Hey all, im seeing alot of what looks to me from what im gathering from pictures are sub adault martins here in northeast ohio.
Its my first year and wondered if my house can go up for first time?
Great house site and new house and pole( first year)
My first adault siting was 3 1/2 weeks ago!
Been tryin to hold out to limit non wanted speices..
House is a 12 room, w/ 6"x6" rooms( 1/2 round openings)popular martin house maker...plastic, thanks guys
I would sure put it up and be ready to defend it. this is only my second year. I have 2 houses one with 6x6 cavities, one 9x9 cavities, and 24 gourds and the 6x6 house has got pm's all over it
There are not any reports of subadults in NE Ohio (or anywhere in Ohio) yet - perhaps you are seeing Tree Swallows? (scroll down this link: https://www.purplemartin.org/purple-mar ... 58/native/) You don't want to open martin housing at new site UNTIL you have at least one pair of Tree Swallows settled into a house or gourd of their own about 30 feet away. There is info to read at end of link if you scroll down to bottom. Share a photo of your birds if you can, that always helps.
You could also work to control house sparrows and starlings right now. Best time to open will be in a few more weeks, and after you have Tree Swallows established - otherwise they will fight the martins for the housing, and may win.
Hello Newbie,
I doubt that you are seeing sy martins,you mentioned tree swallows @ your site.you need to provide additional housing elsewhere and keep your current martin housing closed until martins are @ your site ! most likely they will be sy birds but you never know,best of luck....BernDog
Hi Newbie, Chances are you are seeing female martins. If I was in your shoes I think I would start by opening a few compartments. If they are martins, you don't want the chance of attracting them to slip away. And as always. keep the sparrows and starlings out. They can be a problem no matter when you open your housing. Even with a house full of martins they will cause trouble. Just be alert and stop them in their tracks! Tree swallows seem to prefer lower housing, so if you don't have anything out for them. go ahead and place a bluebird house or two around your yard. If you have tree swallows they will most likely check them out before you can walk away from them. If the birds your are seeing are identified as tree swallows, this may discourage them from using the martin housing. Have a great year. Brenda
Thanks for all the input,
I checked what im seeing in our bird book and its definitely tree swallows.
I already have two pairs of bluebirds in houses in our pasture...
Im going to wait to put up pmh for a week more or so...
Location: Pennsylvania/Espyville/Pymatuning Reservoir Area
Martin Colony History: Taking care of 11 active public colonies and trying to start two more in northwestern PA. Also attempting to restart another one in southwestern PA, in Collier Township's Hilltop Park. In 2017, not sure what happened but the ASY male returned and then a couple of weeks later he was gone. It could have been weather related. No other birds showed up. I had a starling nesting at the Public site that I had trouble getting rid of. In 2018, we fledged 629 martins at all of the sites.
There is a Purple Martin Seminar being held this weekend at the Jamestown Marina of Pymatuning State Park. It will start at 10:00am and will probably run until noon. Here is a snapshot from the PMCA's Facebook page.
Purple Martin Seminar this Saturday in Northwest PA.
This will be held at the DCNR training facility at the Jamestown Marina on Pymatuning Reservoir. It will start at 10am and last approximately until 12 noon. The agenda for the meeting will be the PMCA's CD of the history of Purple Martins, as well as the placement of Purple Martin housing, ways to attract them, how to discourage both native and non native species in trying to nest in your purple martin housing and how to perform and record nest checks. Different types of housing will be on display. Plenty of time for questions and answers. Various literature will be available on how to attract and care for purple martins as well as some product catalogs. If you have any questions, either email Bill Wenger at w.wenger@comcast.net or call at 412-720-0766 cell. Hope to see you there!
Bill Wenger
Building the Purple Martin population one bird at a time!
What is everyone's thought on having a house that will be about 150 feet from my new Starling resistant Purple Martin house that already has sparrows in it from an older owner? I almost hate to take it down because it seems to me that that would make those sparrows even more likely to try to take over my new house I'm putting up for the first time this year?
The House Sparrows will most likely be checking out your housing as soon as it's up, so come up with a plan to control them - either trapping or shooting or both.
After reading that article I think what I'm going to do is get rid of all the sparrows I can and then take down that house that is old and put up my new Starling resistant house in a different location. The article wasn't cut and dry about having a second house 4 sparrows but I think it's on the right to get rid of as many non-native species as I can.
You've come to the right decision - it's hard work but it pays big dividends down the road, for all native birds on your property.
In the article, one of the myths addressed is giving house sparrows a place of their own:
Providing separate housing for starlings and HOSP will prevent them
from invading the martin housing.
Starlings and HOSP are super-competitors and will compete for housing and
territory. They know that increased populations of other cavity-nesting birds
means increased competition for them. I have had 5-day old Tree Swallow nestlings
killed and thrown out of their nest by a male HOSP when there were three empty
nest boxes he could have chosen, and I have seen this phenomenon over and
over at other landlords’ sites. Providing them with housing only allows them to increase
their numbers and create more super-competitors for your nest cavities.
It's the same as blocking off the rooms that House Sparrows are trying to claim, it doesn't help at all.
Good luck with your goal of eliminating House Sparrows, you are on the right track.
Good luck this year. It is a constant battle with sparrows. I have two houses up just for sparrows. The doors are one way and the openings are to small for PMs. You must continue the fight against sparrows. They will have four or five sets of babies each summer.
