Lonestar Alamo housing success and variety of housing

[MichaelH]

Hi guys i think variety is the spice of life and have several different systems at my site think it helped me to go from 2 to 16 pairs in 1 season well that's my thinking.I have put up 2 lonestar Alamo houses ready for this season and have just received the nest trays for them ,simply design but like the way you can flip them around in the off season to close of the opening,.how many of you have this style of house? How many of you use nest trays I am using the crescent opens due to starlings around here what about you and what is your success rate with theses systems had to modifie the house on the pole due to what I thought was too much movement allowing the house to twist a little in the wind ,overall like the housing ,I also have trendsetter ,trio and gourds at my site.havent used nest trays in my trendsetter yet but the birds still nesting in them without ,just wondering what you all use at your sites,good luck to you all have a great season
Mick

[Tim m.]

Hi Tim Millard here from Lockridge,Iowa, I have 20 trio houses have every model they made and have modified most of them to enlarged compartments. Plus really like conley 2 entrance put them on trio's having great success with this setup. I don't like crescent because of wing entrapment had to many. Also have Troyer gourds have a 24 gourd rack of which i made fulled it in two years and have 50 gourds altogether really love troyer gourds, i get them from Amish friend at a good!!! price. My colony has went from 2 pair in 2003 fledged 6 to 142 pair in 2016 and fledged 548. In 2015 I had a increase from 88 pair in 2014 to 125 almost blow my mind than again in 2016 went up to 142 pair. I love my martins member Iowa Purple Martin Org, Mentor for my county and beyond , help at Griggsville, Il. C.A.P.M. and member PMCA. If i could help you in any way feel free to contact me 319-931 3321.Purple Martin Ridge

[warbird]

This will be my first year with Alamo also. I got the nest trays too can't wait to see how it turns out. I also did some modifications to fix all the play on the pole but then I bought the gourd adapter from lonestar and it fixes it all and works for perching rods or hang gourds. It made the house real stable. I have 2 gourd racks also, if the Alamo works out , there will be another one for 2018. Hope you get some good answers I would like to know also

[apundt-TX]

I bought a used Alamo and pole off of Craigslist a few years back.
Pretty cheap and they delivered it to me for a few extra bucks.

I was warned by some of the elders here on the forum that the Alamo catches alot of wind.
Thats why it kinda twists and clanks on the pole.

Anyhow about 3 months later after the warning we had a big windstorm during the middle of the night and I found my Lonestar setup bent over and the one side of the Alamo total smashed/warped.
I was able to move three nests over to a gourd rack that was still up and survived.
Luckily the parents were able to find the babies as I oriented everything as close as I could.

My lonestar pole is 2 feet shorter now but has been converted to that lonestar gourd rack system.

My first three pairs were started in the Alamo so I am not knocking the product and it was Texas made at one time.
Just keep a heads up on any storm systems that might appear out of no where.

I did make my own nest trays out of insulation board foam for the base and then the corrugated plastic election signs as the sides.
Of course getting high off of a hot glue gun to put it all together makes the work go by much faster.

A.P.

[MichaelH]

Thanks guys for the reply hope you have a good season with the new Alamo houses ,hi warbirdwill be intresting to see what transpires with our new houses keep me posted,hi Tim wow you sure got the bug to and had great leaps in the size of your colony congrats and have a great season, hi apundt-tx will def have to modifie the rack or look into the gourd rack upgrade and I always keep a close eye on the weather too lol ,.actually I remember being out in my underpants during a freak hail and wind storm cranking down all my poles down this past summer to funny bet my neighbors were saying there's the crazy bird man doin his thing oh well the things we do
Thanks mick

[Debba]

Please make sure your nest trays fit snug side to side in your compartments. Last year I bought new nest trays for my Alamo and the width was more narrow than my previous set. (Did not realize this at the time I received them and placed them in the house) There was too much side to side movement and this allowed a Martin's wing to get stuck under the tray. Fortunately I was observing the birds at the time, realized this bird was stressed and struggling to get out of the round hole. I got to the house and lowered it with the struggling bird still in distress. I was shocked when I opened the door section and found his right wing stuck under the tray! I immediately realized the problem lifted the tray and freed the bird. The birds' nests were being made, so I did not have time to get replacement trays and purchased some small square dowels to fill the extra space on the sides of the trays - (28 dowels cut to just the right length - 2 per compartment, one on each side of tray) I had no more problems with the trays' side to side movement, but it was very difficult to slide the trays in and out, so nest checks were also extremely difficult. I did report this problem to the PMCA and they spoke to manufacturer, so I hope this problem has been resolved, but please check your trays!!! Fortunately I was able to observe and free this bird, but if I had not seen him at the time it would have been a tragic ending caused by a manufacturing defect.

[MichaelH]

Thanks Debba for the heads up,but yes the new nest trays I just got are a snug fit so shouldn't have a problem but thanks again ,how many pairs you get in your Alamo and what entrances do you have ?Not long now can't believe only 8 weeks and my first birds will be showing up,hope you have no issues this year and have a great season
Mick

[DornCounty]

The Alamo pole design is lacking. IT wobbles way too much. I had to modify the houses with self lubricating wear strips to keep it from wobbling around. There were several other issues to, that shouldn't have to be dealt with on a house of that price.