Educating Martins ?
Maybe they just need more time. I have used metal houses, plastic gourds for some years now with good success. I just bought 6 more new plastic gourds that have the Clinger entrances in them. I replaced two of the oldest gourds with some of the new ones for a quick try out. We have 7 Martins now and closely watching mornings and evenings for 3 days now NO Martin has even tried to get in the Clinger holes yet ! Ditto for a old gourd that has the crescent shape hole also. All the others are round ones which I want to change soon. I put on perches at the bottom of the entrance level to even make it easier for them and intend to put on the Clinger plates as soon as the birds get onto using the new gourds. They have been in and out of ALL the other holes many times so far. Maybe they look and smell too new ! Maybe this will all change when more birds come. Lots of maybe's !! Sound familiar ? Thanks. *BW*
Retsub
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Donnie Hurdt MN
- Posts: 1723
- Joined: Sun Feb 15, 2004 11:14 pm
- Location: North Prairie, MN
All I can say is hang in there they will learn to go in the clinger entrance just like they learned to go in cresant entrances.
PMCA member and Martin fanatic....
2011 A pair of subbies fledged three young but none returned in 2012
2015 One Pair of subbies came and stayed a few nits but got chased away by Bluebirds and Tree swallows.
2017 0ne pair of subbies nested and fledged 4 young
2018 Tree Swallows AGAIN chased away any martins that wanted to nest
2019 Same old story................
2011 A pair of subbies fledged three young but none returned in 2012
2015 One Pair of subbies came and stayed a few nits but got chased away by Bluebirds and Tree swallows.
2017 0ne pair of subbies nested and fledged 4 young
2018 Tree Swallows AGAIN chased away any martins that wanted to nest
2019 Same old story................
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Emil Pampell-Tx
- Posts: 6743
- Joined: Tue Nov 11, 2003 1:26 pm
- Location: Tx, Richmond (SW of Houston)
- Martin Colony History: First started in Gretna, La in 1969 with a small homemade house, have had martins ever since at 2 different homes in Texas
I usually prefer porches because I like them, I like to watch the martins sit on the porch, so the perches should be about the same thing.
The clinger is one of the easiest of all the SREH for the martins to learn to use, so I would not worry much about them. The martins surely can enter ANY of the SREH entrances when they really want to enter them. I have seen martins poke their head into a round 2in hole and act like they could not enter them, that is just a habit of theirs, I think that they are uncertain if they want to enter and that uncertainty is what you are seeing.
About the new gourds, martins shun new equipment, whether it be a house or a gourd, they seem to know that its new. They prefer an old dirty used gourd to a brand new gourd. They prefer an old run down house that they used before to a brand new house. We as humans cannot follow their logic, but trust me, when the season is in full swing, you will see that they will use the new equipment when there is a NO VACANCY sign on the old equipment.
The clinger is one of the easiest of all the SREH for the martins to learn to use, so I would not worry much about them. The martins surely can enter ANY of the SREH entrances when they really want to enter them. I have seen martins poke their head into a round 2in hole and act like they could not enter them, that is just a habit of theirs, I think that they are uncertain if they want to enter and that uncertainty is what you are seeing.
About the new gourds, martins shun new equipment, whether it be a house or a gourd, they seem to know that its new. They prefer an old dirty used gourd to a brand new gourd. They prefer an old run down house that they used before to a brand new house. We as humans cannot follow their logic, but trust me, when the season is in full swing, you will see that they will use the new equipment when there is a NO VACANCY sign on the old equipment.
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Guest
As soon as more birds come and have nowhere else to go but into one of those with a clinger or crescent, they will fly right in. 