Aggressive tree swallows

DML · Sat Apr 22, 2023 11:51 am

I am in year 4. Year one, one pair with 3 fledges. Second & third year i mistakenly tree swallows for Purple Martins. Someone from this forum told me they were not purple martinis from my pictures. So, this year i have tree swallows that are very aggressive and fighting away any prospects. I just put up my housing last week. No nesting yet. Any suggestions?

flyin-lowe · Sat Apr 22, 2023 3:46 pm

It’s a tough spot as it sounds like you have some martins visiting. Ideally you would close your martin housing and place a gourd on a shepherds hook 30-50 foot away. Once the TS start using it they will protect the area from other TS. More than likely the TS will not move into their own gourd as long as your martin housing is open. On one hand you need to close it off for a week or two but on the other hand you don’t want it closed off if you have visitors. How often are you seeing martins?

DML · Sat Apr 22, 2023 5:29 pm

I am seeing 1 or 2 this week. The TS really went after them. That is when panic set in. Thank you!

flyin-lowe · Sat Apr 22, 2023 9:27 pm

Here is the "protocol" that most people have had success with. Since you are only seeing a couple visitors a week, if I were you I would close the martin house completely and put up a separate gourd. Hopefuelly, since it is getting to be nesting time for the TS (they usually run a few weeks ahead of martins) hopefully they will start nesting quickly, then you can open things back up.

https://www.purplemartin.org/uploads/me ... cy-377.pdf

bootjack farm · Mon Apr 24, 2023 5:27 am

Disagree in part. Put up a BB house close by instead as your alternate housing choice. Not a gourd. IMO you are perpetuating the problem by familiarizing the TS that a gourd is a good "home". Once they take up to the BB house, the returning pair will defend against all comers...likely for more than one season. I have yet to have TS's take up residence in my gourds and I attribute that to providing adequate, preferred BB housing. Good luck

DML · Mon May 01, 2023 9:02 am

Thanks, was does BB HOUSING MEAN?Blue Bird, I have one for blue birds. 5 blue birds last year.
What does IMO Mean?
My gourds are down, this is week 2.
TS pair are still there.
So please exactly what do I need to have alternative housing for the TS?
No sightings of purple martins.

Jones4381 · Mon May 01, 2023 9:28 am

BB = BlueBird
IMO = In my opinion.

Offering TS = Tree Swallow alternative housing close to your gourd racks does 2 things. 1 it gives a non-colony bird (TS) a chance to nest near your PM housing, all the while, keeping other TS away. Tree Swallow housing IMO, should be 25-35 feet away from the PM housing, by doing this they have a perimeter of 0-60 feet they will chase other TS away, thus keeping a seperate nesting pair of TS's from taking up resident in your gourds. Typically TS show a few weeks before PM's. I keep PM housing closed during this time and the TS always take resident up in singular housing. This year I've had more BB's and TS's than allotted housing for them and it's created some stress. I had to put up additional housing to keep them out of my primary gourds. In my experience they prefer the gourds and wood BB housing over my PM racks. I currently have 5 nesting pair of TS and 2 pair of BB's and along with 25+ Martins nest building without interference from the TS or BB's..... I've attached a photo of the BB housing occupied and 2 of the PMCA TS gourds (all 3 occupied only 2 shown)...primary gourd rack is bottom right, you can see a bit of it..... Good luck. Black horse manure just added to garden....PM's are loving it...don't know if they are getting stuff for nest or eating insects on the ground but they are constantly going from Rack to Garden spot with added horse manure. Planting begins next week....

DML · Mon May 01, 2023 4:41 pm

Thank you very much!! I will get this fixed tomorrow with the TS. Thanks for the definitions.

DML · Thu May 18, 2023 1:41 pm

2AB824DF-65C2-45D5-96D4-2DACCC48A29D.jpeg: (117.15 KiB) Not downloaded yet

is this a tree sallows
?

Dave Reynolds · Thu May 18, 2023 2:06 pm

... DML ,, Yes that looks like a Tree Swallow... Good Luck ,,

Dave

flyin-lowe · Thu May 18, 2023 2:53 pm

Definitely a Tree Swallow...

Ryan · Fri May 19, 2023 5:11 am

This is all good advice. Once you get the tree swallows into that designed house 25-35 feet from your martin housing, they will take care of other tree swallows and keep your housing clear of them. It really does work.

The best part is once they are trained they'll zoom into their blue bird house next spring without any hassle.