Expert: Julia Booth - 3/30/2009

Question
Hi, Last year the old barn blew down leaveing our barn swallows homeless. I just put up two SK martin houses and plan for at least two more. The sparrows wasted no time setting up house and I regularly clean out their nesting materials. I was wondering when the martins will show up?
I live in Lafayette County Missouri about 7 miles east of Lexington, MO. I placed the houses about 100 feet from any trees or structures just in front of electric lines that are about 10ft behind and slightly higher than the houses. They like to set on these wires in the summers past so I thought maybe that would be a good place.
I also wondered how to tell the difference between what the sparrows have put in the nest boxes and what the martins have put there. I am asuming the martins use a lot of mud in nest construction like the ones I saw on the underhang of the barn when it was there. Any help you can give me on how to re-attract our martins would be appreciated.
Bob Smith

Answer
Martins seem to respond best to large, multi-compartmented houses, or groups of gourds.

Ideal dimensions are:

Entrance hole 2 to 2.5 inches in diameter
Height of hole above floor of house 1 inch
Inside dimensions 6 by 6 inches
Total height of box 6 inches

Place it in a wide open area, preferably near water. Ideally, you want this to be between 10-20 feet up in the air. The closer to 20 feet, the better chance of success.

The problem is the sparrows. If you're serious about attracting the martins, then you have to be willing to constantly check the nesting boxes and clear away any sparrow's attempts to build. They will eventually be discouraged and the martins travel in large flocks, which is why you want to have as many nesting boxes or gourds as possible.

I'm actually not sure about the construct. By my understanding is that people who make these pole suspended nesting gourds, create them so they can be risen and lowered, to facilitate the regular cleaning out of the sparrow debris. I recommend lightweight aluminum.

I'm not sure where you would get the gourds. A craft store, perhaps.

Hope this helps,


Julia