Purple Martin Forum

Last night not long before all the birds came into the colony to roost I spotted a very pale breasted female martin that was the object of several males attention. She must have just arrived since she did not appear comfortable and familiar like the birds that have been here awhile. I got my binocul...

Finally! And the first one in Melbourne! Good on ya Mike! My partner said he thought he heard one when he came home tonight but we couldn't be sure. I got home after dark and will leave for work before sun up so I won't be able to verify if he is right or not. (He usually gets to see the first marti...

It's Jan 8th and not a single sighting in Florida. In 2011 we had extreme cold in Central Florida and the first birds were delayed about a week and a half, but even with the two days of cold last week we should have seen some bird around Port Charlotte or Fort Meyers by now. They normally arrive in ...

Congrats Mike. I had more at my sites today, so the numbers are building!

They are comin' fast and heavy now! The purple tide is a'comin! congrats on the new arrivals!

Well I'm officially posting for central florida! Three birds for the first sighting. I didn't expect them for a while since they were so late arriving to south florida. Martins are always full of surprises! The season begins. Hang on you birds will be here soon.

Isn't great to have them back?

The martin colonies at Animal Kingdom are all off show. The reason is that there isn't any good open area that is suitable in the guest area. Animal Kingdom is very well planted with thousands of large trees. Which doesn't make it great for martins. The service areas are wide open and have idea loca...

Hi Mike, The report is from my home colony. I suspect there are birds at the Epcot colony but since I work at Animal Kingdom I am not over there all the time to see when the first ones come in. I still haven't seen birds at Animal Kingdom yet, but they are probably there too. Since my office was mov...

Well I'm officially posting for central florida! Three birds for the first sighting. I didn't expect them for a while since they were so late arriving to south florida. Martins are always full of surprises! The season begins. Hang on you birds will be here soon.

This evening I got home from work and was staring longingly at my martin houses wondering when my birds would return. There were a few reports from farther south but in past years I usually get my first birds about 2 weeks after the first birds arrive in the Naples/Fort Meyers area. It was just gett...

I would put the owl guards on. By the time you realize that you have an owl problem, it will be too late. They could easily take several birds before you know it. Since they only come by at night, most likely you wouldn't see them and then you would start to notice wings and clumps of feathers scatt...

Hi Gutart, I notice that your T-14 compartments are shallower than the plans indicate. Martins like deeper cavities if available that might explain some of the initial reluctance to your T-14's. Since the cavities are shallower, it might be wise to put on owl guards for extra safety. It looks like y...

I manage several colonies with a combined total of over 300 compartments and I have been lucky and only had wing entrapment once. (Knock on wood) The odd thing was that the wing entrapment happened in a wooden T-14! So it doesn't just happen in houses with thin entrance walls. The thick walls can he...

I really like the design of the T-14, it is easy to service, well designed and well made and they look good. But I have found the same thing; the birds fill up the Troyer gourds below the T-14's before they start using the compartments in the T-14 itself. (I have 8 troyer horizontals on each T-14) T...

Before anyone goes on a killing spree, cowbirds are not known to be nest parasites of Martins. It may happen but if it does, it is very rare. So they are not a real threat to any martin colony. I am not a lawyer, but since you don't actually own Purple Martins and they are not doing damage to your p...

I just checked my martin housing and found the first egg of the season. It is the only one so it was layed (yes that is the correct spelling for an egg) today. It is much later than in previous years but it has been such a cold spring. (even for Florida.) One thing I noticed is that because of the c...

Almost every neighborhood that has a particular type of street lamp (most likely the one in your pictures) has martin in them. There are many of them all around Kissimmee and hunters creek. One of the people that works for me gave me pics of martins in the 4 corners/Clermont/ US27 area that nest in ...

Hey Larry, Great Video to show folks how its done. Fortunately we haven't had to do it here in FL but you never know when we might have the need to. A couple of years ago I did some feeding when we had cold temps for about three days. We didn't lose any martins so it was more for the fun of it for u...

Hi Susan, Just because the shell was found under your nest colony doesn't mean it came from it. Most female birds either eat the eggshell or carry it away from the nest and drop it like they do fecal sacs. It could be that the bird just happened to drop it as it was flying past your gourd rack. Also...