Purple Martin Forum

I have a dirt pile with small rocks in it. At times several martins will land on it and appear to be eating the small stones. I have also observed similar behavior on my asphalt millings drive. Maybe they are gathering grit for their digestion or mineral needs? Small hard pieces of corn may be viewe...

Keep dawnsong on all day if you can. It’ll keep him around longer and hopefully draw more in.

Leave it on. They’ll go about their business even if it’s on don’t worry. Stick to dawnsong.

I have never heard of a ball python eating eggs. I used to breed them on a large scale. They would likely eat the sparrows though if you trap them.

That’s a lot of birds!i It sounds like you’re having a very successful season.

Have they gone in the same gourd together yet?

if it’s sharing a porch with the male I would say it is a female. I see the feathers and most females don’t have those but I wouldn’t say it’s impossible for one to have them.

The adults have been gathering the fledglings in this dead pine nearby. It is interesting to observe them guiding them to it and bringing them back before dark.

Subadults at my site are honestly a nuisance. Between knocking older young crowding the entrance for food off porches and pulling out hatchlings, the last thing on my mind is reporting them. Here’s my opinion. If you’re trying to start a new colony don’t wait for the subadults. Focus on attracting A...

It’s really hard to say. Sometimes they just succumb to old age or even disease. Not often but sometimes when cleaning gourds you’ll find a passed adult with no signs of damage.

If everyone else is healthy and active I wouldn’t let it get you down it’s just nature doing what it does.

Same here. Had the first one yesterday and the others from the same nest followed today.

I think our martins are on the same schedule.

Scout is just a term. There are no real scouts. Birds either return to a previous successful site or find a site while migrating northward. The scout report is to document when birds are arriving in particular areas.

Someone please correct me if I am wrong.

How many volts are you reading on your setup there? How deep is your ground rod and how dry is your soil? When my sandy soil is dry my livestock will walk right through my electric wires. After a rain they won’t even make eye contact with them. Just a thought. Also check out Parmak 12volt chargers i...

My opinion is it can’t hurt but you probably shouldn’t play it all day. Playing it during the morning hours could help draw in more subadults.

Really the best attraction tool is the pair you have.

Yes you can report it.

If you aren’t playing any dawnsong or attraction aids it is very likely a bird from last year.

Getting big should have some fledging by the 8th of May https://i.ibb.co/VWvnfvf/IMG-6596.jpg https://i.ibb.co/n1xrw6D/IMG-6597.jpg https://i.ibb.co/r5YH4VS/IMG-6598.jpg https://i.ibb.co/hFCmTDJ/IMG-6599.jpg https://i.ibb.co/1LLvjtQ/IMG-6600.jpg https://i.ibb.co/QfD6LpD/IMG-6601.jpg https://i.ibb.co...

Are they subadult males?

If so they are attracted to unestablished sites, but convincing a female to stay is always a struggle from my experiences. ASY males should be your ticket if you could get them to check it out.

Owls predating at night and snakes feeding on sleeping adults will certainly cause such abandonment. Do you have any snake netting or baffles on the housing?

House sparrows?

What kind of housing do you have? Do you have round holes or starling resistant? I don’t deal with starlings luckily but I have never seen martins do that to each other. I would have to assume it was a starling especially if you don’t have resistant entrances. Thanks for helping her out I hope she m...