Luring an Entire Mismanaged Colony

[Bird Brain]

Has anyone done this? There is an old large colony 2 miles from me. I visited this site spring 2017. It's a slum. It's not managed at all. 3 cheap plastic S and K houses with 6x6 compartments and half were infested with house sparrows. I actually felt sorry for the martins that lived there. My site is a deluxe 24 gourd rack with Troyer horizontals and no sparrows. When his martins discovered my site last year, it was too late. They had already nested. At least they discovered my site. I saw entire colonies of martins doing lazy circles around my site last year. I think they were from the mismanaged site. I read on Chuck Abare's website that martins will abandon one site for another due to mismanagement. Does anyone have any experience with this? Thanks.

[Tim m.]

Hi birdbrain.
I started my colony in 2003 with one adult pair and a sub-adult pair. The following year my colony went up to 8 pair with more adults. It almost doubled every year till 2013 and 2014 it leveled out at 88 pair both years. In 2015 I modified my houses and put up more Troyer gourds and that year I had 40 additional pairs. Where they all came from I couldn't tell you. I never allow sparrows to nest and this past year I had 155 pair and fledged 510 babies. Right management really helps.

[Dave Reynolds]

Bird Brain ... It can happen... A friend of mine had only two pair his first year... and then the colony a few miles away just keep falling apart.. He end up with 35 pair and then up to 50. Then colony a few miles away lost all there Martins.. He gained them all with in a year or two... It can happen..

Dave

[C.C.Martins]

Hi, chances are if the houses you have are better and are managed properly they will gravitate to it. There is a small house looks like a Trio grandpa down the street from me. iv not seen anyone keep it up but like your observation they had birds, I suspect the few pair of birds I got came from there, there was a lot of ASY male visitors after nesting last year so I hope they were checking it out and will be back.

heres to hoping you get all their birds and keep them. The birds are faithful to the sites, landlords run into health issues or move and those who take over aren't interested or don't know. Good luck and let us know how it all turns out.

[Spiderman]

There was a Martin Colony about a mile from me. The owner was older & got sick. Didn't clean out his houses one winter or manage Starlings/Sparrows.

I ended up with 10 pair from his colony. Doubled the size of my group of Martins at the time.

They are site loyal but will provide the best opportunity for their young to survive.

[Bird Brain]

That is the situation here. The landlord of the mismanaged colony has become old and disabled. His family has neglected his colony. I'll find out soon if his colony jumps ship over to my site. I appreciate all the replies.

[Whippy]

I too have had this question in my mind.

Across the alley from me is an 8 cavity house that is not managed at all. In fact, during a storm the cable snapped and it fell 6 feet. The birds still went into it so I went over there and fixed it. That was 3 years ago. Nothing has been done to it since but it always has at least two pairs. I thought it was a good idea to leave it alone and let whatever comes to visit that house move towards my set up which is lest than 50 feet away. Last 2 years there has a been a pair there whose attraction efforts from both has provided me with many, many visitors. I had one pair last year as a result of those visits.

So now I'm either looking at leaving this house alone again this year and let mine be the better of the two or, I could go over there and manage that house, clean it up, repair the cable properly etc. but not open other cavities. Then i could be a complete butt and close all the holes or take it down. It has no sparrows or starlings so the two pair do pretty good they just don't get nest changes or Sevin dust.

I'm thinking of leaving it alone and using it as an additional attractant this year again.

What say ye?

Coolwhips

[Dave Reynolds]

Whippy... You are doing the “RIGHT THING”. ... I wanted Martins so bad but I couldn’t fine it in my heart to close up or take down my old neighbor’s houses because he no longer could take care of them.. You got a pair last year, so you are in good shape for them to continue coming to your housing..

Dave

[Fireflyfisherman]

It will happen. Last year those big hail storms blew through and damaged the run down, mismanaged Martin colonies around me. Those landlords didn’t repair their houses. I repaired mine and I Went from one pair to 6 and they were all ASY birds. This year will be even better. I noticed on a recent walk that they still haven’t repaired the houses. I’m really looking forward to this year.

Good luck Whippy!

[Whippy]

Bird Brain,

I'm very interested to know how things shape up given your situation. I hope you'll remember to update here with your results when they begin arriving. All I see in my area are old, non attended houses usually in the wrong location like next to trees and such. Animals and birds have a way of communicating so hopefully you and I are the talk of the skies over the gulf right about now.

Thanks,

Coolwhips.

[G Saner]

Bird Brain,

Yes, I think you have a good chance to attract those birds. Your chances will be enhanced once you attract your first pair as an attractant. That pair could come from the martin ghetto.

Site fidelity is strong so I think your best chance will come when the sparrows fill every room and the martins can't get into a cavity. If the landlord is not cleaning the house, it won't take long. Some of my best years came when a neighbor moved and took the martin house with them. Keep us posted this spring.

[Bird Brain]

Whippy. I bet that half of all martin colonies are not registered on this site. Many landlords are elderly and aren't very active on the internet. For 2 years I couldn't even find a colony near me, and assumed there wasn't one. I had to investigate like an old school homicide detective to find this old, mismanaged site. I would drive around neighborhoods and look for martin housing. I would also look for them when I walked my dog. Occasionally, I would see a home owner with a martin house doing some yard work. I would stop and talk to them. To be honest, I was looking for a local mentor. Every encounter was very friendly. Nobody seemed annoyed. I think older people are thrilled when a younger person stops to talk to them, especially about a shared interest.
One day while driving around, I saw a martin house in someone's front yard. The owner was outside doing yard work. I pulled over, introduced myself, and told him that I lived just down the street. I asked him if he had any luck attracting martins. He said no. I recommended he remove that bush underneath his pole and trim some of those tree limbs. He then said he had a friend nearby whose houses were full of martins. My eyes lit up. He couldn't remember his address but pointed me in the right direction. I thanked him for the info and off I went again.
I drove to where he told me and found the old colony in a few minutes. Rang door bell, no answer. I made two other attempts to meet the successful landlord but no luck. I noticed an easement between his and his neighbors property. I walked through and got a good look, large mismanaged colony, half sparrow, half martin, going downhill fast. I was still very thrilled to see martins near me for the very first time. I also realized this landlord wasn't qualified to mentor me.
I had to hunt, notice, investigate, and interview people for 2 years to find the only large colony close to me. I absolutely will keep you updated.

[Bird Brain]

Whippy, one more thing. Are you on nextdoor.com ? It's the social media for your immediate neighborhood. You could post a question there about successful martin colonies in your neighborhood. Someone might know something. I've posted questions there concerning martins, bat houses, bluebirds, and screech owls, all of which interest me. Nobody around me knew of a martin colony but I did get some great bluebird advice from a neighbor. People on nextdoor are very good about replying. I wish you luck.

[Whippy]

Bird Brain,

I've done a lot of driving around looking but haven't investigated to the extent you have. I've seen a couple of gourd set ups but they are the small gourds with no perches, porches etc. One of them is 4 cavities and the other is 8. I think these are the ones that the local hardware store sells. I looked for small white squares and such on google earth but, in my area, I believe I have the largest set up around.

I'll do some more research but, as it is, I believe all of my visitors are coming from small housing in the area and it's just a matter of time before I have all 16 cavities occupied.

Future reports to come for sure.

Thank you,

Coolwhips

[John Miller]

If the landlord is elderly and can no longer care for the colony, consider offering to provide at least a cleanout. Keeping his colony going will in the long run provide you with the best chance of building up your own site. If his birds abandon soon, martins are strong flyers and likely can find homes for miles around.