Building a martin house. If you are handy, you may wish to build a martin house. There are many building plans to choose from in birdhouse books and even in woodworking magazines. Growing a martin house. Many martin landlords prefer to offer their birds natural gourds for nesting.
Gourds are a historic as well as natural and pleasing form of housing.
They can be grown from seed and dried out, then scraped out, painted, and hung from a wire. The primary advantage of the gourd over more conventional housing is that it naturally discourages competitors and predators. Gourd houses, when hung from a wire, will swing in a light wind. This swinging does not bother martins at all, but house sparrows and starlings dislike it. For much the same reason, predators have a difficult time gaining access to the insides of gourd houses.