, and heat reflective. Most have flip-up compartment fronts for easy cleaning, and guard rails to help prevent young birds from falling off the outside porch. White, baked-on enamel finish and cross ventilation help keep the compartments cool.
Your second choice could be a wood house, but these are generally heavy and require more maintenance than aluminum houses. Lightweight redwood and cedar houses are sometimes sold commercially but one distinct disadvantage is that woodpeckers seem fond of the loud, resonating sound made by drilling away at the roof of wood houses.
Finally, your third choice could be gourds. These are the earliest man-made purple martin houses and were used by American Indians to entice martins to nest near their villages. Purple martins were useful for keeping hawks and crows away from food growing or hanging near their lodges as well as eating flying insects around their cultivated crops. Natural and commercial plastic gourds have some disadvantages. Natural gourds will usually only last one season in the humidity of South Florida, so this requires you to grow or purchase new gourds each year. Also, there is no effective way to attach guard rails to gourds to help keep young birds from falling out. In short, gourds are not recommended for use in South Florida. If you do, however, wish to give gourds a try, drill a 2-inch hole in the middle of one side for .the entrance, and mount the gourd so that the hole faces into the prevailing winds (east or southeast) for cooling. Also be sure to drill several small holes in the bottom for drainage.
OTHER CONSIDERATIONS
When researching the various styles and sizes of purple martin houses, remember to look toward the future. If you plan to erect only one house, it may be wise to start out initially with a 24-compartment house. You will find that most commercial houses have either 12 or 24 compartments. A 12-compartment house can become fully occupied in just a few seasons but, if room allows, you can erect additional houses every few years to keep your purple martin colony growing. Prices for 12-compartment aluminum houses generally range from $60 to $140, while 24-compartment houses cost from $230 to over $300. If they seem rather pricey, keep in mind that they will last for many years, and the enjoyment that you will receive from your very own nesting colony of purple martins is priceless. This is not to mention the great benefit you will be offering to the birds.
Some enthusiasts feel that additional perching space makes homes more enticing to purple martins. Many aluminum houses come pre-equipped with perches mounted on the roof of the house but, if you desire to offer them additional perching space, the most convenient item is an old TV antenna. Simply mount it on a post in the vicinity of the martin house.
Be sure to have the house cleaned and erected by early January before the first scouts arrive. In humid areas like South Florida, it is best to remove all old nest material at the end of each season and clean each compartment with soap and water. Before birds arrive, be sure to check the house thoroughly for wasp nests. DO NOT USE PESTICIDES! If you find wasps, blast them out with the garden hose. Some commercial houses come with entrance hole covers to eliminate access to the compartments during the off-season. Still, however, wasps may build nests on the roof overhang or beneath the house.
For purple martin houses and accessories, call The Brown Company (ACB Nature Products) toll free for a free catalog: 1-800-556-7670.
