Purple Martin Forum

That's great news!! I didn't realize their lifespan was that long. He sure is an experienced traveler. Great story.

You have a good system for trapping sparrows so stick with that and be persistent. That is a very generous offer from CC, if that doesn't work out, predator guards can easily be made from 8" furnace duct work. You might try hanging a couple s&k gourds under your house for $20 or under each....

It has been documented that sparrows may inact revenge if a nest is repeatedly removed. It is more of a danger after Martins have laid eggs or eggs have hatched.I normally am able to shoot sparrows, but also have removed nests and used part of it in a nearby trap. This is quick and easy renesting ma...

Did you have birds last year?

Hopefully your old housing will seed your new location. Good Luck!

I have not experienced anything like this myself. I have had cold weather with temps in the 20's at night keep the birds from feeding so they stay tucked in the nests. I have read others have found multiple birds dead in one nest trying to stay warm. Seems odd they were found outside of the nest on ...

Haha, he sure was proud of his digs! As you witnessed it can be hard for an sy male to attract a mate. You are doing the right things, be patient and it will happen. Good Luck!!

Is your previous colony still at your previous house 4 miles away? I would think that would be odd, some wouldn't come to at least investigate. I think either of those two options will work as they both play the dawn song. I started mine with the song bird magnet because it was weatherproof and work...

Nice setup for location and housing. You are giving multiple options with house and gourds so that is good. The past activity sounds very promising as well, so it might be just playing the waiting game. I started my colony with the help of a decoy. Prenesting and making it dirty around the entrance ...

You can plug whatever player you use into a timer, so you can choose when you want it to play. Have you been getting visitors over the past years? Is your housing in an open area with good flyways? Maybe post a picture from google maps.

Your the best! Thanks for the descriptive explanations.

Thank you much! That will shorten my learning curve.

Nice use of older houses, thanks for the post. I am refurbishing an old Trio that was my Mother's but I don't want to add to my existing colony. I help my neighbor manage her growing colony but find it difficult to put the time in to shoot sparrows there. I think this would be a good way for me to k...

Yes, you are still okay. Start playing it as soon as you get it from daylight to dark. When the first birds return, other asy birds will continue to trickle in. The first sy birds will start returning 4 to 6 weeks after the first asy birds do. Good Luck!!

Nice modification John. I'm trying to figure out if that mounting arm will work on a s&k boaxis gourd. Can you tell me the dimensions?

My martins started on my gourd racks and would fly by the duracraft trio like it wasn't there. After a few years when the gourd racks got close to full occupancy, they started checking out the trio and nested in it.

Really cool CC, I bet there is a lot that can be learned from watching them in their nest.

Maybe just in the morning for a few hours.It is a very strong attractant. If you get a colony they can be quite noisy as well....

Looking good, big open site. The Martins will like that. That's a perfect way to expand the cavities. They always build their nest as far away from the entrance as they can, so it will give them good protection.

Looks like a good open site. Are you playing the dawn song to help attract the Martins in to have a look. Anything you can do to make it appear like other Martins are there will help.