Tom White is the owner of BirdShopper.com. BirdShopper.com stock a wide selection of bird feeders, birdhouses and bird baths to suit a variety of budgets and have been selling online since 1994. On the website you’ll also find advice on choosing bird feeders/ birdhouses and tips on attracting birds to your backyard.
Purple Martin’s are well known as a gardeners best friend and will eat a wide range of flying insects before they destroy your plants. Purple Martin’s are unique in that the vast majority of them live in birdhouses rather than natural nests, this makes them easier than most bird species to attract to your birdhouse however they do have specific needs which you need to be considered.
Your birdhouse should be painted white (Purple Martin’s are attracted to this color) with an entrance hole around 2 inches in diameter. It is important that the entrance hole is located around 1.5 inches from the floor of your birdhouses to allow the birds easy access.
You will often see Purple Martin birdhouses that have a number of holes or consist of a collection of smaller units, these allow a number of Purple Martin birds to share the same birdhouse but nest separately. When purchasing your first house look for one with around 4 rooms and then consider buying larger birdhouses once your first one has become established. Purple Martins can grow quite large therefore you birdhouses should have at least 7 inches of spaces inside to allow the birds to move around freely once inside.
When locating your birdhouse don’t place it near to tall trees or high vegetation. Purple Martins like open space and unusually seem to like to nest in areas where humans are present, ideally within 50 feet from your home.
Ideally your Purple Martin birdhouse should be mounted on a pole between 13 and 20 feet high (any higher and there maybe problems with wind) in an area clear of predators and in view of the house or a building. The main predators to a Purple Martin are squirrels, raccoons and snakes. Avoid attaching wires to your birdhouses that would allow them to climb in and consider using baffles or oil on the pole to deter predators from climbing.
If your area has a large population of starlings, it maybe worth buying birdhouses with Starling proof entrances. Starlings will stop the Purple Martins nesting in your box and may even attack the birds.
Purple Martins tend to return to the same birdhouses year after year, so you may need to be patient and wait a while before your first ‘family’ nests there. However once they do you will have Purple Martins nesting there as long as your birdhouses are available for them to visit.
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