Purple Martin Forum

I believe a Great Martin Landlord lives down your way named Thurman Seber . You can look his name up in the member list section on the top of the page and reach him that way .

Go ahead and look and lower the lone star rack when looking ! Your martins must get used to it and they wont mind anyway. Your martins will like you better for looking as they want you to look after them . I am sure many others will tell you the same thing . If I didnt lower and check my gourd racks...

SY Martins are pouring into my Colony by the dozens. I normally run somewhere around 200 - 225 purple martins at a given time and last year fledged 342 babies . On 5-30 2012 , I had around 300 martins here with around 75 or 80 being sy birds . My latest nest check 5-31-2012 shows 110 pair have layed...

Kim , I'm from your area and NO it's not too late to attrack more martins as more sy's are returning daily and still will be laying for another couple weeks. I have somewhere around 300 martins @ my colony right now and my last nest check I had 420 eggs . I should end up with around 600 eggs this ye...

Dave , these are great numbers ! I know from my own Colony that when you get that many numbers , it does get a little overwhelming . My last count was 420 and I was waiting for the heat to break before I did another nest check . I believe to have now around 600 eggs . When you get a larger colony it...

Yes , last year I had a nest with 9 eggs hatch and fledge . This has been the most I had ever seen or heard of and as of right now my best number is 7 for this year .

I thought I would post the dates and numbers as many have contacted me wanting the info . 5-13 -2012 I had 53 active nest with 219 purple martin eggs . On 5-20- 2012 I had 88 active nest with 420 purple martin eggs . I estimate around 250 purple martins @ my colony @ this time and I am estimating ar...

Ron , you switched to gourds and notice your egg numbers going up . If you use the right size gourds your egg numbers will really go up . I mainly run all gourds and find 6 to 9 eggs in all gourds . Last year my best was 9 eggs in a double gourd , had no gourds with 8 eggs and several with 6 and 7 e...

Have you ever tried putting a live sparrow inside the bait trap and using him as a decoy ? If your bait trap doesnt have a live holding cage in one end then try making one in one end. If you cant get a live sparrow i'm sure you can ask a young boy around the area to get you a live one and transport ...

Yes Martins do come in after dark many times @ my colony site and I watch this many times as my site is completely Lit with lights . I also watch martins switch from gourd to gourd in the night before they get a right one picked out . I stay up all night every night and listen for any problems with ...

It's amazing how much my blood pressure went up just seeing the starling photo ! @ my place the starling doesnt get a chance to sing before he has a 204 ruger bullet go through him @ 4250 Feet per second !

Are you seeing any more starlings ? If your not seeing any , than they might not be any coming around to trap . If you are sure the trap is set right , you might just have to wait and see . With my traps I like to check the teeter totter while the trap is up in the air @ the height the trap will be ...

Thurman Seber and Victor Stoll !!! These 2 men did more to help me not only start a Purple Martin colony , But get a Super Colony ! Thurman is still with us and on the Forum again and Victor is gone but I still can here him talking Martins with me and still read his book often . I now use the advice...

Flylow, I am in your same county and have somewhere around 200 Purple Martins @ my colony most every day now. I have got a big percentage of females but not as many females as males . Hold on @ your site and they will be coming as many new martins show up and leave the next morning to head north. We...

Joe, you are doing a great job on the starlings ! I once had a huge starling problem when I first tried to start a colony and now cant beg a starling to even stop to look @ my colony. Have killed in the thousands by trapping and shooting over the past 7 years and @ one time I thought it would be a g...

That's Great ! Sounds like your off to a great year and hope you have many more eggs !

I want to know if anyone has ever noticed a massive reduction in starlings at a colony of Purple Martins and not know why ? For years now whenever I would put up my Martin homes I would notice what I call a starling war would start around March 15 and go for @ least 30 -40 days. During this period I...

Susan, it's just my two cents for what it's worth ! I had starling problems a few years ago and changed most gourds to Conley 2 tunnels and the martins go right inside them and the tunnel makes them feel safer. If you put tunnels on them , your martins will choose tunnels before anything else. I hav...

Thats great that your season is on it's way ! I am in central Indiana and have noticed alot of purple martins returning daily . My numbers on my super colony are growing each day and so is the martins singing above the colony . It's great to have them back ! Dan Clodfelter

Yesterday ( 3-23 - 2012 ) I had only a few Purple Martins @ my Super Colony until the noise of singing Purple Martins got so loud you couldn't hear yourself think .Many Purple Martins were coming out of the sky and paying a visit to the colony site! Thought people would want to know as some had wond...