Purple Martin Forum

Nice! I do think they are smart, but just like with us sometimes, the hormones override our brains. Lol

Put some of his nest in the trap. This has worked for me several times.

Got 2 more. Up to 19 for the year.

Nice! No problems with House Sparrows?

Ultimately they decide where they want to live. Things you can do: Keep trees at least 50-60 feet from your pm house. Make sure you keep house sparrows out of your PM house. Have predator guards in place on your pole. Maybe others will add to this. Best of luck!

Did you have PMs last year? If so, how many? Regardless, that's not unusual behavior when they arrive. They are just checking things out.

Brent, I never lower mine. Last Spring we had a few days of 60+ gusts and a few other days of sustained 30 mph winds without issue. Now this is with a 3" square aluminum pole. I added a 2" square aluminum pole this year, but it just has 8 gourds on it. During hurricane Laura, back when I h...

I heard that area is a nice place to live! Have you driven around to see if you can find some PM colonies nearby?

Great job Unk!

Not ideal, but natural cavities don't have plush porches either? Maybe the senior PM minds will add to the conversation?

Yes, agree its a wonderful trap, works great. I had a friend tell me he played a joke on his wife with one of those...his buddy caught a bunch, so they brought them over and stuffed 15 in the middle holding cell of her trap and watched to see what she did when she came home, she couldn't believe it...

I would imagine they could. Can you post a picture?

Great idea sir!

Yeah, great shooting! Caught #17 today in my Troyer ST2 trap. I bought it a few years ago at #100. Looked them up recently and now they are $160! It's a really good, well made trap, but i wished it had a larger holding compartment.

Jairow wrote: ↑

Sat Mar 08, 2025 7:33 pm

Thank you CC and Thomas. I went ahead and removed the sticker and added some nest material and feathers as you suggested. Hoping that will work.

The real issue is that you care. Keep trying and better results will come with persistence!

Jairow, they are unbelievably smart . They seem to notice every little change. Definitely covering the triggering mechanism will help. If not, once they lay eggs, they can not resist.

It happens all of the time. They may hang out for a while, but will eventually move on and find new housing, hopefully even to someone down the road who has been trying to bring them in. They'll be fine. Good luck on the move!

The bigger, the better!

CC. I quit catching them for a while with bread and cracked corn. I tore out a nest from my MILs pm house and put that in the trap and caught 4 more!

Mstan wrote: ↑

Thu Mar 06, 2025 7:24 pm

I put out my repeating trap today and I’m 0 for 2 with my pellet gun.

Ive definitely missed more than I've hit. Lol.