Purple Martin Forum

Update: Got my upgraded 12 gourd system with the winch and all the bells and whistles put up mid-March. Just under the wire, as they usually show up about two weeks later. But I was worried, as our group is small and they abandoned my old set up before nesting last year, as mentioned before. Waited ...

Thanks guys. Weather finally improved here, so I was able to get the ground post sunk in concrete today. They should be here in about three weeks…

The Supergourds for my new set up just showed up. All the gourds have a line labeled “fill line”. I don’t see any information other than a bit that came up on Google saying I might want to pre load it with nesting material. Don’t the birds take care of that? They certainly did with the gourds on my ...

Thanks for the responses. And yes, that video was cute. But I get it now…. I will pay attention to what features the new gourds I buy come with. Ten plus years ago I read something about having the crescents 1/8” up to deter starlings. So I took all my entrances off the house and cut new crescents o...

I am new to this board and as I do searches and reading, it occurs to me there is a lot of jargon and I generally don’t get it. I should eventually catch up, but right now I am running out of time to get ready for my 2022 upgrade and I have some basic questions. 1) What are wing entrapment protector...

Yeah, pretty close. We’re in northern Owen. 2021 was year 17 for us. Our group never expanded beyond 5-8 pairs because I was just too busy to do it. Always had great intentions, just never happened. I’ve used crescent entrances from day one. Occasionally a female starling would be small enough to ge...

Thanks, maybe I’ve been lucky up til now. I will heed the advice. I’m a little worried about them coming back next year since last year was a bust, but I know we have a lot of martins around here.

I’m not sure it was a hawk. Around the time they left I happened to notice them harassing a hawk. But I’ve seen that before, and I’m sure it was normal behavior. It was also about this time—just as they were starting to build nests—that the starlings attacked with a vengeance. They’re always a probl...

Hey all, New user here, longtime landlord. In a nutshell, I’m between Cincinnati, Louisville and Lexington. Put up first house 15 plus years ago. I have a very good location, birds are very cooperative. Scouts show up like clockwork last few days of March. They hassle me constantly until mid April w...