Advice on attracting Purple Martins?

[Yamaha2112]

I had a martin house up for three years and nothing ever nested in it. It was in a clear area, not far from the pond, no luck.

But then, someone pointed out that purple martins eat lots of dragonflies. I'd rather have the dragonflies for mosquito control. We have a good population of dragonflies and are not bothered by mosquitoes.

Now I'm looking into attracting more dragonflies. Thanks for the info.. Much appreciated.
From preliminary search in case anyone else is curious about this too:

How to Attract Dragonflies to Your Garden - Rose & Flower Gardening

I seem to have all the necessary ingredients to foster a healthy dragonfly population. Didn't know about the flat rocks though. I'll add a couple and see what happens.

 

[dave1949]

Now I'm looking into attracting more dragonflies. Thanks for the info.. Much appreciated.
From preliminary search in case anyone else is curious about this too:

How to Attract Dragonflies to Your Garden - Rose & Flower Gardening

I seem to have all the necessary ingredients to foster a healthy dragonfly population. Didn't know about the flat rocks though. I'll add a couple and see what happens.

Probably the most critical piece is emergent plants--plants that stick up out of the water. The adult nymphs need those to get out of the water and become fliers.

I have two small ponds and a beaver pond with no fish in any of them. I get a decent crop of dragonflies every summer. They can really hammer the mosquito population.

 

[ovrszd]

I built a Martin nest 15 years ago. I never had much trouble getting the birds to show up. My problem was other species filling the nests. Few years ago I was reading an article online about this problem. It suggested a hanging nest. I put up 12 gourd shaped hanging nests on a circular homemade bracket. Now I don't have problems with sparrows or other species trying to take the nest. I also learned that Purple Martins send out scouts way before nesting season to locate nests. If you take your nests down for the Winter you need to get them back up early. In my area, Northern Missouri, the scouts come thru in early to mid February. The first time I heard my colony this Spring was 2 days ago. They'll come and go for a couple weeks before they get serious about identifying their nest and patrolling their territory. I don't have them for their insect killing abilities. I just like to watch and listen to them. They have a huge vocabulary.

 

[murph1]

I built a Martin nest 15 years ago. I never had much trouble getting the birds to show up. My problem was other species filling the nests. Few years ago I was reading an article online about this problem. It suggested a hanging nest. I put up 12 gourd shaped hanging nests on a circular homemade bracket. Now I don't have problems with sparrows or other species trying to take the nest. I also learned that Purple Martins send out scouts way before nesting season to locate nests. If you take your nests down for the Winter you need to get them back up early. In my area, Northern Missouri, the scouts come thru in early to mid February. The first time I heard my colony this Spring was 2 days ago. They'll come and go for a couple weeks before they get serious about identifying their nest and patrolling their territory. I don't have them for their insect killing abilities. I just like to watch and listen to them. They have a huge vocabulary.

That is like my Barn Swallows, I love to watch them fly and squawk. I call them my air force...They dive bomb that pond in search of bugs.

 

[QRTRHRS]

When I lived in NJ for awhile I put up one of those metal houses with space for maybe 12. The first year, nothing, the second year a pair set up shop and raised some young. I had a utility service yard behind my house. One day I pulled into my parking area and there on a utility line running across that yard there must have been 75 purple martins. It was as if they had stopped to say "let's go". The next day my brood was gone. True story, I kid you not. The next year, a couple of martins showed up just as I was leaving for two weeks. When I got home, the house sparrows had taken over. Try as I might, I never got martins back again.

Interesting comment about the gourd type of houses.I have to try that sometime. I do see those in my area. For now, I can appreciate the tree swallows and blue birds that I have. The barn swallows don't bother with my barn, rather they go to the neighbor's barn next door. They come over to my place when I mow the fields. It's a hoot mowing with about 50 swallows buzzing around.

 

[riptides]

My democrats showed up today. More are expected. LOL.

Unfortunate, over the years, I have come to not like them.

 

[ovrszd]

My democrats showed up today. More are expected. LOL.

Unfortunate, over the years, I have come to not like them.

I get along fine with Purple Martins. I hate what most call tree swallows. We call them B Martins. They will completely take over. 3 years ago I had to block all my nests. They had ran off all my Bluebirds. I even saw them attacking House Wrens but the nest holes are so small they couldn't take over the nests.

 

[oldballs]

My Dad always had Purple Martins and I do love to watch and hear them. However, I have as many as 20 Blue Birds along with many other native birds that enjoy the space that God has given me. Thus I'll have to enjoy seeing them only as they circle and raise their young overhead.

 

[ovrszd]

My Dad always had Purple Martins and I do love to watch and hear them. However, I have as many as 20 Blue Birds along with many other native birds that enjoy the space that God has given me. Thus I'll have to enjoy seeing them only as they circle and raise their young overhead.

My Purple Martins and Bluebirds get along fine. Doesn't seem to be any sort of competition. Martins eat flying insects. Bluebirds primarily feed on the ground. And they don't even consider using each other's nests. At my peak, just before the B Martins moved in, I had 16 active Bluebird nests on my 20 acre property. I'm hoping to be back up in the teens this year.

 

[oldballs]

Well, that's good news, and maybe I'll get a good Martin box yet.....you know, one that can be easily serviced. My last box sat on top of our abandoned wooden basket ball post. Getting on a ladder to service it became too much trouble.


As far as advice on attracting them, I've found that they love to have an utility line nearby and have the box in a fairly open space. Yet, my Dad had his right in town on a power line post right next to his garage in a close community of neighbors with cats, kids, cars etc. all around. They loved his place for some reason. But my Dad was a lineman and would climb the post to care for it.

Cheers,
Mike