Purple Martin Forum

Thanks for the reply Brent! I don’t know if you would call it bathing or something else, but they flew over the pond, hit it with a big splash then went on the housing and preened, just like the tree swallows and barn swallows do. They were martins, and acted more comfortable and confident with the ...

In New York and have been trying to start a colony for five years now. Tonight two martins stopped by and hung out. One ASY male and a female. They came sat on the housing, talked to each other, bathed in the pond, preened their feathers, and went to the ground a few times and hung out down there. T...

Thanks Jeff. Here’s some videos of the bird we called Pepé shooting his shot but getting rejected. https://photos.app.goo.gl/1UfADKr3F7WuJpc8A

Thanks for the replies. The house has good open fly ways. There has been many visitors. Two years ago there was an SY male that tried for a couple months to attract a female but was unsuccessful. One day he brought in 8 other martins, they all flew off and he flew after them squawking. He’d come bac...

This will be year number five for me trying to get that first nesting pair. I’ve had the dawn song playing from a CD player hooked up to a speaker on the martin house that plays on repeat. I’ve bought and replaced the CD player a few times as they all eventually break. I was wondering what cd player...

Thank you for the responses. That is a perfect design. I was thinking of how to put a lock on the winch to prevent the housing from falling on someone’s head but that solves both problems!

Pole is 5.5”x4”

I’ve been doing some work on my t-14 setup after a second unsuccessful season before I have to head off to college in a few days. There has been four big rocks at the base of the Martin pole that I could stand on to reach the housing when lowered. I removed the rocks thinking that they may deter the...

Second year trying to get Martins here. Yesterday an SY visitor showed up, he peaked in a few compartments and checked himself out in a mirror for a bit. He flew off the house and was attacked by a kingbird, who almost brought him to the ground, he then started to fly up and was bombed by two tree s...

3/27/22

Fillmore NY. Hopefully the report will appear on the map sometime soon. Supposed to be 40’s in the day and teens at night here.

ASY male showed up and went in the housing for the night. This is my second year trying to get martins and I assume this guy is passing through, he’s early. I posted a report but it has not showed up on the map yet, not sure if there is a buffering time or if I made a mistake.

Thank you for the replies. I will pre nest some cavities and leave the decoy up for now. I smeared mud on some entrances last year and have a mirror in one of the holes. Last year i started playing the dawn song and the next day I had my first visitor. I’m very interested to see which of the many co...

This will be my second year trying to get a pair of purple martins. Last year I had many visitors but no takers. I am wondering if I should pre nest the housing and gourds. Also wondering if having a decoy is a good idea. I am offering a lot of different types of housing this year and am curious to ...

After some trouble shooting and some changing of design, instead of a ladder there is now chutes (drain pipes) going down into the trap, which can be seen in the image below. The starlings can no longer get out.

Changed the gaps to 2 inches, starlings are still going in and out with ease.

I posted early on the forum that I recently built a v trap. I have had to release a lot of blue jays. Today a flock of starlings flew in, they go in and out of the trap with ease. I am wondering what the proper distance between the rungs need to be, they are currently 3 inches apart.

Just got this V trap built and put in place, currently have cat food and cracked corn placed in it as bait. I'm wondering if anyone on the forum has any experience with these traps, and if so, what are some tips and tricks on baiting and dispatching the starlings.

Thanks for sharing. I've decided to use an extension cord so I can use a radio for sound. Hoping the music sound will cover the martin's sounds. I've read so many different opinions. One of which was "nothing works". I have to try something. Thanks again. Is there a risk of the white nois...

Conley II SREH. No Martin has gone in a hole but they look in almost every single one when they visit. There are decoys in two gourds and a mirror in one of the house holes.