Purple Martin Forum

Matt, Did you ever find a place to release the babies? If not, I found a place that has hundreds of Martins every evening for about 45 minutes then they move off. It's actually at a high school and the martins congregate there in a huge flock. I was there Thursday night watching my sons baseball ga...

Matt, You missed mine by about a week or week and a half. Otherwise I'd say come on up. Sorry bout that. You might look for a rehabber who has baby martins in house who is about to release them. They might have a process they go through when it's time to let them go. Just a thought. Coolwhips Hi Wh...

According to Accuweather for central Texas area at this time, Fri.07/08 will be 102, Sat.07/09 will be 103 , Sun.07/10 will be 105 , Mon.07/11 will be 106 , and Tues.07/12 will be 104 . after that we get to go back to our cooler 99 to 101 degrees. How do Martins survive that? If you still got birds ...

Hi Sharon, We had from 12 to 20 birds last week that were coming to the colony in the morning. Some would stay most of the day. Last Thursday, between 10:00am- 12:00pm, I released 14 of them to this group. All that left could fly well and did not go to the ground at any time. They had practiced flyi...

It looks like she takes good care of her colony and the mister pole is a good idea. Funny she does not mention the drought. Georgetown is not that far from South Austin and Buda, Kyle, San Marcos area Hay County either. Either they did not get hit as hard with drought north of Austin or she is not a...

I am in Buda, TX in central Texas south 20-30 minutes from the city of Austin. We have a drought that has hit hard in Central Texas effecting Purple Martin Colonies in the region. The farthest away I have heard is San Antonio area but I am sure its spans much further. Most all of my colony is gone. ...

Did the parents abandon the nest? You said an egg was broken. Did the dead babies have any wounds? If the death of a baby is 100% known to me, I will always look for wounds. We can name of couple things it ain't.

Hi Birdman, At the end of the season start thinking about strengthening the roofing / shading material. Do whatever it takes to make a permanent, solid and strong shading system. People who visit my colony usually respond with their jaws dropping after the realize the lengths I go to ensure safety ...

A river within a 200 yards in really good. No doubt its low and if the next 3 months carry on with no rain, its getting lower but if there is still alot of water, they maybe able to gather bigger food items living there to save their nests. Check out the temps this weekend! its gonna get hot, stand ...

If you can put up some sun boards, they should be able to deal with up to 100 degrees but here is the big one..........thats if they are being fed by their parents. I am not sure if the drought has hit you like it has us in central Texas but if this is the case, it will then be starvation from lack ...

Hi guys and girls First time poster in many years. It seems the heat is sure taking it's toll this year. There are misters for outside patios and such that seems like could be rigged on top of the houses or gourds. They come with quarter inch plastic tubing that could easily be made to raise and lo...

Hello everyone. Thanks for all the help. Here is latest in the saga. Recall that I lost 15-20 birds in the heat with 30-40 jumpers over three days. Then we installed the misters. The first day we had 4 jumpers but no dead birds. That is a big improvement. The second day we had three jumpers of whic...

The critter depot Fluker farms Armstrongs crickets All good Tom Tom, Thank you for the names. What I see here is what I remember in the "Year of The Great Drought 2011". Its getting like a dust bowl now with hot from heater like wind blowing dust devils parching your throat and it ain't e...

Matt: Flukers Farms https://flukerfarms.com/ or Reptile Food https://reptilefood.com/ You will need an average of 30-40 five to six week old (3/4" to 7/8" size) crickets per chick per day to keep them fat & happy. They should be feed 3-4 times a day. If they are under weight they won'...

I am so sorry to hear about this Matt. I order from Flukers Farm. Google them online. They are in Louisiana and they do have over night delivery. I know at times they limit the order but don’t know if they’re doing it now. My heart goes out. Brent HI Brett, Thank you for company names. I have 2000 ...

Hello All, I have not posted here since 2020 and sorry I cannot post my detail due at this time due to time but I have 27 starving jumpers in shoe and biger boot boxes I am feeding beef heart. I had and returned 32 starving babies on Sunday. the number will get higher and changes. 4 have died in the...

I am sorry to hear about the problems you are having. I am up here nearby in Buda and have 24 starving babies in shoe boxs due to the drought. Around 10 have died. I will post more later. This is reminds me of the great drought of 2011. I know how you feel.