Having seen the success of the Martin houses at Montezuma, I figured I'd go the extra mile this year. New designs feature deeper boxes that prevent predators from reaching in to extract the young, and also the SREH (starling resistant entrance holes). I looked at the units at Montezuma and they had little trays so that inspection of the nests is simpler and a short barrier to owls reaching into the nests. Their units had 14 total nest boxes per house and were probably designed to break down for shipping. Mine has 16 nest boxes, and is one monolithic structure.
I have many materials still around from my days in construction, so it was mainly a recycling project. The doors ended up being Black Walnut because I didn't want to use plywood there, and I have lots of lumber that we have cut from the farm. Nails, screws, plywood, insulation for the attic, trim coil for roofing, angle iron, and even the winch were items that I had stored (stashed, hoarded) around. I found a straight 4x4 Ash pole that I had cut a couple years ago when the sawyer was here. No planned purpose at that time, but perfect for this project. The perches on the top of the pole are from TV antennas off the house, which this project finally motivated me to get around to removing. The support poles dug into the ground are 3x5 creosote treated gifts from NYSEG, and they are bolted to the ash pole with 5/8"x14" hot dipped galvanized bolts courtesy of the telephone company. (thats another story). The cable is new and the pulley at the top is new because I couldn't find something the size and durability needed. Its very important not to have 60# of birdhouse land on your head because of some equipment failure.
Now to attract the birds in when they return from the south in a couple of weeks.
