Full of Questions

[PaulaZ]

I am full of questions here.

1. How close can or should you space PUMA rigs on a site. I am expanding colonies at a couple locations.

2. Why do European Starlings (EUST) try to enter horizontal gourds with a vengeance, but leave the vertical ones alone? I have SREH on the horizontal ones and they have breached this. I have round holes on the horizontal ones and they leave them alone.

3. Should I be putting pine needles in the vertical gourds also? In past, I have only put them in the horizontal gourds and let PUMA make their own nests in the vertical gourds.

4. What is best time to open housing? I generally do it when I see PUMA on the rig, but others tell me I should wait until May 15th to avoid heavy HOSP and EUST competition.

5. Is there any good way to mount older style aluminum PUMA houses so they can easily be lowered and raised for weekly monitoring? I have access to several donated houses that are not being used because I hate telescoping poles and know of no other way to mount houses at reasonable cost.

Thank you for your expertise.

Madame WingNut
(aka Paula)

[Professor BirdBrain]

I am full of questions here.

1. How close can or should you space PUMA rigs on a site. I am expanding colonies at a couple locations.

2. Why do European Starlings (EUST) try to enter horizontal gourds with a vengeance, but leave the vertical ones alone? I have SREH on the horizontal ones and they have breached this. I have round holes on the horizontal ones and they leave them alone.

3. Should I be putting pine needles in the vertical gourds also? In past, I have only put them in the horizontal gourds and let PUMA make their own nests in the vertical gourds.

4. What is best time to open housing? I generally do it when I see PUMA on the rig, but others tell me I should wait until May 15th to avoid heavy HOSP and EUST competition.

5. Is there any good way to mount older style aluminum PUMA houses so they can easily be lowered and raised for weekly monitoring? I have access to several donated houses that are not being used because I hate telescoping poles and know of no other way to mount houses at reasonable cost.

Thank you for your expertise.

Madame WingNut
(aka Paula)

Dear Wingnut,


Wonderful screen name, Paula Z.


You are a fine student of Purple Martins and have wonderful questions, too.



Q-1. How close can or should you space PUMA rigs on a site. I am expanding colonies at a couple locations.


A-1. Wingnut Girl, have you ever seen PM houses that are mounted 2 or 4 houses on the same pole? Have you ever seen PM tower photos like in Winnepeg or Griggsville, IL where 50 houses are mounted on one large tower?


So, you see, Miss Madame Wingnut, you may put your martin equipment quite close. You may install the riggings a few feet apart of each one of them.

However, there is a caveat. Whenever you have a plethora of housing for martins, you must consider if you are creating a dangerous place for martins. In the beginning, consider also that there were not a gazillion martins to a single snag in the canopy of the forest. At most, there were a few abandoned woodpecker holes and a few martin pairs in those holes. There were not, I dare say, 50 martin pairs to a snag.


When there are a majesty of martins in multiples of martin equipment, there is a lot of attention getting martin activity that is not lost on Purple Martin predators like Sharpies, Cooper's' and owls. Also, the area around martin colonies has to smell good to the investigating tongues of resident rat snakes.

And, also, keep in mind that large colonies with multiples of equipment and martins are also marked as places to sabotage by humans--but you are aware about this problem, Miss Wingnut Madame.



2. Why do European Starlings (EUST) try to enter horizontal gourds with a vengeance, but leave the vertical ones alone? I have SREH on the horizontal ones and they have breached this. I have round holes on the horizontal ones and they leave them alone.


I have never noticed this behavior, Miss Wingnut Madame. I just think that they enter all martin cavities in both houses and gourds without fear of retaliation. If I were to speculate on an answer here, I would say that since starlings nest traditionally in tree cavities as well as in man-supplied cavities, they like the horizontal ones better because they are more similar to natural abandoned woodpecker holes. Perhaps, unknown by many, woodpecker holes do not go straight into the snag or tree, but either upward or downward. As compared to normal cavities in vertical gourds and houses, these horizontal cavities are convoluted. What I mean by that is that they have a degree of difficulty for the birds that enter. For the original excavator of the hole, the woodpeckers, they weren't hatched yesterday. They know that they need to protect themselves from their predators. In order to do so, they drill the cavities so that they go in, then down or up so as to keep their nests more hidden and hard to get to by their predators. When the woodpeckers abandon these holes, the other birds value them for the same protecting reasons. So, with human supplied birdhousings, such as horizontal gourds, the trip down the gourd neck provides the same exciting protection for starlings as it does for martins. Both species of birds know their nests with eggs or young are not easily viewed from the outside and there is an added degree of difficulty in entering the nesting chamber.


