Purple Martin Forum

Good luck with those dang sparrows. I have good luck trapping the dang things using nesting material as bait in my traps. I have to share what I saw a few weeks ago regarding a sparrow. A few weeks ago, I noticed the adult male going crazy with half of his body in a cavity (not his nest cavity). A f...

Thank you Randy for the info. I'm starting to feel better about the survival probability for the 3 young birds.

I hope you are right Tom. I haven't seen the parents all day, so maybe they are feeding the 3 young in the trees. Yes, it was a tough lesson. I did have the gourd plugged, but I removed it too soon. I will definitely use a string next time to remove the plug after letting the house sit still for 10 ...

Hi all, This is my 3rd year with martins with 5 nesting pr this year, up from 3 last year. I am really bummed out. Yesterday, I decided to do a nest check to check for mites. I already had to treat one nest about a week ago. Unfortunately, one of the nest with 5 very young babies had mites and neede...

Thanks again for your response. I appreciate your insight. It is so interesting watching their behaviors and family/colony interactions. I started watching my alpha male more closely after your comments and I believe I also see him leading my tiny colony. He seems to always have the highest point on...

Interesting. Wow, 28 pair and you consider your colony somewhat small. I was excited to get 3 pair this year! :grin: My 3 oldest babies fledged yesterday and I noticed that other ASY and SY martins are chasing them and attacking the babies. Dad is busy protecting the 3 babies and chasing off the oth...

Yes, that makes sense...

Thanks Tom.

I am enjoying a very interesting 2nd year. I currently have 3 nesting pairs with 8 young at various ages. I am wondering if anyone has ever noticed an adult female acting like a matriarch for the colony. I noticed what I believe to be the oldest female that nested the earliest with the only adult ma...

Happy to report 4 healthy baby martins sighted on porch this morning with one flying with parents!

Coolwhips & John, Thanks for your advice. So, apparently one of the babies fledged either late yesterday or earlier today because I noticed a baby looking out from a compartment located on the other side of the house vs the original nest compartment. Had to fly there! :grin: Still concerned abou...

Hi, I'm a newbie and I am patiently waiting for what I hope is 4 baby martins to fledge. (Confirmed 4 healthy babies on last nest check on July 11th). The parents also seem to be patiently waiting and encouraging them to come out. I believe it has been ~ 28 days since the first hatch date and I have...