Martin boxes

[badrose]

My dad used to have them in our back yard, something like 30 or more. Every spring Purple Martins would migrate north and we'd get a lot of them. They would end up hatching chicks while there and then go back down south toward the end of summer. The evenings would be full of them making different calls and songs, filling the air with joy. Prior to that they would go out and gather various insects to feed the hatch-lings. Kept the mosquitoes to a minimum.

Anyone else have these?

[UKFlounder]

My grandfather has one, but I’m not sure if any martins ever use it, though I have seen some birds on it

[kingcat]

I had a friend who did that and on a huge level. He passed last year and his brothers were concerned about his what to do for his birds. It was very important to him so Im not certain what happened there.

I have some chickadees that visit every year and take up residence in a hanging gourd. After several years a raccoon pulled the thing down last season and got to the eggs. A pretty sad site really.

Hopefully a replacement gourd will appeal to them this year, but I dont know.