Wanna be landlord

MMoore · Sat Apr 07, 2018 4:28 pm

Hi everyone, we recently purchased a home in Central Texas. I've wanted to be a landlord for these marvelous birds for some time and now I have the chance. Is it too late to put up a house?

sugarcreek · Sat Apr 07, 2018 4:40 pm

I wouldn't think so, not for your area.

Whippy · Sat Apr 07, 2018 5:30 pm

You might get a few coming in. I had 8 arrive today here in Plano. They hung out for most of the day. I went to get crickets for them but when I got back they had moved on. They were going in and out of all the gourds that were vacant and would sit on the porch of the occupied gourd with that pair inside.

Anyway, in 2016 I set up my gourds in late April early May. I had tons of visitors but no takers. 2017 I had that one pair mentioned above. The male came back this year and got a new mate.

If your location is good you have a very good chance. If I were you I would go ahead and get your housing up.

Good luck to you.

Coollwhips

BillieJR · Sat Apr 07, 2018 6:31 pm

Welcome, MMoore!

I hope you go ahead and put up some housing - good luck! I'm also a Wanna Be Landlord - one of these years I will be.

-=DKC=- · Sat Apr 07, 2018 6:55 pm

MMoore wrote:Hi everyone, we recently purchased a home in Central Texas. I've wanted to be a landlord for these marvelous birds for some time and now I have the chance. Is it too late to put up a house?

Put the house up! Last year I didn't get my first birds here in Corpus Christi until April 21. I still haven't seen a SY bird this year so there should be more birds coming.

flyin-lowe · Sat Apr 07, 2018 8:34 pm

If it was me I would put it up and keep, more then likely you will be fighting sparrows before you see any martins. I keep my housing closed off until I actually see martins in my yard. I do keep one cavity open with an insert trap to get the sparrows that do try to move in before the martins get here.

nikkihaddox · Mon Apr 09, 2018 9:11 pm

I would put a house up, wouldn't hurt to try and attract Martins your way

MMoore · Fri Apr 20, 2018 6:34 pm

Thanks everyone for the encouragement. I got the house up last weekend and had 3 visitors on Wednesday and 2 have been back constantly since then. I changed the rooms from 6x6 to 6x12 with SREHs. They seem very intimidated by the entrances but I assume they'll figure them out soon enough. I did see a starling yesterday but it just looked around a bit and flew off. I have no expectations for nesters but it is nice seeing them fly in and out, landing on the house and singing their songs. My wife had no idea about them but now she spends more time outside watching for them than I do. She even found a recording for her phone and sits on the patio playing it LoL. Having a blast in Texas!

flyin-lowe · Fri Apr 20, 2018 8:21 pm

Don’t sweat the SREH. A huge number of PM’s fledge from SREH each year. It’s not uncommon at all for martins to just peak into cavities when they first return. If they want to go in they will.

BillieJR · Fri Apr 20, 2018 10:36 pm

That's absolutely fantastic news, MMoore! It didn't take them long to find you and your housing you put up for them. Good luck! I hope some of them stay.

deancamp · Sat Apr 21, 2018 8:58 am

Don't fret the SREH's. When I got my first birds to stay last year, they would ignore my Trio Castle with round holes. They went directly to my gourd rack which has Conley 11 entrances. They struggled to get in, but kept trying until they figured it out.
Jeff

Tony_T · Sat Apr 21, 2018 10:45 am

Indeed GREAT news if you had visitors so soon after putting it up! So that indicates they found you!!! They'll be baaaakkkkk!

Here's my brief story of encouragement to you:
I moved from Houston to Florida and last year was my first year trying to attract Martins here in Miami...like you I was wondering if mid-April was too late to put up my new house, but I did and had a couple of visits, but no luck with anyone staying...
This year though, I had Martins!!! early to mid-March they visited on and off then late March more and more came by, and now I have about 4 pairs, two already building nests, in fact I think one pair is bringing in bugs for babies!!!! So....keep the faith BABY!!!

Good luck to you in the Great State of Texas!!! I had Martins in Houston (not very many) but have been a landlord since 1987...Just LOVE those birdies!!!

MMoore · Tue May 01, 2018 9:27 am

An update. They figured out the SREHs pretty quickly. We have 2 SY pairs building nests.

I have 3 compartments open on 1 side that we can see so as to discourage sparrows until my trap arrives and 1 on the other side. Both pair have chosen to top on each side. On the 3 opening side we have others looking at the bottom compartments until the male above them arrives and he drives them off. Not very neighborly.

C.C.Martins · Tue May 01, 2018 1:26 pm

Boy thats great news! Congrats and welcome to being a landlord. That was fast, hope you enjoy them for many years. They are fantastic.
Tom