Purple Martin Forum

The name "Sevin" is the trade name of the company that has manufactured the dust used in very small quantities by hundreds of landlords to effectively treat mite outbursts in nest boxes. The active ingredient used by Sevin in the past has been "5% Carbaryl Dust" . Last year Sevin...

Keith, I would think whatever you choose to call it would be up to you. Do you do nest-checks, keep records? I see that you had 84 pairs in 2020 --was that on the 8 acres? How are the different sites performing? Any owls or predators around? Do you do nest checks, keep records? I have an 8 acre site...

Spiderman, I have not used the Gemini systems believing that they would be difficult to fashion a cage for, should owls become a problem while using them. Late in 2021, Kentucky landlord Mike Brown posted a system that he designed for his Gemini systems that appear to be a great step toward protecti...

I ran across a single Facebook post in which a handful of people commented on the matters posted above, and subsequently reread my copy of the PM Update. There is a single landlord's letter that basically tells about how that landlord rescued 6 of a brood of 7 that prematurely jumped. He was excited...

Thomabear, Egg laying is typically in the early hours of morning. Louise and I are doing nest checks starting around 11 am. If left to afternoon options we are squeezing in an hour around 500 pm. When I was banding we often started pulling nestlings around 9 am, doing multiple colonies throughout th...

IMO, it is his strategy to get more dominant nestlings to come to the compartment entrance to be fed. Cameras have shown adults entering a compartment to feed young, bypassing the dominant nestlings to feed the smaller ones that struggle for food. This strategy enables the male to concentrate on fee...

Great job fellows! Arrivals in that kind of inclement weather offers a great opportunity to transition your colony to using a feeding platform which in the long run will be safer and more beneficial. Start by flipping the insects toward a nearby rooftop, or fashion an elevated platform out of a piec...

The line stands out because it represents such a small number of arrivals. I agree with flying-lowe that it is likely that some were misidentified. Likewise, some people, myself included, have problems using the report page and report ASYs as SYs. IMO, the most significant (though imaginary) line sh...

This off season I added WEPs (Wing Entrapment Protectors) to all of my Conley2 entrances (76) and starlings hanging around as the martins began arriving examined the gourds and lost interest in the site. I have used them as needed to repel starling breaches and as a means of repairing damage to entr...

Friend Adrian, aka tutu; It was a joy to see the pictures you posted and brought back great memories of Port O'Connor, and the frequent arrivals of migrants witnessed there. Thank you for sharing! I regret it has taken this long to post a response. I got asked to write an article for PMCA on home ow...

Vixen 55, Be patient! Migration is just beginning in earnest. There was nearly total mortality of older arrivals last year during the polar vortex that impacted migration in the southern half of Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi and to a lesser extent east of there along the Gulf Coast. That thwarted...

Welcome Kim, I found this link to the article I wrote for PMCA in 2005 that should open. https://www.purplemartin.org/uploads/media/14-2-naturalgourdtip-403.pdf In the article I emphasize the study of the gourds you are preparing as an important step before cutting in to them. You will note all of t...

A few thoughts about replies to my post: Thomas: I doubt there will be any long term benefit from releasing feeder insects in to the wild. One exception might be black soldier fly larvae (which is probably the best source of calcium among feeder insects). It is pretty hardy and will evolve in to bla...

A few thoughts about replies to my post: Regarding supplemental feeding: 1. My first success in feeding involved flipping live crickets with a plastic spoon/or slingshot over a small work shed located beneath and near one of my gourd racks (in clear sight of the residents. Weather was inclement and ...

Thank you, Thomabear, for the link and information. I placed my order this morning, and in great McMaster-Carr fashion the items will be here Wednesday. Your sharing of a valid alternative for the present glide buttons encouraged me to type out the information I located on Armstrong Cricket Farms---...

I have been supplemental feeding my purple martin colony feeder insects for over 20 years. Primarily, I now feed via platform feeders using super worms, giant meal worms and occasionally crickets. Each of those can be, and are, frozen in boxes upon arrival, and thawed in water immediately before fee...

Thomabear, That sounds like a great alternative. I have received replacement buttons from Troyers to replace about a dozen missing buttons on racks that came from CUENT (B4 sale to Troyer) sold with a poor UV inhibitor. Would you share the size of the of the bolts and nuts, or part numbers, from McM...

MJM, I believe the top piece is fixed in place, and the main house lowers from, and raises back to it. I looked at the complete plans found at Ontario Purple Martin Association's web site. It does not discuss mounting the top section; however, at the end has a link to John Balga who posted the plans...

Sping, 2010, I published an article in PM Update (Vol. 19-2), entitled First Stop--USA, A look at Migration Along the Texas Coast. The complete article discusses the dynamics of migration and sets forth information pertinent to some of the questions concerning this year's migration . It is important...

CTMARTINS, Neither the home or the shed is going to repel martins. They seem to prefer nesting in proximity to people. What they do prefer is open space to protect against predators. The most feared predators with respect to a house are normally accipiter hawks that rapidly fly from below the house ...