Housemartins

[debbie_7155]

Hi last year when we moved into our new home, we had a housemartin nest at the gable end of our room on the bungalow,
we had 2 lots of families in there (not at the same time)
unfortunatly due to renervating indoors the nest fell down & crumbled, thank god though the babies had already left the nest for good,
we got told by neighbours the house martins have been nesting there for a few years,
will they come back again this year & rebuild another one?
i hope they do.

[Ollie]

Hi Debbie, I would say there is definitely a good chance the Housemartins will return and nest, even if the old nest is no longer there. My experience is that they do a lot of renovation work to the nests anyway so hopefully they will take this further and build a completly new one. Of course I may be proved wrong.

Ollie

[nightshade]

I have seen these nests around for years But where they fall off they have been replaced with an artificial in the same spot

[debbie_7155]

i was thinking about an artificial one for them,
because my garden soil is mainly clay as its farming land, ive been told they will probably just build another one there,?
does anyone know when do house martins builds nest (what month)

[wildone]

House Martins usually arrive back in Britain in April and would start building soon after.

[debbie_7155]

ok thank you for that, wildone,
like i said they have plenty of clay & lots of straw as i have a Rabbit & a guinepig that are housed just under where the old nest used to be,
must remember to put up a shelf this time, they made such a MESS last year

[scholesy]

For all you creative ones out there, why dont you try and build your own house martin nest.

Here's link to instructions how to;

http://www.rspb.org.uk/birds/whatyou...ake_a_nest.asp

[Polecat]

Hi Debbie,

from my experience, the same family of House Martins will return year in-year out. I destroy the nests now after the birds have migrated. Its not mean at all....in fact it helps them!!!....The nests suffer from humidity/water/frost during winter and become weak. the house martins however won't build new nests unless they have to and so will try and raise a brood in a structually dangerous mud cup!.....everything is fine until the chicks reach 2 or 3 weeks, and then, ussually during the night when the parents are roosting too, the nest falls......and I am left with the task of re-housing....

Also, House Martins carry a rather horrible parasite that overwinters in their nests.....these rarely, but occasionally cause problems by invading the donor house. ....

These birds are wonderful to live with.....they chat loads, and are very inquisitve. The oddist thing is that they all help each other out, even from nests miles away...

I would advise to get hold of a few man-made nests, this stops the problems of their nests breaking up.......some of the birds are awful at building their nests........Debbie, it would be very interesting if you put up 2 of these manmade nests, as HM's like living in families and would prefer to be close together......

[wildone]

Originally Posted by debbie_7155

like i said they have plenty of clay & lots of straw as i have a Rabbit & a guinepig that are housed just under where the old nest used to be,
must remember to put up a shelf this time, they made such a MESS last year

Don't forget that they will also need water to help make mud from the clay. They use their saliva to some extent but to produce enough saliva they need to drink. If you can provide a small puddle I'm sure that they will appreciate it, and make building more likely.

[debbie_7155]

Thank you guys so much for your help,
it was great sitting out doors last summer & watching them fly about in the air catching insects, & then feeding their youngs, hearing the babies was special,
they really didnt mind us being there, we just left them to do what had to be done, we must have had about 10 flying about in the garden, we even saw one of the parents encourage a young one from its nest with food,
then it eventually flew out, flew around the garden,
i have 2 stone bird baths that i keep filled, & theres plenty of clay in my garden for them, & sawdust/straw/hay from the hutch
i will buy one for them just incase they dont build a nest

[crisscross]

Thank you for RSPB diy nest etc scholesy; must get splodging before they arrive in the district as I miss them after once having very busy colony to view from in bed.

[tony photo]

Hi Debbie,

I have a number of House martins nest under the eaves and they always return each year, either to use the same nests or re-build, providing the House sparrows don't beat them to it, they nest earlier than the house martins, and so occupy some of the nests even before they return. But this doesn't seem to cause any problems.

Regards Tony

[Polecat]

.....I find it incredible that it remains a mystery where House Martins overwinter........Nobody knows it seems. Some point to the deepest depths of the equatorial rainforests around the congo but there is no evidence to support this. amazing IMO.

No to get busy with making those artificial nests.......I am going to try that filler .

By July time there are over 10 nest under the eaves supporting between 50-100 birds........lovely yes, but trying to re-house a chick that quite can't fly takes hours as they will only go back in the nest from whence they came.........so its a labour of love, taking the ladders to each nest, offering up the chick to the nest and so on.........and its sods law that its the last nest you try!!!