Purple Martin Forum

I took my first shot this morning at a hosp. Unfortunately I’m starting 0-1 for the season. My traps are set and the battle has begun. I’m thankful to a very kind landlord who gave me some traps. Won’t expect any Martins for a couple weeks but am trying to prepare the way for them. I hope everyone ...

Tom pretty much said it in a nutshell. My personal experience was a year of non success because I was not consistent. Last year I was determined to make it happen so I purchased a couple 1000ct boxes of large cricket accepting the fact that many would be wasted in the process. I went outside several...

Lots of great info and ideas. Thanks all for the pics! h2y, I like that cat house idea. Please let us know if they adjust to using it. I like the idea of a simple stand alone unit that can be hung at a moments notice and support a larger number of birds. My plan: Since I got my birds to take food re...

Seems the upcoming cold weather is generating some good conversation on heating housing. Thanks Thomas Maddox! The reason I wanted to start a separate thread on the topic is to hopefully hear opinions from our Northern landlords regarding the need or no-need of heating. I have always wondered if the...

Thanks Dave, It was actually for the PMCA membership and not the website. The website itself is working perfect. Thanks Lydia, for the clarification.

Been trying to extend my membership for 2 weeks now. The link doesn't work and the message that pops up wants you to call in and give someone your computer information. Not gonna happen so I guess I'll have to let my membership expire... Anyone else having this happen?

Same here... One late nest of 4 healthy babies due to fledge in ~4 days. Still quite a few visitors but dwindling.

Congrats Dan, looks like you are finally off to a start. 12 years, Wow! If that nest fledges successfully, they will be back next year attracting even more martins. To make sure that single pair fledges young successfully it's very important that you are prepared to fend off predators and parasites....

Good find Rob... Same thing I purchased last June. I figured it would have been sold out by now.

I hear ya brother... I think the Permethrins and Bifenthrin being slow acting residual insecticides makes it difficult to break the life cycle. Pyrethrins on the other hand is fast acting like Carbaryl, but they have it so diluted down to directly dust chickens that its basically useless. I wonder i...

Rob, the difference I found between alum and DE is that the DE is not water soluble and is permanently abrasive with a very low density that causes it to easily become airborne. The alum on the other hand has a higher density (not easily airborne) not abrasive and is water soluble which allows it to...

What I like about the Blink cameras is that you can purchase the mounts separately. We installed mounts in every compartment so if we need to monitor a certain nest its as easy as snap off snap on in a few seconds. Close up picture quality is great.

Spinosad definitely seems like something worth trying. Ok this is going to sound crazy but after researching the last couple of days I ran across the use of alum as a garden insecticide. It appears to work in gardens through both ingestion and contact. While mites won’t ingest it they would definite...

The Tempo dust has 10x the active ingredient as the new seven dust with bifenthrin and is listed for harder to control pests.

Rob, I've been researching Tempo Dust and have all but convinced myself to give it a try just to see how it works. It's a highly rated product and the ingredient Cyfluthrin appears to be very low in toxicity for birds, even when eaten. Per the website "Cyfluthrin is practically non-toxic to sli...

Tom, I agree and noticed the exact same thing with the new replacement insecticides not being effective. Not being someone to rely on chance I purchased 2 cans of the 5% Carbaryl at the end of the banning. I broke it down and vacuum packed it in several smaller thick mil bags to hopefully keep it fr...

I got tired of raising and lowering and really couldn’t be around 24/7 to monitor weather since I have racks at my home and camp that’s about 3-1/2 hours away. Now I just leave both down a couple of feet, leaving the lower entrances at 10 feet and the upper entrances at 14 feet. My The setups are Tr...

Actually I just saw the first two of the season. Caught them checking out multiple houses. Shot the female first then the male a couple minutes later. Nothing in the trap yet but I just put it out. 2-0 so far.

Nice upgrade! Seems like they are always perching above their entrances. Especially when fledging starts. Now they are set up…

Tom is right. I have my martin house very close to my driveway which is lit. Doesn’t bother them in the least. I think they feel secure with the lights.