Purple Martin Forum

I went ahead and got 6 Excluder gourds, the 3" pole, 2 decoys, pine straw and the dawn song. I couldn't figure out which opening to go with, but decided on the modified Excluder opening because...some random post online said they liked it. I can always add more to it in the future if I have any...

Which should I get, PMCA gourds or Troyer? If I get the PMCA ones, there are 4 different openings! Crescent, excluder II, Modified excluder and Round. If I get a troyer gourd, then there are two openings Conley 2 and round. I am assuming I should not ever get round, but I am not sure what the differ...

I want to buy one of the goard rack bundles from the purplemartin.org shop, but I am not sure which one would fit my needs best. I am just starting out and I am not sure what the differences are between the Excluder and Troyer gourds. For a new colony, how many gourds make sense? Also, what style of...

How close to someone else's colony do I need to be in order to have any birds discover my housing?

Thank you so much for the idea on checking the research area! I found someone nearby and will private message them

Jenn

I want to start a colony next spring and I wasn't sure if I should go with gourds or a house. I know that the best answer is to use what is popular with the birds in your neighborhood, but I do not know of any other purple martin colonies in my area. Is there a registry of them somewhere? I have see...