Hi Birdwatcher,
I just put in 2 more ground stakes here in Western PA about 4 weeks ago when temps were in the 40’s.for a day. I drilled 4’ holes, inserted a 12” tube, tamped in dry concrete mix, pounded in the ground stakes, squared and filled in the rest of the ground stakes with mixed concrete. I have 5 total poles and have done the same thing for all of them. I had my first pole in for at least 10 years without issue. I have 1- T-14 made with Spanish Cedar, 2-gourd racks, and 2-T-14 poly wood houses. I have a very nice colony and if I had more time and gumption I would have 5 more. Purple Martin landlording is fun and I meet a lot of nice people.
Last count Florida has 27 adults, we won’t see our birds until the end of March. Good luck, have a great season.
Gary U
Hi Gary,
I believe I started in ‘97, got em the first year, leveled off at around thirty pairs now.
Purple martins are in decline around San Antonio, it’s a generational thing, the Greatest Generation and their Boomer offspring put up housing, after they passed on or moved the aluminum houses they left up, even if not taken down by later householders, are steadily falling apart.
Twelve maybe fifteen years back we located more than 200 Martin houses or gourds within a four mile radius, most of which were old and failing, about half of which hosted martins, most often 2or 3 pairs. I’d guess at least around 2/3,of those houses are gone now.
Cooper’s hawks are rapidly increasing here, that ain’t gonna help any either.
