How often should I check my purple martin house?
How Often: Checks every 4 or 5 days during egg laying will help you accurately record first egg dates and calculate projected hatching and fledging dates. Once egg laying is completed checking nests every 5-7 days is sufficient. Avoid long gaps of 10-14 days between checks.
How long does it take purple martins to build a nest?
three-four weeks
Purple Martins will typically build their nests out of straw, twigs, and pine needles. They may also build a mud dam in the front of the nest. Nest building can take three-four weeks to complete and both sexes will construct the nest.
How long do baby purple martins stay in the nest?
White. Incubation is by female, 15-18 days. Young: Both parents feed nestlings. Young leave nest about 26-31 days after hatching.
What direction should a Purple Martin house face?
The good news is that purple martins aren’t picky when it comes to direction; north, south, east, and west are all fine, as long as it’s consistent. 6.
What time of day do purple martins fledge?
Normally young Purple Martins first left their nests in the early morning, usually during the first 2 h of daylight. If a juvenile of a brood had not fledged by noon on a given day, it was likely to leave on that day only if disturbed by me or a visiting martin.
Where do purple martins go after fledging?
roost
After fledging, juvenile Purple Martins, as well as adults and subadults will congregate at a roost. Large flocks of martins gather to spend the night at these roosts, which are usually situated near water or in trees. Martins will then form smaller groups and begin migration from these roosts.
Do purple martins reuse their nest?
Purple Martins exhibit site fidelity, which means that as long as they had a successful breeding season the year before they will return to that same nesting site. If you are trying to attract Purple Martins you can have your housing up, with entrances closed when the adults are due to arrive.
How high off the ground should a purple martin house be?
12-20 ft
Martin houses should be placed in an open location, at least 40 ft. from trees or buildings. Martins prefer to have clear access to houses from all sides, and like to have perching sites like utility wires nearby, but not attached to the nest box. The height of the housing can be anywhere from 12-20 ft.
Will sparrows take over a purple martin house?
Using it’s strong beak, a sparrow will even kill an adult martin unable to escape its house. A colony of purple martins will gradually disappear if sparrows nest near or in their houses.
How do you keep starlings out of purple martin houses?
To help prevent the starlings from nesting at your colony site we recommend using starling-resistant entrance holes (SREH) at your colony site. These specific entrances, called: crescent, Excluder, Modified Excluder, Excluder II, and Conley 2 will help keep starlings out of the cavities.