Purple Martin Forum

Had a great year and all my Martins are grown and gone. The only bad thing this year that I am aware of is this snake I found on my gourd rack. It had a bulge in its stomach and when I cut it open I found a adult Purple Martin. I was so mad. This is a first for me finding something like this. I hear...

Well I have not found any more dead Martins the last couple of days. I still have 3 Martins left that are spending the night. I have been keeping track of how many crickets that I put in my feeding tray and yesterday 10 crickets were missing. I can only hope that the Martins ate them. We were in the...

Thanks everyone for the tips. I did not see any Martins come in for the night last night. I am afraid they have all died. We got below freezing again last night. I still have crickets in my tray on my gourd rack just incase. Louise, thank you for remembering Elvis lol. I miss him. I looked foward to...

Well I found 1 more dead Martin yesterday and 3 more today. That makes 9 so far. I tried the crickets but they did not eat any. I put them in the tray on my gourd rack and even tried throwing some up to them while they were on the perches. They did not try to catch them. I had put some leaves in the...

Found another dead Martin today. I will try and get some live crickets tomorrow in the town where I work. I believe there is a bait shop there. I have a pan on my gourd rack where I put nesting material. I think I will put some in there. Do y'all put them alive or do y'all freeze them first? Thanks.

Thanks everyone. I do not know of any places near my home that sells crickets. I will check around. I saw several Martins on the gourd rack this morning. I think they sell dried grubs as bait for fishing in small packs at Wal-Mart. I think I will go see if they have some. Thanks again, Randall.

We have been having some really unusually cold weather here in South Louisiana. It even snowed here yesterday. I had 15 Martins as of the other day. I had not seen any in the last couple of days so I lowered the gourd rack to have a look. I found 4 dead martins. It was 2 pairs. They were side by sid...

Sorry could not get pic to post.

Came home from work today and had 5 Martins on the gourd rack. They did not hang around long enough for me to take a pic. Right after the sun went down they came back for the night. They went into the gourds so fast that I was only able to get 2 of them in the pic. It was getting dark so you may not...

Thanks for the kind words. I really do miss him and still keep an eye open for him. Good luck to y'all this season.

Hello all. I have posted some pics the last few years of a martin I called Elvis. He had a very funny shaped head and always used the same gourd. I knew he must be getting old but I had hoped he would show up again this year. He was like a old friend. I sit outside everyday hoping for his return but...

Hello Cliff, nice to hear from you. Glad to hear you got some birds. I have never seen so many Martins so early as this year. The last couple of nights I have been getting over 30 Martins coming in for the night. The only problem is that I only have 14 gourds. I have seen as many as 4 Martins going ...

Hey Craig, the sell the traps for the super gourds here on this site. I have been using them for years. I have caught I don't know how many Starlings and Sparrows with mine. As soon as I see a Sparrow or Starling has claimed a gourd I set the trap. The door on the trap is red so it is easy to see wh...

Thanks everyone. Carlton, I was thinking of getting some porches but I was not sure if it would make it easier for the Starlings to get in. Overhere, Starlings are my worst enemy. Most can't get in, but when a few fiqure it out they can get in as easy as a Martin. I live in the city limits and I am ...

Here are a couple of pics from a dreary Sat. morning, and one from a beautiful spring day from last year. If you look close you can see Elvis on the left lower side of the rack sitting on top of a gourd. He seems to have found a mate. I counted 12 martins this morning. I just could not get a pic wit...

Congrats on the Martins arrival.

Thanks to all for the nice replies. I had 3 more birds show up yesterday and they all spent the night. That now brings the total to 5 . Elvis now has some company .

I hope everyone gets some Martins soon. Keep looking up at the sky .

I hope he does not loose any more head feathers. I may have to buy him a hat to keep his head warm lol .

A couple of years ago I had a male Purple Martin that had a few extra feathers on the top of his head. I called him Elvis and he even had his pic in the Purple Martin Update in 2006. At the end of the season he molted those extra feathers and his head had a distinct pointed look to it where the feat...

Went to get the morning paper yesterday and saw my first Martin of the year. He spent the day and night. It was great to see the Martins are back. Good luck to everyone on this upcoming year.