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Welcome to the purple martin house section of WildBirdStoreOnline.com. We are passionate about purple martins and are here to help you with your purchase. Whether you're an experienced enthusiast looking to add to your existing colony or brand new to the "sport" and looking for your first martin house, we're sure to have what you need. We've gone to great lengths to add a wide variety of styles from the best manufacturers of martin houses anywhere! We pride ourselves on offering some very unique and hard to find products and of course at the best price guaranteed!

Purple Martins are "America's Most Wanted Bird" and a welcome addition to any bird lover's backyard, especially those with insect or mosquito problems. But martins bring much more than natural insect reduction to your yard. These birds are truly people oriented and want to be around us and in fact are literally dependent on us for housing. Their happiness is so spontaneous and exuberant and their aerial displays so magnificent, it's not hard to grasp why we admire them so much. Many people feel, the martin's sense of exuberance and cheer is in return for offering them a nice place to live and raise their family. They undoubtedly bring a sense of peace and happiness to all those fortunate enough to attract them.

So how exactly does one go about attracting purple martins and what type of housing is best? Well, the former is much easier to agree on than the latter. Purple martins, like all other creatures require the basics of food, water and shelter. Their diet is primarily insects and mosquitoes and a source of fresh water is always helpful (although being next to a body of water is not required to have a successful martin colony). As for shelter, of course you need a martin house. Purple martins are almost completely dependent on man-made housing. We offer conventional martin homes as well as gourds and gourd rack systems.

Critical to success in attracting martins is location, location, location! Unfortunately, many purple martin houses sit vacant across the country due to poorly located houses. When martins assess a potential house for nesting, it is critical that the house is located far enough from trees or limbs to ensure that predators can't easily access their house. Additionally, the martins love an open space to perform their aerial acrobats so make sure the house is placed in an open space, a minimum of 30 feet from the closest overhanging limbs or branches and if possible within 40 feet of your own house. The house should be raised to an elevation of between 12 and 14 feet. Don't forget that being a good martin landlord requires a good pole and rack system. Make sure the pole and system you get will easily support your housing. You need to be able to raise and lower your housing easily for nest checks, cleaning out competing sparrow or starling nests or in case of high wind or storms.

Finally, never be afraid to offer additional housing. There is safety in numbers and purple martins fully recognize this fact. Many landlords miss an excellent opportunity to expand their colony by not realizing that a typical 12 room martin house with 50% occupancy is essentially full! If you follow these tips you'll have a much greater success of attracting this wonderful bird. Best of luck and don't hesitate to call us with questions as we're here to help. Search the entire selection at www.wildbirdstoreonline.com and you will find something that will meet your needs.

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