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T-16 Purple Martin Houses & Kits

Free Shipping!  Shipping to the Continental USA is included in this price

We offer various options below to either purchase our complete T-16 Martin house, or purchase it in a kit form.  Then you can add our exclusive bowl shaped nest, add the SM-14 side mount houses, as well as add the Starling resistant templates.

We work with an Amish gentleman with a real passion for Purple Martins.  Paul Troyer has a devoted interest in the study and development of Purple Martin Colonies.   Paul even built his own Purple Martin observatory house, a rather large Purple Martin house built like a tree house with a glass windowed compartment in the center.  Like a tree house he has a ladder to climb up in the middle into the glassed observatory to study the nesting and natural habitat that Purple Martins seek.  From this he has developed his own nest tray design which provides a bowl base for the nest.   He indicates this allows the Purple Martin to use less nesting material.  This is important to the younger offspring returning from the last season, as they usually return later than the older martins and have less time to build a nest in order to attract the female. 

Paul is not directly related to the Troyer who originally developed the famous T-14 Troyer House we sell here at Cottage Craft Works, but he has studied in conjunction and has improved upon the original design.  We now also carry his new design and trays, both in the assembled martin house and martin house kits.

Much like a popular dating game, Paul has told us the story of the martin courtship ritual.  It is actually the male martin who builds the nest, and then all the males wait and compete for the female martin to come and choose their mate to nest with.  The female will make her selection based on how the nest was constructed and where it is located for concerns of safety from potential predators.  The female likes to perch just above the view of all the nest box holes.  This is neutral territory for the female to sit and look over and inspect each nest the males constructed in order to make her mate selection.  She may travel to several martin houses in an area before she makes her final selection.  Paul indicates it is very important to not only add dowel rod perches to the top of the house but to also add them from the peak of each compartment house outward so the female can sit out and inspect the row of potential nest.

Purple Martins actually prefer to have the old nest cleaned out and some new nesting material added to each nest box for each season, pine needles and dried leafs seem to be the best material followed by straw.  Just a little bit pushed down with a turning fist to develop the bowl shape nest.  Using the pull out nesting trays like drawers, make the cleaning process easy. To keep mites and other pest from infecting the newborn, Paul sprinkles regular Seven Dust and mixes with the new nesting material in a 5 gallon bucket before placing it in the nesting boxes.  As the martins return from South America in the spring they can actually transmit mites and other pest in their feathers.   He also sprays the boxes with liquid Seven spray at the end of each season as he cleans the trays out.  This will prevent other pest from developing.

Unlike other birds the martins do not mind having human interaction in the nesting process.  In fact Purple Martins are the only species that are totally dependent on human made and maintained housing.  A true Purple Martin landlord will inspect the nesting process weekly and log dates when the first eggs were laid, and hatched, along with the number of martins grown in each compartment during each season.   This is why the T-14 winch system is the most popular housing system for the serious martin landlord as it can be easily lowered and opened to inspect without damage or disrupting the eggs.  Pest and parasites are common problems in martin nest; a weekly inspection helps identify problems before a wide infestation takes over the entire martin house.  Depending on the migration patterns, martins will come in early spring, and leave in late summer.  During the vacant months it is important to block the holes to the nesting compartments so they don’t become home to sparrows or other non compatible occupancy to the martins.  Purple Martins are rather discriminatory and will abandon a house if it has been inhabited by another species.

We offer several different options below to purchase.  All the purchase options below already have shipping to the lower 48 US States already calculated in the price. 

Purchase The Complete T-16- A 16 compartment martin house in 3/4" Pine, Cedar, or Aztec poly lumber

Note: The picture shown is of the T-16 compartment house, with the additional SM-14 compartment side attachments.  The T-16 Compartment house when completed will look like the T-14 house we sell.  The picture also shows an aluminum flashing predator guard at the base of the house, this is an item you will need to purchase flashing material locally and shape around the bottom.  Snakes and other climbing predators may be a problem in some locations, and not in others.

The pine and Cedar houses come unfinished and will need to be painted.  Aztec in (White) is a color impregnated plastic material made from recycled plastics, it does not need to be painted making it a popular low maintenance house.  The House will be shipped in two separate boxes, you will need to supply a 20' 6" x 6" CCA treated post.  The post will need to be buried in concrete 3' deep, a pulley notch will need to be cut in the top of the post. At the 6' level above the ground you will want to drill through a hole to insert a 5/8" safety rod, that extends at least 3" on each side of the post.  This allows you to winch the house down to the 6' level then remove the pin and bring it on down for cleaning.  As you winch the house back up past the 6' level add the pin back in.  Should the winch cable ever snap above the 6' level the house will not reach the level of hitting you while you are operating the winch.

You will also need to purchase the hardware and winch locally, or purchase the hardware kit separately also located on the site, or CLICK HERE.  The pulley may not easily be located locally and you may find purchasing the kit will save you a lot of time and trouble trying to assemble all the needed hardware. 

The houses or the hardware kit will not include the dowel perch rods, or the cap over the pulley.  We used a stainless steel dog dish turned upside down, for our cap, then bolted a 1-1/2" PVC pipe top with 4' fiberglass electric fence post drilled through for our perches.  We attached additional fiberglass perches at the peaks for the females to look over the condo holes.  Wood dowel rods will also work.

Purchase The T-16 Kit- you can purchase the same T-16 houses above in a ready to assemble kit.  This provides you savings, a fun project to complete, and the personal satisfaction to building something hands on for the Purple Martins.

T-16 Nesting Trays- The special designed nesting trays for the T-16 as outlined in the above story.  The trays are not required but they make it easier for the Martins to nest and easy for cleaning out the compartments for the next season.

SM-14 Nesting Trays- Are the same nesting trays but designed just for the SM-14 side mount compartments.  The SM-14 takes a slightly smaller tray than the T-16 trays.

T-14 Nesting Trays- Our bowl shape trays for the original T-14 martin houses. Upgrade with the new bowl shape nesting trays for the original T-14 martin house, 14 replacement trays, with the bowl shape design.  Measures 6" W x 10"-5/8" deep.

Purchase SM-14- These are the side mount compartments which adds 14 more compartments to the existing T-16 condo house.  This allows you to add more capacity without assembly of another unit, pole and winch system.

Starling Templates- Upgrade to the Conley II Starling Resistant Covers. Measure 4-1/2 W x 3 T.  These PVC templates feature round corners with punched screw holes.  Stainless screws are not included.  Templates attach easily to the outside of the house.  Purchase 16 for the T-16 House or 30 for the T-16 + SM-14 side mounted houses.

You can also have the Conley holes cut into your houses instead of utilizing the standard round hole.  Select the template or Conley custom hole below.
 

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