Purple Martin Forum

Just a warning to all, but especially new landlords. Last year, a nest check showed a house full of nests and eggs, but no PMs in sight. They never returned. After posting here, I realized the culprit was probably an owl, hawk or crow, all of which are here in abundance. This spring, 4 martins were ...

Thanks much, taxidermy lady. I hope, too, that they come back. And I wish you much luck this season!

Yes to owl guards, snake/ raccoon guards. No starlings. I suspect hawks/owls/crows grabbed one or two adults and scared the rest so badly they all left. That's the best explanation I can come up with.

I have seen 3 martins so far. First a male, then a few days later a female, then a few days after that, a male that might have been the second sighting of the first male. This is my 10th landlord year, but last year was a disaster. All my martins left mid July, abandoning all their eggs. So I hope t...

Thanks all. I know you feel my pain. Part of me wants my martins to return; part of me hopes they won't come where they might meet with problems. Making owl guards is on my hubby's to do list. I hate to hear of any critter being shot, but I'm tempted, even tho I don't own a gun.

A beautiful bird, as are all birds of prey often are. I know they have to eat, too, but am so sad that he or some other bird attacked your martins. They should stick to mice, which I won't miss.

Something got my adult martins last summer. Never a problem in 8 years until then. All adults disappeared with 21 total eggs in 3 rooms. I suspected an owl or hawk but since I've seen your post, I also can blame it on crows. We have plenty of them too. I am also waiting and hoping some will return

And to answer your other question, they did hang out with each other on their porches and the top of the house, would leave and catch things over the lake, return and hang out some more. Some would go inside the holes. They behaved like all was well and were happy. Of course, I didn't watch constant...

Dennis...thanks for taking the time to post. We do have hawks and owls around here, but my martins have stayed safe in the past. I did a search online and a very long article came up from 2006...written by one of the admins of this site, I think......and explains how owls get to the martins, and tha...

I have a guard that hangs at the bottom of the pole. A long tube. Forget what it's called. Got it from the PMCA Shop. No guards on the holes; will definitely order that next.

Thanks. I have come to the conclusion that it is probably a hawk, owl, crow, or all of the above. Next year=owl guards. I am ashamed that I am a slow learner.

Our martins have been gone for more than one week. I assumed the babies were eaten by a predator, and the parents left. But I just checked, and each nest has eggs in it; perfect eggs...no cracks. Also no insects, and no trace of any predator. The houses's doors were closed and no evidence of an intr...

My martins have disappeared, too. I have a predator guard, so don't know what happened. After reading these posts, I suspect a snake got past the guard. I will do all I can to rectify the situation so it doesn't happen next year. My question....when the martins' babies are killed, where do the adult...

Thanks for the encouragement! I was hoping this crazy weather might have something to do with it. I'll keep watching them and hope they settle down and build nests as the weather warms up. Good luck to all!!

My martins returned March 17; about 4 scouts. This is my 6th, maybe 7th, year having them. I pulled the house down in mid-April, and there were no nests. Several martins flying around, though. Within the next few days, I saw a bigger number of martins: about 20 at one time, so I assumed that this wa...

Thank you all. I don't know what kind of predator it was. I assumed a raccoon since some doors were opened, but maybe an owl is able to open doors, too. Yes, the only thing I can do now is prepare better for next year: wire the doors shut and buy predator guards. I just hope some survivors will come...

Today two of my apartment doors had been opened, and were empty. One dead male on the porch of the house. Nothing in any of the nests, and no sign of any birds. I'm in mourning.

Last year, (2006) in mid June, all our martins disappeared. I suspect that a hawk either ate them or scared them away. After years of seeing only an occasional hawk, we suddenly seemed to be overrun with them. I've seen one sit on my woodpile, just waiting for a meal to fly or run by! I know they ha...

Thank you for your input. It's been warm here, but now is cool again--typical spring weather. I'm not surprised to have no martins yet; i believe last year (or the year before) it was April when they arrived. As for why we only had one pair last year; maybe it was just an off year. I still feel fort...

Thank you for your input. It's been warm here, but now is cool again--typical spring weather. I'm not surprised to have no martins yet; i believe last year (or the year before) it was April when they arrived. As for why we only had one pair last year; maybe it was just an off year. I still feel fort...