Purple Martin Forum

Thank you for the replies. I have tried to contact rehabbers in NC. I usually get voicemail messaging. One said they can't do martins. One said stuff that was excruciatingly obvious they do not get martins. For example, they had no idea they are insectivores. Also tried to argue with me its a fledge...

I havent posted here is a long time. I purchased a property with a decades long purple martin colony, and I am not too knowledgeable even after a couple years here. Today I noticed a martin on the ground by the gourd racks. I watched it a long time and it would not fly off. I finally went up to it. ...

I signed up for the Wildlife Conservation Film Festival just so I can watch the movie Purple Haze a Conservation Film. You do have to pay-- it was $14.99 plus tax and it runs thru Dec 20th. I am not so sure I can post links on this forum so just search Wildlife Conservation Film Festival 2022 You ca...

Quick background on my situation. I purchased a property with a decades long established martin colony. I knew nothing about purple martins and then this summer there were chicks jumping or maybe getting pushed out of gourds... I really dont want to get into that topic, its just awful. My equipment ...

Hi Tom, As someone who had no martin knowledge, experience and then was overwhelmed in a state of disaster management at this colony on the property I purchased, I'd like to chime in and say: to be unclear is to be unkind. I would not refrain from explaining the sparrow and starling issues. If a pot...

Hi Tom, Oh no, I am sorry if I didnt explain this well. Thinking if I just had my hands on 2 of the gourds (that i've yet to select from all the ones out there) then when working on my brackets, I could hang them on it, just to check the distance between them to avoid clunking. I am thinking I will ...

Absolutely beautiful. TY for sharing. I hope next year I have some nice photos. Took pictures this year, but my martin housing/equipment, shall we say, is humiliating. But we are determined to change that. If someone told me a year ago, an animal will enter your life and you will be enchanted by it,...

Hi everyone, Our thoughts have been more focused on gourds, rather than pole placement lately. Decided not try to retro fit the gourds that were here at this colony (small, brown plastic, not access cap etc) with the products sold for use with natural gourds. These plastic gourds too problematic, ma...

PMCA sells access port and entrance retrofit items. some people use round holes until some point in the nesting season then switch to the starling resistant, when they are committed to the nest and will get in, whereas they might not try so hard before that. i have conley ii entrances and they seem...

as long as the poles are such that you can manage the gourds, i would start by replacing a few each year. they are cheaper per gourd the more you buy. i admit, i did not get my horizontals from PMCA, i believe troyer had a better deal. if the poles do not allow for managing, i would consider some o...

Were the gourds you had completely full? All 60 had nests? What you could do (I don't know how the existing gourds are hung), is a slow gourd replacement. I wouldn't want to pay for 60 gourds either. Maybe a slow measured gourd replacement, then tackle the poles. If the gourds are upgraded I think ...

One very important thing to remember when dealing with pole placement: purple Martins have excellent site fidelity and returning adults will always look for the housing in the same spot it was the year before, so I would hesitate to move a pole more than just a foot or two. As far as hole style, ma...

Hi, I am new here. Quick background I purchased a property with a several decade long established martin colony. I was told it would be easy, you dont do anything because they eat bugs! This summer has been a bit unexpectedly worrisome with the martins. Basically I am trying to read online because I...