Purple Martin Forum

That makes perfect sense, thank you.

Hi All, I have been tracking first arrivals using the PMCA scout arrival website, and also using eBird. The difference is that martins reported on eBird do not necessarily need to be associated with a nesting site. And this got me wondering, about the PMCA site, I have a vague memory from years ago ...

Hello PMCA, Just finished re-reading Vol 34(4) Fall 2025 of the Update magazine. Once again, job really well done. Joe, your article pp 22-24 states that Breeding season martins have a foraging range of only around five square miles. This is so counterintuitive for a bird that flies 350 miles a day ...

This article goes well with the recent edition of the Update Vol 32(1).

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science- ... 180981600/

Found Vol 31(4) Fall 2022 in my mailbox today. Fun cover, a trip down memory lane.

I have not gone over the project description in detail, but during my cursory review I did not see any requirements that the participants live in the project area. Seems to me all you need is access to the internet and a desire to design a martin nestbox. So, looks like anyone reading this forum can...

Hi All, The info regarding the link below has a reference to the PMCA, so I did a search of this forum, and the PMCA site, for the word "Tucson", but did not come up with any info about this particular event. I don't know, maybe I missed it, in any case, thought this would be a good way fo...

I'm wondering when the next edition of the Update magazine will be mailed out ?
Thanks, Stan Kostka

I guess I should have looked before I opened my mouth. Just found the index on the PMCA website.
Thank you.

Hi All, Today I spent some time looking through past issues of the Update, trying to find an article about martins nesting in a pipe under a pier in Washington State. I remembered the article well, just couldn't recall the date. Anyway, after looking through 12 years of tables of contents, I finally...

Hi Steve, Bob using iron sights or a scope ?

Stan

Hi Ken, Sure was a nice surprise seeing your post. I've been wondering how things are going for you this year, glad to hear the good news. I checked nests on the north end of Camano Island day before yesterday and there are more pairs there than any year since the colony started in 2000. It's been a...

Glad to hear some good news about Griggsville. I was surprised to see my somewhat unrelated post about Sacramento, I had totally forgotten that I made it. But since the subject of insecticides was brought up back in 2005, I thought I’d share what’s been learned since then, regarding the role insecti...

Hanover Bill, that’s a great observation. There is clearly a distribution and abundance gap in the Appalachians. (The PMCA Scout Arrival map shows a similar gap.) Of the millions of Eastern birds in the surrounding regions, why are there relatively so few martins in these Eastern mountainous areas ?...

Hi All, Here's a link to an eBird weekly display of the annual migration. I thought it was pretty cool. You can play it through and/or pause at any particular week. The dates are displayed at the bottom of the map at the control bar. Stan Kostka https://ebird.org/science/status-and-trends/purmar/abu...

Hi KathyF, Just wanted to say thanks for posting this totally cool sighting of the martins at Point Wilson, with photographs to confirm. I've spent quite a bit of time chasing martins around the Olympic Peninsula, mostly in Jefferson County. I've found them nesting in all kinds of places, on ledges ...

I do believe it's possible, and here's one reason why finding martins in Eastern Washington, breeding or not, would be a big deal. hope this link works. http://ebird.org/ebird/map/purmar?neg=true&env.minX=-128.3977724914551&env.minY=43.79366929222311&env.maxX=-111.0943056945801&env.m...

My window on the virtual world is an antique laptop with outdated software, and an already overloaded hard drive. Also, our ISP account has a data limit.

Could post the videos to YouTube ?

Hi Ren, Well it looks like you are sticking to your story, and I'm sticking to mine. The birds you describe fledging young and leaving by the end of May cannot be Purple Martins. In the Central Valley of California, where summer comes earlier than it does anywhere in the Northwest, martins are still...

Hi Ren, You really caught my attention at first saying they nested in the eaves of your house, something which is well documented in the literature, and something I have seen first hand on multiple occasions, especially in areas where there are breeding martins, and no nestboxes or gourds. But, base...