So, it is no wonder, I guess, that starlings like specializeness of horizontal gourds as compared to vertical gourds and want them for themselves as martins do.



3. Should I be putting pine needles in the vertical gourds also? In past, I have only put them in the horizontal gourds and let PUMA make their own nests in the vertical gourds.


OMGoodness! Yes, indeedie!

Put soft pine needles in all of your martin housings and gourds. Consider that the plastic of manufactured gourds is both cold and slippery. How would you fare in a plastic gourd without warm nesting materials and a vicious howling wind. You would not only be COLD but also a slippin' and a slidin' in that gourd as it swings in the wind.


Yes! Yes! Yes! Pine needles in everything!

With pine needles in all your cavities, it will make for a more attractive site for the martins, particularly subbies who aren't real good at nest building. An almost ready nest makes for a wonderful homey place for martins to reside.



4. What is best time to open housing? I generally do it when I see PUMA on the rig, but others tell me I should wait until May 15th to avoid heavy HOSP and EUST competition.



Miss Wingnut Madame, am I correct in remembering that you are on one of the islands off the Ohio shore in Lake Erie? If so, then your martin scouts arrive traditionally on or around April 1- 15 and continue to arrive until around mid May...at which time you have a six week arrival of subadults--but, as a good student, you know this. Anyone that tells you to keep the houses closed until May 15 is misleading you and may be keeping you from getting martins. If you don't open up some compartments in your equipment, you may not reach your potential for the season. Many adults will be turned away and seek other PM colonies in which to nest.


Consider that in your area, that as the subadults arrive around May 15 (if you are out in Lake Erie), the adults should already be constructing nests and getting close to egglaying. If all you want is subadult birds, then you can open your housing and gourds from May 15 on. But remember, you may be limiting th population of your colony of the best breeders, the adult martins.


Typically what we recommend to people is to keep all your housings closed until "either" you see a martin in your area (not necessarily on your equipment) or know of them in your area (thus our scout reports).


Then, open only a few (2-3) in each housing or gourd rigging. If you do open them all at the beginning, you are correct, you will be subjecting yourself to many weeks of unnecessary sparrow or starling harassment. Open what you can easily manage.


And, if all your entrances are SREHs, you can be brave to open more as most starlings may not be able to get through. Just keep in mind, that in early April and even May (considering the cold and wet spring weather this year), that starlings will be leaner and not fattened up yet and may be able to squeeze through SREH entrances.



5. Is there any good way to mount older style aluminum PUMA houses so they can easily be lowered and raised for weekly monitoring? I have access to several donated houses that are not being used because I hate telescoping poles and know of no other way to mount houses at reasonable cost.


Yes, The Purple Martin Society, NA offers a fact sheet on How to make a Zook PM Elevator. Send request to me, Professor Birdbrain, at ProfessorBirdbrain@purplemartins.com


The Zook PM Elevator is a platform that will ride up and down a pole with the help of a winching system. Remember, Wingnut Madame, that the old wooden houses are heavy and will require a winching system to leverage the weight of the equipment. Also, know that the Zook will not only require materials like wheels and winching system, it only addresses an access problem but not the management problem of an old wooden house that would make for better garden art than martin management. And, putting a Zook Elevator on many outdated housings may cost a lot of money. Is it worth the money to put into older housing?

Can you get some financial help from bird lovers on the island? Is there an Audubon there?


You are very welcome for the advise! I hope it helps you.

[PaulaZ]

Dear Professor BirdBrain,

Thank you for your astute observations and eggsalent advice!

I have placed dry, soft white pine needles in all PUMA compartments as instructed. PUMA stopped doing the shuffle dance and thanked me.

A couple weeks ago, European Starlings (EUST) did indeed attempt to use two of my vertical supergourds and I trapped them out. Luckily, I removed them before they killed any PUMA. That was not the case over Easter weekend where EUST killed 2.5 PUMA.

I helped erect a 24-gourd rig at a nature preserve on the island over Mother's Day weekend. We received conservation grant funds from the Columbus Zoo for that project (pretty exciting). PUMA were on the perch bars before we got the gourds on. These gourds are regular Troyer gourds and they have the new tunnel/platform entries.

Last weekend, I observed EUST entering one of these, but the ingourd trap failed me twice. It is not the nice, sturdy trap I have for my vertical supergourds, but rather a lightweight metal slide that (theoretically) traps EUST inside the gourd. Trap was tripped twice with no bird inside and I am wondering if they can work beak under, slide it up a little and get out once trapped. Anyone else have problems with new traps? (trip wire/slider mechanisms).

Respectfully,
Madame WingNut