Purple Martin Forum

It's been a while since I've been on the forum. I'm still in the martin landlord business, just been busy. I've had it pretty easy until now, only issues I've run into are losing fledglings jumping too early due to mite infestations(sevin changed their formula from carbyl to bifenthrin, I won't use ...

Brent is correct. Don't give up! I've had SY martins show up in late may, go straight into best building, and lay eggs all within a 2 week period.( I'm in deep south La.). But, the sparrows gotta go and quickly, or the martins will not stay. They can't compete with the aggressive nature of the sparr...

Guys, Just in case someone doesn't know, the weather service is calling for a potential derechio wind event for the ark la tex region tonight. High winds and large hail are expected for this region and points south and east. Check your local weather for details. My martin housing will be lowered as ...

Hey guys, Another vote for the pellet gun here. That is if your not opposed to shooting of course. I watch the male hosp try to set up shop on my housing for a few days. Then, I wake up early and deploy my camo tent/ground blind 30 ft. Or less from the housing. (My eyes aren't as sharp as they used ...

Hi deancamp, Last year I had 18 pairs. I have 28 cavities in total, so I do have plenty room for growth. Unfortunately I only had 4 survivors from the freeze, lost my founding pair and most of my mature birds. So I am really hoping for a banner year when it comes to the sub adult migration. And afte...

So, Things have been picking up since the dreadful ice storm event of a month ago here in the dep south.(Lafayette, la. Area). I was up to about 10 ASY birds 7 days ago, and by the end of this past week that number had grown to 25-30 birds.(getting hard to count!). They are really pouring in now ove...

It's tough Brent. Very tough to watch. You'd think they would eat anything by now. The weather won't stop and just adding insult to injury at this point. Nature is beautiful, but cruel at times. The few strong martins I have left would have made it if the weather would have broke today. But sadly th...

If anyone knows a rehabber in lafayette, La. Area please let me know asap. I've lost 10 birds so far, they won't eat anything and ran out of warmers. Looking at the weather if I don't get them to a shelter of sorts they are done for.

I had 1 instance of wing entrapment in 3 years of hosting martins . it was last summer in a bo9 gourd with tunnel and clinger entrance. It occured the last week before fledging, when the 5 babies were all crammed at the entrance trying to get fed. Not sure how, but the baby martin got wedged in on t...

Hi Brent. I can tell which housing and gourds my martins have been using by the nest bowl they make. It's always in the very back of the compartments. I plan on placing my warmers under nest material there. I just hate having to flush them out of housing to do so. I looked on the weather map and I'v...

I have an update from Leroy, La.(nest Lafayette, La. It's warmed up to 38° here now up from 34° at daybreak. Martins finally came out and flew around for a while. Just enough time for me to put some mealworms on and just in porches. Hope they go for them. Did not find any dead birds, but only counte...

Thanks deancamp.
I appreciate the tip. My local big box stores have plenty of dehydrated mealworms. If I can convince the Martin's to eat them is a another story. But I sure will try.

Thanks so much. That's great info guys. Cc martins, on the mealworms, were those live, rehydrated, or dehydrated? How'd you manage to push food into the entrance without spooking birds? Sorry for all the questions, I've got some very skittish birds that are no doubt stressed out even more than I am....

Hey brent, Today is day 3 for my 10-15 martins not eating. They haven't even come out of the housing much. I don't blame them. It's cold and wind won't let up. Gonna get a lot colder in a few days. I feel you brother. I'm concerned. But, think about this. What do the landlords who have big colonies ...

Agreed. The attic compartments are a pain. I use a flashlight and a telescoping mirror to check things out and have a teaspoon with a LONG handle to apply Devin dust. I also have small tongs (similar to bbq utensil) that I can reach in there if I need. For clean outs I just peel up the roof some and...

Pm David, I noticed that too. I'm further south than you are (Lafayette, La. Area) and the local weather has backed off on their previous forecast. I hope the new numbers are accurate for me, with lows around 28° and a better rebound during the day with highs mid 40's - 50°. I read you just got a fe...

More pics of mods.

My founding pair were ASY martins. go figure? The male is particularly territorial and an all around bully. He still is to this day. Our first season together he had me cussing mad trying to solve his issue with porch dominance. He refused to let another male martin sit on "his" house! And...

Good news is, I have 15 martins on housing this morning. Had 6 previously, with 9 more showing up in the past few days including more females arriving. (Counted at least 4 females today). The bad news is, being in the deep South La. I'm not especially worried about them until the temps. Drop below f...

Hey whooey, I should have mentioned earlier that the local big box stores have packs of 4 ft. Cane poles as well as the plastic green poles cheap. Look in the lawn and garden section. They sell them as stakes for tomato plants and such. I just grab extra and replace them as they weather. Also get pr...