OK, I officially give up after not attracting any martins for many 6 years (I think). I am selling my housing setup. It is the basic gourd starter set from the Purple Martin Conservation Association. I also added a 6 gourd expansion pack (weird, did I just realize I might be an optimist?) but I stole two gourds off of it that I am keeping as the Tree Swallows now expect that luxury each spring. Each of the ten gourds has a vent hole added, a porch, and an owl guard. One or two gourds have some exploratory chewing from squirrels, but none that affects the use of the house (see pic). This is the set: https://www.purplemartin.org/shop/product/grsbeg/gourd-rack-starter-bundle-excluder-gourds/
You can find the expansion set at that site and all the other goodies (oh yeah, there is a raccoon guard and a couple of Martin decoys). https://www.dropbox.com/sh/8g6frpdwd7fltcy/AADk1SCCp3YqcFRovNNbOyWKa?dl=0 Pics of the set can be downloaded here: They have been sitting outside for maybe 6 years, I bring them in for winter so the plastic is in good shape. The gourds are really nice thick plastic. One thing you need to add is the 2” x 2” sleeve you put in the ground that the main pole slides into. Mine is cemented into the ground forever. This is the needed part: https://www.purplemartin.org/shop/product/dgrgs/ground-stake-for-2-square-poles/ The whole thing cost me almost $1500 all totaled, I am selling at a firm 1/3 of that - $500. I’m in Danby and can give directions if anyone wants to look. Email me offline. Thanks! Sherwood -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
