Hi Brad

Those are sort of aluminum chalets. A landlord in Virginia named Tom Brake is manufacturing them and I wanted to try a few. He calls them "Chirpy nests." They hang much like gourds. They are said to have a lot of nice features including excellent drainage.

John

Couple of pics from St. Louis. First is from Forest Park, golf course site. Spotted two males and a female yesterday. Other martin vocalizing is on a house at Creve Coeur Park, St. Louis County, photo by volunteer Karen Meyer who manages the colony there. We have about 70 pairs that nest each season...

Brent Probably would reduce risk a great deal. I'd personally also recommend getting some kind of PVC trim to fill in the bottom a little as well, so that a wing doesn't overhang there. This is because Trendsetter crescents are 1/2 inch off the floor. I'd not go flush, but approx. 1/8 inch below the...

well I'm contrary on this issue because I've pushed for a decade for a more effective PMCA wing entrapment protector. Not sure new design is perfect, but should help.

Surely the issue with Troyer Tunnels is one for Troyer to address, not the PMCA.

John Miller

Ya'll probably could take a hack saw and trim the height of the new guards to fit. Mark a line how much you want to remove from each leg then lay the guard flat and secure it some way to saw. It's soft plastic so cuts fairly easily. Over the last decade I have purchased many PMCA guards to double th...

Brad I have used the WEPs this way, but gets expensive. I have as an alternative cut a ring 3/4 inch wide off thin wall, 3 inch diameter PVC drain pipe. Then use tin snips to cut out an arch that I added to fronts, using white Quad Caulk as a glue and to fill in gaps. I don't see that the photo of t...

Arch guard looks great. One can make the guards out of thin wall PVC, 3 inch diameter. With thin, I first cut a 3/4 inch ring (as shown) but can use tin snips to next trim out an arch to fit...cutting a little at a time to get right fit (not a tool guy). Comes in 8 foot lengths from home centers.

Longtime users of Trendsetters here. Yes, remove the subfloors to use the factory nest trays because as you observe the entry would otherwise be blocked. Want to add that one also needs to clear debris from under the factory wood trays when doing nest checks, otherwise it can raise the trays as well...

Doubtful will help. It doesn't address entrapment at the entrance. But...maybe worth trying as it's low cost.
John Miller

Porch placement below the crescent also is a factor. At one-half inch, starlings may be able to use their legs to get leverage. Placed about 1/8 to no more than 1/4 inch below, martins can enter fairly easily but starlings find it more difficult. Flush is the most restrictive, but can be a little to...

Brad...right. I give one or two martin programs a year...and take this gourd and some plastic ones along to put on the demo table. Been working on couple more naturals to give to a cousin. Ones I'm working on that I had on hand are kind of "squatty." Wish I could get some of yours that you grow, but...

Here's how I get the file size right...and have a note on my bulletin board. Right click photo and open with "Paint." Click "resize," and then choose "pixels." For photos of several MB, change pixels to 900 horizontal. (will end up with a photo of about 250 kb size, but depends on original size). Sa...

[quote="John Miller" post_id=287663 time=1577620822 user_id=1100] Ideas for mechanically challenged. I set the gourd on my bench and wedge it between my belly (ha) and a storage drawer right behind. Some folks rest the gourd in the top of a five gallon bucket. Then first step where I intend to place...

Ideas for mechanically challenged. I set the gourd on my bench and wedge it between my belly (ha) and a storage drawer right behind. Some folks rest the gourd in the top of a five gallon bucket. Then first step where I intend to place an opening is to drill a small hole large just enough for my jig ...

Tom Yes...if too high, water will run right in the crescent entrance or round entrance. So I'd try to place right out front. One can put an aluminum canopy over the crescent, and of course one can add tunnels, but I was just trying to illustrate the most simple martin gourd. It 's kind of hard to fi...

Found the NC obit for a Sandy Bunn, but think guy was older than our purple martin Sandy...hope.
John Millers can be found in obits left and right....whew.

Adding photos of a natural gourd, not yet painted, an example of a winter project. Techniques for making natural gourd martin gourds vary, but here's how I do it..simple and inexpensive. Choose a 10 inch kettle gourd. I use a jig saw to cut a crescent directly into the gourd. Here it's to spec at 1 ...

Here is what I know. One can cut a crescent directly into a natural gourd and with no porch martins can generally cling and enter and starlings cannot, because starlings cannot use their legs for leverage. I've made some unporched natural gourd crescents slightly oversized by 1/32 to 1/16 of an inch...

A substantial porch overhang seems to be attractive to martins, I think. I've extended out porch overhangs on Trio houses, to gain more rain protection and sometimes as a option for housing with 6 x 6 units to create more depth. Martins enjoy sitting back under the porch, and you can add a swing if ...

Anthony..that's a smaller natural gourd that was hanging with wire from the porch of the Trendsetter, not shown. A friend, not me, had decorated it with some flowers painted on, because this location is the Missouri Botanical Garden. ha.