Purple Martin Forum

I have read your posts. It is legal to shoot pellet guns in Houston.
Been doing it for 30 years.

Does anyone know? When owls beat on a gourd with their wings, and the birds get scared and come out and the owl catches them in its wings, does the owl -catch both of them? or -does one get away and that one just does not return? We had 4 pair disappear last year and some left eggs behind. We starte...

Lila, we have had the Castle at least 6 years. The bottom floor is dedicated to Spare-O-Door traps, so we offer only 9 expanded nesting compartments. Usually we have about 5 pair in the house, but the top floor has 3 older males that have come back for years, are very territorial, and don't like oth...

Yesterday 2 arrived about 4:30 pm, right after the rain stopped. They played around until dark but not sure if they roosted. This morning there were 3, of which 2 were males and 1 was a female. They played and sang all morning and into the afternoon.

Airborne

Sparky, about pellet guns, don't buy a gun made in China because you can't get them worked on. Parts for them are not available. Beeman's R7 is made in Germany and is a good choice. You can call Beeman at 1(800) 822-8005. RWS is also made in Germany. I bought an RWS 34 Meisterschutze Pro 177 cal, an...

Check out this video of a rabbit and a snake

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CtcZh4isLvc

Lee, do not tie a knot in the cable - the knot will not go through the pully. Home Depot has connectors that will fit your cable, and they will go through the pully. These connectors are made to be crimped on. Also, if you do need to change the pully you can break the pole loose with a monkey wrench...

RC, well I think most people would be afraid to do this. But I have lived here for 40 years and never seen an owl.

If we had not done the gazebos, the babies would have died from the heat or jumped and became lost. What's the difference, dead is dead.

Retired, 82nd Airborne

Tom, you are right, it was easier for the fledglings to return and re-enter, which they all did. They also played in them for 2-3 weeks. We originally removed the gourd faces because they were jumping from the heat. None of them jumped after we removed the faces and the parents kept feeding them. Th...

mary d. - here is a picture of #150 in my trap. www.airbornebirds.spaces.live.com about 85% have been caught in my six spare-o-doors. also, when they are hesitant to come out into the bag, we stick a dowel through the hole in the inside wall. make sure your rubber band is not rotten, or they will kn...

thanks for the excellant endorsement on A.I.L.
we have been using the product for four years
and have had no mites.
i grew up not far from you in northwestern
north carolina.


airborne

hi guy ok i remember a while back you told people to try sevin in their kids beds to get rid of bugs. we tried this but the sevin did not work good,and the kids just coughed a lot and got p off at us. we then went to a.i.l. and sprayed them while they were sleeping for coodies and such and they bega...

This is an African kettle gourd. It is 34 inches in circumference as of June 1 with 3 months to grow.
See the picture at

www.airbornebirds.spaces.live.com

Airborne

Sparky, they don't jump when I put the rack back up. They stay to the back until I'm through. Then they come forward, learn to perch on the lip, and the parents come and feed them. It takes a few times for the adult to learn to land on the new opening, but they learn it quick. Ours have been in ther...

Gazebo because of Texas heat.

www.airbornebirds.spaces.live.com

Fallout shelter followup - The little birds are still in their shelters, still being fed, and have not jumped today. We put a thermometer in a regular gourd today and it registered 110, with the face on the gourd. The little birds in the fallout gourds seem quite comfortable and act like they are ha...

We had 6 fallouts yesterday and today because of the heat. We made "air-conditioned" fallout shelters by removing the faces of some Naturline gourds. No more fallouts, they love it, and they all get fed. They were jumping because of the heat. It was 95 in the shade and I imagine it was wel...

Birdy Girl, how familiar does this look?
great minds travel in the same circles!
I made 4 of these about 3 years ago and never used them.
See pictures of my pvc house at

www.airbornebirds.spaces.live.com

Airborne

michalecj, it wouldn't hurt to try it on one or two of your gourds. It worked for us. Be sure and use craft acrylic paints as they don't smell and dry quick.
Airborne

We sponge-painted about 25 gourds last October, and increased our birds by about 20. We sponge-painted some green, some brown, and some (believe it or not) blue. All of the blue ones have nests. We left some unpainted, and some solid color spray-painted, none of these were taken. We used a painting ...