Purple Martin House

For many gardeners, one of the most beloved species of birds that can be attracted to their home is that of the Purple Martin. Purple Martins are well known to eat many varieties of flying insects before these insects get a chance to do serious damage. They are also very unique in that the vast majority of them live in birdhouses rather than natural nest. Purple Martin bird houses do have special requirements though and some considerations should be taken into account before you purchase one or build your own.

The first consideration is that your birdhouse should be painted white or another light color. White is best and preferred. Another important point is that the birdhouse should have an entrance/exit hole approximately 2 inches in diameter. This hole should also be positioned about 1.5 inches from the bird house floor for easy access.

If you are just beginning to try to attract Purple Martins, the first birdhouse you may want to try is one with only 4 or 6 rooms. The uniqueness of purple martin houses is that most of the houses are made up of individual “apartments” where multiple martin families can nest. As you begin attracting a family or families, you can gradually increase the size of your birdhouse to allow more and more bird families to visit your yard.

Another consideration of the purple martin bird house you purchase is to make sure that inside the individual unit, there is at least 7 inches of space. Purple Martins can grow relatively large and need this extra space for free movement inside the nest.

For ideal location of the martin house, you can refer to the article entitled: Purple Martin House- Where to place it in your yard. In short, you want to place the house on a special martin pole and in an area that is away from tall trees or vegetation. Protect the pole from varmints climbing up it by installing a martin house pole guard. Other options include putting oil on the first 10 feet of the pole (starting from the bottom). This makes the pole extremely slippery and creates havoc for any animal thinking about climbing up to visit the Martin nests.

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.