Quote:
Originally Posted by eddiekessler
Does anyone have martin houses in The Villages? Do they live here? They keep your place free from mosquitos.
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That is actually a myth going back 60+ years.
For many years people were putting up houses for Purple Martins and Bluebirds believing these birds ate mosquitoes. In Minnesota they did a study and it was shown Martin's and bluebirds actually ate some mosquitos but not more than any other bird, and not in enough quantity to make a difference. What was discovered was Martin's and bluebirds preyed heavily on dragonflies. Dragonflies are the biggest predator of a mosquito. What people were actually doing is killing the natural predator of the mosquito and making the situation worse.