Purple Martin Forum

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.

Hello Sure would like to see a picture How you guys are feeding from a platter And how high off the ground is your platter Does sparrows eat crickets Or what you might put on your platter to feed your martins Thanks Later Unk Bond, this is the B&B feeder that I just modified to place the perche...

I initially had a cage made out of 6x6 wire and took it down after seeing martins using the wire to perch on only to be picked off by a persistent hawk. To me it wasn’t worth being top heavy in my hurricane prone area to help only for owls so down it came. My counter plan was to build something like...

Wow! Very clever idea and well executed Dave… I’ve always admired your ingenuity and quality of work. This guard is no different. No cage perching = safe birds.

Great job Rob! Your feeder setup will make feeding a whole lot easier. It came out real nice, and to top it off the price was right. Can’t beat that. I hope we won’t need to feed again this year but you will definitely like it for supplying pine straw and egg shells. Just when we think we have every...

I’m going to extend the sliding part using 2”x1/8” wall Aluminum square tubing (about 1’ plus in length) to relocate the perch rods below the trays with enough room for the birds to comfortably land on them. Once completed the perch rods will slide up and down the pole with the trays. It may turn ou...

Both products are used on chickens and are considered safe and low in avian toxcity with no egg withdrawal. From what I’ve read permethrin may need to be reapplied to break the mite lifecycle as it becomes less effective by the time new eggs hatch. Repeat applications can also cause pest resistance....

Great news Rob! I found they took a while to start taking the meal worms since I was initially feeding crickets. Now they are eating both about the same. I would definitely keep the mealworms going.

Bird Brain, from what I’ve read the permethrin poultry dust provides a quick knockdown but does not have a residual effect. Bifenthrin on the other hand has a slightly slower knockdown but has a long residual effect. Bifenthrin is the replacement active ingredient used in Sevin.

Tom, will definitely be offering some egg shells. At the price of eggs we’re using everything but the carton. Might try some now that they’re looking for food in the feeder. It’s a little early but can’t hurt to try.

Tom, I never would have thought they would have such ferocious appetites. I originally thought they would eat only 5 or 6 crickets for a meal. Boy was I wrong. When you put out the platform they will become miniature vacuum cleaners. Not so much as a cricket leg left behind.

Great job saving them! Hopefully tomorrow the weather will be good for our Texas neighbors. Ya'll have been getting hammered.

Thomas/Phil, I didn't use any cement. All I did was sledgehammer in a galvanized pipe for a socket leaving enough out the ground to work it back and forth for pulling. It's plenty solid and you don't need to go too far. Phil, my arm is definately thanking me. No flipping today and no Advil tonight. ...

Got it at Troyer’s, but man their price went up. Still nice to have a light aluminum set up that can be raised and lowered. Building one from scratch with the same features would probably be just as expensive. Good investment but darn… One weakness I found with them is the birds crap a ton in the tr...

Well, I posted too soon and now I'm as excited as all get out. With all the rain going on I had a choice to feed in the rain or try the B&B feeder. (wanted to try the feeder today regardless while they were liking the crickets) I decided not to throw crickets all morning so they would be very hu...

Darn, hate to hear that. 14 degrees, wow... That's certainly bitter weather for them. Hang in there, when we had similar weather a few years ago the subbies came in and filled the gap. Hopefully you experience the same.

I’ve been looking at the B&B and will most likely put one up for next season… I like your idea of putting the wire over the pine straw to keep it from blowing off Thomabear. Do any of you have a method of getting them to transition from flipping to the platform? Or is it just put it up with foo...