Purple Martin Forum

What I have done for Tree Swallows the last 2 years is I left 1 gourd open for them on my gourd rack as soon as I see them pairing up and making a nest I move that gourd to a shepherds hook about 30 feet away it works I have had TS successfully fledge young both years.

Thanks for the replies I believe when I do expand I will put them inline I think it will look better

I currently have a 12 room trendsetter pole and a 24 gourd Gemini setup in line about 24 feet apart I am thinking about adding a second Gemini was wondering if it would be better to keep housing inline or possibly putting in a V configuration not sure how close together they should be?Thanks for any...

First off I will apologize for long post but I wanted to post about how far I think my small colony has come in the last year.In 2021 I had 6 pair 27 eggs,17 hatched and 17 fledged.This year 2022 I had 25 pair,123 eggs,94 hatched and 92 fledged I had 2 jumpers that didn’t make it.I still have a few ...

This is my third year the first year I had visitors but none stayed I do have a few nests with leaves but no eggs I have another nest that had 5 eggs and all of the eggs disappeared but one my site is wide open with no trees near by it is about 40 feet from my house I also have a small pond about 15...

Just an update last year I had 6 pair 27 eggs 17 young and 17 fledged did nest check 6/17 I have 25 pair had a grand total of 112 eggs and out of those eggs I have 48 young so far thinking I might have to invest in another gourd rack nest year.I never dreamed my colony would grow this fast

Just a quick update did a nest check today and I have 12 nests with 38 eggs total and I seen several nests with green leaves in them so I think my count is going to go up pretty exciting for sure

I have been fighting a male hosp that has been around my colony for about 2 weeks shot at him and missed him several times with pellet gun and he became very skittish well today his luck ran out and he has been eliminated I lowered the gourd rack and cleaned out the hosp nest it had 3 eggs in it my ...

I have been fighting a male hosp that has been around my colony for about 2 weeks shot at him and missed him several times with pellet gun and he became very skittish well today his luck ran out and he has been eliminated I lowered the gourd rack and cleaned out the hosp nest it had 3 eggs in it my ...

I opened several more cavities this morning I had 4 birds sitting on the rack hopefully they draw more in and yes they act like they own the place it’s pretty exciting watching them

Woke up this morning had 1 pair sitting on my gourd rack chattering away hopefully these are two of my last years birds that made it home.That leads me to another question I only have 4 cavities open I have 18 available with room to expand do I open all the other cavities or wait?Thanks for your reply

Thanks for the replies and yes I will definitely let you know when the first one arrives.

I know patience is key here but I have several friends within 20 miles from me that have had returning birds I am beginning to wonder if any of the six pair that successfully fledged young at my site last year survived the trip any encouragement would be appreciated thanks

Yes I meant ASY birds should I open all the cavities or just a few I have not seen many hosp but I have been dispatching the ones I do see. Thanks for your reply

Last year was first year with Martins second year trying I had six pair 27 eggs 17 hatched and 17 fledged my question is the sy birds are just now showing up here in NW Ohio I have my houses up but only two holes open was wondering if I should play dawn song?

Second year trying to attract Martins,last year had visitors but none stayed this year had 6 pair of Martins 27 eggs 17 hatched 17 fledged 2 pair of Blue birds 10 eggs 10 fledged 1 pair Tree Swallows that I relocated 5 eggs 5 fledged I know the numbers are small compared to some of your colonies but...

Sorry if I’m getting too excited but only my second year trying to get Purple Martins last year had visitors that’s it did a nest check this afternoon I have 6 active nests have 5 nests with babies totaling 15 babies and the sixth nest has 3 eggs due to hatch on the 10th

Yesterday evening I saw a Sy male stick his head in a gourd that has 2 day old babies both parents chased him off several different times it’s definitely hard to watch this I’m hoping they can hold him off.

I do have several sy males that didn’t find a mate that are hanging around I believe they are even staying the night in a couple of gourds that don’t have eggs if they are the culprits not a whole lot I can do about it I guess.

As posted before this is only my second year trying to attract Martins last year I had a few visitors but that’s it this year I have seven nests with eggs for a total of 25 eggs I do nest checks every 4 days I have been keeping records also.Today I checked my nests I have 3 of 4 eggs that hatched in...