[cripplecreek]

I'm thinking about talking to my neighbor about putting up a martin house in his field. I would put one up in my yard but I have too many trees and Ive read that purple martins don't like to be hemmed in by too many trees.

[Knitting A Conundrum]

I have juniper hedges, wisteria that runs on the fence, three spruce trees and a walnut tree. Little birds like house finches and chickadees and sparrows love my yard.

I feed with thistle socks, sunflowers in tube feeders, seedcakes and suet blocks in wire feeders, mixed seed in tray feeders.

I used to hang these feeders on the front porch near a forsythia, but now I have moved the winter feeding station to a fence where the wisteria grows. The birds seem to like the shelter of that area better. I have had nuthatches and towhees come to visit, and one day, a falcon of some sort popped into the yard!

I will have to move the main feeding area as the wisteria begins to grow. I just won't be able to keep the tube feeders right where they are, cause the wisteria grows fast! I won't be able to get to the fence.

I have been playing around with what type of plants would make the birds happy, too...I usually get some hummingbirds in.

But I haven't put up any nesting boxes. That might be an interesting thing to do.

[GodBlessUSA]

Hi Cripplecreek
That sounds wonderful. I wish I had a huge piece of land to do that. Last spring was the first time I saw Purple Martins. I had gone to a bird sanctuary where they have an open place for them and houses. A place to sit and watch. It was great fun observing them!

[Arrowhead1952]

The Purple Martins are back in Texas already. I always clean the houses on the middle weekend of February. I saw the scouts on the 12 of Feb, and had to mess with them for one day. Last weekend, there were 28 Martins on the power lines. Here at work, I saw close to 100 Martins sitting on the power lines last week.

You are correct about the trees being close to the houses. They like and area where they can glide into the houses, with about 100 ft of no obstructions. I live on a golf course, so that is right up their alley.

[LOC1]

You might want to go ahead with the martin house on your property.

I have one within 10 feet of some trees. There already are martins in it this year, and martins have nested in it every year since I put it up. Other neighbors in the area with martin houses close to trees are also enjoying success.

The Martins do like to be close to some water, like a pond or even a swimming pool. You often see them drinking "on the fly."