Purple Martin Forum

On July 11th 2015 the Wisconsin Purple Martin Association will be hosting "Martinfest 2015" at the purple martin colony site of Greg and Deb Zimmermann. This year's festival promises to be bigger and better than ever with workshops, demonstrations, door prizes, silent auction items and mor...

The Wisconsin Purple Martin Association in cooperation with the Atlas of the Breeding Birds of Wisconsin is soliciting all landlords who have active purple martin colonies within the state of Wisconsin for basic information about their colonies. Purple martins have been declining in Wisconsin and ar...

Hi Bob and Dorn WPMA- board member Ike Kumrow has been instrumental in helping us establish new public sites at several locations. Bob, your North Star house is usually our first choice when it comes to apartment (condo) style housing at public/private sites, it's an exceptional house that is functi...

Hi Terry, It's always nice to hear from a fellow Wisconsinite! The WPMA has mentors willing to help in 14 different counties across the state of Wisconsin. Fortunately, we have 2 mentors located near you in the far western part of the state, one mentor is in ST. Croix County and the other in Barron ...

Bill, the bottom of the cage should be left open and it should also extend far enough below your house to keep an owl from swooping up into your cage, and yes, the top should be covered. As far as the horizontal verses vertical hole alignment I think either one will work, but from what I've noticed ...

Bill, IMO a wired caged system will offer the most protection against owl predation of purple martins. Prong, vertical and spike guards will offer some protection but over time a marauding and resourceful owl might be able to breach them. Denying an owl the opportunity for a place to perch on is oft...

The Wisconsin Purple Martin Association will be conducting a 4 hour educational seminar on Saturday March 22nd, 2014 from 9:00a.m. - 1:00p.m. at- Maywood – Ellwood H. May Environmental Park in Sheboygan, WI. Members and affiliates of the Wisconsin Purple Martin Association will share their knowledge...

Andy,

I built this T-10 several years ago and the martins really like it. Just another option for you to consider.

Tom

Dave, Thanks for your support and willingness to work with our group. Good News! The WPMA-Mentor Initiative program now has mentors registered in seven counties across the state of Wisconsin. If you would like to help restore and preserve the purple martin population in Wisconsin by becoming a WPMA ...

Pete, I think you might be surprised at the amount of people in your area that have an interest in purple martins. It's quite possible that if you were to contact a bird club or conservation group you might find a few individuals that also share your passion for purple martins. Who knows, it just mi...

WPMA-Mentor Initiative New for 2014, the Wisconsin Purple Martin Association is launching a new pilot program designed to help perspective landlords in the state of Wisconsin increase there chances of starting a purple martin colony. The WPMA staff has been conducting on-site evaluations as well as ...

Hi Terry, Sorry for the confusion. We still need to make more changes before our name transition will be complete. We are currently in the process of having our logo re-designed and our website updated. Our website update may not happen until the end of the year. When someone mentions they have a pa...

Thank you, John and Dave for your positive comments. Our group is now entering its third year and it seemed like a natural progression for us to make the transition from a regional purple martin working group to one that is statewide. We're all really looking forward to the 2014 season! Mission Stat...

In an effort to expand our influence across the entire state of Wisconsin our name has now been changed to the "Wisconsin Purple Martin Association" formerly the Eastern Wisconsin Purple Martin Association. Please note these changes and pass them on to your friends.

Tom Rank

Nice pictures, Greg!

Enjoy the martins as long as you can. I haven't seen any martins at my site in over a week now.

Tom

Back in 2007 when I was still struggling to start a purple martin colony, like Art, I strategically placed mirrors along side of a couple of SREH entrances on my North Star house. The first martin to show an interest in a compartment with a mirror next to it was an SY male. After 3 days of spending ...

THE 3rd Annual Eastern Wisconsin Purple Martin Association MartinFest 2013 The EWPMA will be hosting MartinFest 2013 on Saturday, July 13th starting at 3:00 p.m. This is open to anyone and is a great opportunity to meet other purple martin enthusiasts, talk to other landlords, and observe Purple Mar...

Congratulations Brian! Attracting 2 pair of ASY's to your new site is a real bonus.

Tom

Congratulations Dave! Now if we could just get a break from this cold weather pattern we're stuck in.

The Eastern Wisconsin Purple Martin Association is pleased to announce the launch of our new website at http://ewpma.org/ The Mission Statement of the Eastern Wisconsin Purple Martin Association (EWPMA): To restore and preserve the Purple Martin population throughout Wisconsin with an educational em...