RD's DAWNSONG GUIDE. Just may help.

[Doug Martin - PA]

I know some of you were asking about DAWNSONG. Hopefully my opinion may help some of you trying to attract Martins. I have been playing it since it was first recorded. It was the most useful tool in finally establishing a colony.

My greatest success getting lookers has come with playing it at these times.

1. During the warm southern flow days play it all the time. So windy from the south....play it. Loud and often.
2. Full moon phase is also great. Early AM
3. Mid day is the time Martins move around a lot that have already migrated. Great time to play it.
4. I have found it quite useless during poor rainy or cold weather. Bright blue skies and warm are great.
5. The most common time it has attracted Martins for me is around 10:30 AM or right after the day warms to a good temperature. (50-60 degrees)
6. It has worked early AM too but...... This is when Martins are establishing themselves or looking at real established colonies sites. This is "sit and preen time" if they are not nesting.

Expect the first look while playing it to simply be a circling of your site. Note the time of the circling......birds are creatures of habit Martins will come back the same time for visits each day. The earlier the repeat visit..... the more interested they are. Nesting activities occurr early they go for strolls later.

Don't blast it while they visit or if it distorts. Medium volume is fine. Use it at a low volume to keep a subbie male company if he likes your site but can't attract a mate. They end up singing to it quite a bit. Turn it way down or off during female visits.

Keep a written log of when visits occur and name your bird to identify it. Subbies are all unique and can be told apart from their markings. It's important to know if you are getting repeats or new birds.

Remember nothing replaces an active site with live birds. This only reflects my thoughts on using it.

Daytime chatter? had it used it.....DAWNSONG is what worked for me.

[Ryan]

Has anyone ever done a study on how far it can attract? I guess it would depend on the volume used to play the dawnsong, but at a reasonable level of volume I'm wondering how far these birds can pick it up.


I witnessed my first PM in years today, and I'm sure it was due to the dawnsong. I have it set to play from 4:30am to 9am. It was a warm clear day so I switched it back on continuous play at 10:30am. At 1pm I returned home where I saw the first martin sitting on my rack.


I'm in a strange situation where my speaker is at my home, which is about 400 yards from my site.

[pugsleyhall]

Great Ideas, I am following your advice!!!


Melissa

[Hanover Bill]

Doug;
Thanks for the good advice on the Dawnsong, I'm sure it will be helpful. I never thought of playing it at some of the times you mention, but I will from now on. I know I need all the help I can get.

Hanover Bill.

[Doug Martin - PA]

Mitch,

Brought this post back up to help.

I also have daytime chatter but the accoustics are not as good and there are sounds of sparrows in it that seem to attract them.

I did not use it much.

[Doug Martin - PA]

Brought this thread back up for those looking for an opinion.

Here you go Dave.

Doug

[Guest]

Brought this thread back up for those looking for an opinion.

Here you go Dave.

Doug

Doug, I've been looking for info like this. Thanks for re-posting!
Scott

[Doug Martin - PA]

You are welcome Scott.

This probably applies best to more northern & less concentrated areas.

It is usually pretty cold in the early AM up north. Even in May. Seems at dawn is more common to attract them later on in June.

I always used a radio shack powerhorn on a 50 watt amplifier with a repeating cd player. Face the horn south on warm southerly breezes. Otherwise point it toward the nearest known colony or population. I would do this at times and really crank it for a few minutes late morning. A subbie male would show many times in about 10 minutes. Closest colony 10 miles. So at very high volume, with a horn, on a blue sky day, sound will travel that far.

[Guest]

Doug, great minds must think alike. I just picked up a horn speaker, a 45 amplifier, and 250 ft of speaker wire. I have a cd player with an alarm clock feature, so I can program it to come on and turn off at certain times. I've heard from others that the it's best to place the speaker on the PM housing pole. I'm curious, is this what you do, or are you attaching it to an independent post in close proximity to the housing?
Thanks again.
Scott

[Doug Martin - PA]

Mine was on the TV antenna support up above my roof. The sound would then stay above my roof as it was a little annoying at times to other members of the household.

The higher the better. Once they are there they will notice the housing. In my case you could not miss it! Plenty of it.

Doug

[Dave Reynolds]

Doug --
Thanks, for the advice on the Dawn Song, I was getting a little worried when I didn't get a lot of answers on the early post. What you said makes sence..

Thanks again.. Dave -- in Little Hocking, Ohio

[GeneP]

I concur with playing around the 10:30 AM time. That's when I would see them coming around when I was trying. The dawnsong is a powerful tool in attracting Martins to visit your site. I also suggest having the sound close to the area where your housing is located.

Another time I would suggest is the 2 - 3 PM hours. Try to be around as it has the potential to attract hawks also.

Also, try to play it for as long as Martins are around. I finally got a SY to land and sit for several minutes at a time in July. The next year a ASY (I believe my SY) came in April and started my little colony.

[Jeremy Shuler]

along with the times mentioned here i also had good luck playing it in the evenings about 1 1/2 before sunset. always had a slew of lookers at that time.

[parkerdes]

It took me 6 years to finally attract my first 2 pairs in 2009 ...even here in "Martin-rich" Texas with the dawnsong! I put my Radio Shack speaker on the bottom of one of my poles after I had it up higher & someone warned me that predators could climb the wire!!! Now it is under my predator guard pointed up & works great!!!
I had 12 pairs this last year & have played it every year since I started. It does attract visitors every time I play it & can even call my residents back when I want to see them or show them off to a friend!
Great info & for someone trying to get martins...it worked for me!
Hope everyone is successful this year!!!
Have a great 2012!!!!!
Lila

[Doug Martin - PA]

Another good "blast from the past" for those looking to start a new colony this year.

Doug

[~Ray~Gingerich]

I quit playing the dawn song after 2 pair settled in back in 2008, they seem fine doing their own dawnsong naturally, had pair increases each year and up to 105 for 2012. The main reason I quit was to avoid any unnecessary hawk or owl interest.

[Doug Martin - PA]

Ray,

I too have retired my Dawnsong CD for a few years now. I still think if it wasn't for that CD I may still be empty however.

Much better listening to real Martins.

Doug

[klcretired]

I always used to play the dawn song and Daytime Chatter Cd's , I liked doing that because w/ Decoys up on my Gourd Rack and PM Housing (LS 20 Room Goliad House) the Hawks would attack the Plastic Decoys, by the time the PM'a arrived and made their Real Sounds the Hawks altho they heard from a distance wern't sure if it was in fact Martins or My Cd's that they were Hearing, Since My Divorce in 2009 the Ex took the Nice Stereo Rack Sys I had so Now I have No way to Play the Cd's , I sure miss playing them I think that they Help the PM Land Lords as well as the Martins

[Don~VA]

I look forward to the day I may be able to retire my CD too :-)) However, for now I play it early morning mostly. Last year I would sometimes turn it on about 10 or 11 a.m. and within 2 minutes there would be 8 or 10 martins circling. They seemed to come from nowhere and hang around for an hour or so.

[Doug Martin - PA]

Bumping up this guide from the past.