How to Build a Purple Martin Birdhouse

Purple martins are a beneficial bird that not only eat copious amounts of insects, but also scare away hawks and crows.

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by Pixabay/Sue Rickhuss

Learn how to build a purple martin birdhouse. These purple martin house plans create stackable floors to accommodate a growing colony, year after year.

Some things are just intrinsically appealing to me, such as beanie caps with propellers, old pickup trucks and birdhouses. For reasons that I can’t quite put my finger on, they are just … neat. And a two or three-story martin birdhouse, well …

I became interested in martin birdhouses after seeing the movie Witness with Harrison Ford. If you remember, he smashed into one and then spent some time repairing both the house and his troubled spirit. I never actually saw martins in that particular house. It’s possible that Harrison botched the job. To entice a colony to your birdhouse, you must make it attractive to them as well as you.

Purple Martins on the Farmstead

Purple martins need elbow room, so if you can, allow at least a 20-foot diameter of clear space around the birdhouse. These birds like a high perch and like to have an abundance of egg shells at their disposal (not enough calcium in the old bug diet). Last, but not least, they like plenty of nice nesting material.

  • Updated on Apr 24, 2023
  • Originally Published on Mar 23, 2021
Tagged with: birdhouse, birds, native birds, wild birds, wildlife
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