Any certain direction of house?

Welcome to the internet's gathering place for Purple Martin enthusiasts
Post Reply
Baglady
Posts: 18
Joined: Sun Apr 30, 2006 8:53 pm
Location: South Dakota/Canton

:?: They always say a Wren house should face the south. Is there a certain direction for a martin house? Baglady
Mary Dawnsong
Posts: 1685
Joined: Wed Nov 12, 2003 8:17 pm
Location: Michigan, Livingston County

Hi,

The location of the martin house on your property is critical. Ideally, it should be in an open area, far away from taller trees, yet within 100' of your own home. For more info, click on this link and scroll down to the section Location: http://purplemartin.org/main/mgt.html

The compass direction the house faces is not important. Martin houses usually have entries on at least two sides. So, the entries cannot all point in the same direction. I recommend that you face entries towards the most wide-open flight paths. However, that is not critical.

Again, what is critical is the location of the martin house on your property.
It is also critical that you maintain a precise orientation for the house. If the house turns, martins will become confused and will not be able to identify their compartments. This can cause nest abandonment and loss of your colony.

Good luck starting your colony,
Mary
Click here to see my colony
"In Michigan every martin matters"
klcretired
Posts: 2174
Joined: Tue Nov 18, 2003 3:06 am
Location: Grand Prairie,Tx

Baglady,
We give you a warm welcome to the forum, we are glad to have you and thank you for caring about the Martins. In answer to your question, I have Housing that has compartments East, west,North & south....They all have Martins in them, same way with my Gourd rack, so i think it depends upon ea individual Martin as to their Preference....can can wind up anywhere.
Pictures Taken with Canon Rebel XT Digital using a Sigma 50-500 Long Lens.

Wishing everyone a Great Martin Year
Happy Martining for 2022 to everyone,

K.C.

klcretired@tx.rr.com
Post Reply