In colonial times, people used to hang these bottles, "martin pots" for purple martins and other small birds. This was natural bug control. Now if I could figure out how to attach this to the house without putting holes in the siding, we'd have some birds nesting. I may just attach a few to the oak trees, but the squirrels seem to bother the birds. Another option is to hand them on a secure pole.
These could get pretty expensive for purple martins because they nest in colonies(or so I've read), but great for other birds if you want something decorative.
The Jefferson Monticello Shop in Charlottesville, Virginia sells these online. They have a hook in back, and the little tab with the hole in it is to thread a stick through for a perch.
Here's a good example(pictured) of a bird nesting in a jar. These are reproductions of the jars excavated from Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia.
2 comments:
Very interesting. I have never heard of "martin pots" before. I learn something new everyday in blogland. My neighbor has purple martin gourd houses and I have heard that martins will take their weight in mosquitoes every day. For this reason, we are very thankful that our neighbor has these houses. Thanks for sharing.
Blessings,
Elizabeth
Oh, thanks Elizabeth! I'll look those up. They may be less expensive, I'm sure. We need all the help we can get with mosquitoes in our area.
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