Purple Martin Forum

Can you please tell me what type of gourd or home you use ? Before i tell you what happen. Type of Hole too.

Ray Marr
landlord since 1996
manage 300 Martins
Rhode Island

Hi Evelyn If you have had no resident Martins from the year before then you would look in the AM. Before 10AM If you have a resident colony then get there before sundown as they will roam around all day then return at dusk to roost. In the AM they can sometimes fly in and rest to keep warm. Numerous...

Hi There is a person from NB that i know who has them. Plus i can say there probably are around 3 colony's in that area. Im am 40 mins south of Boston in Rhode Island. Your first birds older ASY birds are due now with the SY birds return thew June and early July. The birds are making a rapid recover...

You are not alone. Sadly one of the largest Purple Martin Population recored in Rhode Island has been decimated. They will recover hundreds of Chicks mostly Young day old chicks and some feather ones have died as well. All the way out to the Cape Cod Mother nature can be very cruel. All we can so is...

Vent holes are Very Important even way up here in the northeast. Rhode Island. And within few feet of Narragansett Bay which is a cool 65 Degree. With out vent holes the Chicks will cause condensation in the gourds and will look soaked and when they are old enough they will jump from over heat to th...

1 pair in Barrington Rhode Island (Fledged today) 1 pair Rehoboth Massachusetts (fledge time 8/28) Excellent season for the northeast Many chicks produced. Most years the last Martins exit the area around labor day. The main flock left first week of Aug. Im sure many are in New Jersey at the roost a...

Hi My name is Ray Marr I manage the Crestwood Colony on wheeler Avenue Im not sure if you are the site that i helped place gourds before you moved to that farm. I was friends with the former owner. Who moved away about 5 yrs ago. Many of the older birds are done and will return for days to roost bef...

Hi Everyone! Over all excellent Season so far in The Northeast. If you are looking for around the clock protection of Your Martin Colony this little fella with do the trick. I cannot tell you how many times these Swallows have saved my colony from the grim reaper (Coopers Hawk) I place as many boxes...

You can use the tape for this season but after you wash them in 2018 they may weaken and rip off I'm going to remove all the tape and plastic tread and use my Dremel tool Much easier to wash them and nothing in the way. The tape will lift off in the hot sun too. The tape that was put in was not roug...

Hi David I have used trio houses For many years I have replaced them with the gourds. I would purchase conleyII plates and use them not crescents some of the martins have trouble getting in them in mid summer as they fatten up I had a male for three years once the eggs hatched he would stress and pa...

They belong to golf clubs,private home owners,collage. I own 18 The first ones bought. We have large numbers of the Vertical gourds going up yearly. I like them both. I use Conley II holes for many years no Starlings. I manage just over 300 gourds with 85% troyer gourds 15% Crescent gourds which i h...

They are called Traction tread and they are black and plastic. The gourds were bought around 2005 and some were outside all year so the elements took there toll. Plus others clean them and are ruff and pull them off while cleaning. So the main reason i need to find a cheap way to replace the older t...

Hi Everyone I manage large numbers of troyer gourds and have for years one problem I am having is the rubber band inside the troyer Horizontal gourds is rotting away. I bought a dremel 7300 tool and no longer will I have to waste money on anti skid tape for the gourds. The dremel is small and stuby ...

Purple Martin is staging a major come back in many area's of New England Threw out Cape Cod to many area's out side of Boston. There is a colony only few air miles away in Rochester,Middleboro,lakevilee to name a few. Invest in Starling resistant troyer gourds. If your yard is open enough? If not fi...

Same here for the first time in 20 years i have new eggs in July in the last five days a pair produced 2 eggs And I probably Have more. They nested two weeks late, And the entire cycle seems is off. These maybe re-nest too! The species is rapidly recovering and has started to nest in towns where the...

A flock of some 40 ASY returned today. Each site had a single bird or two no more. I hope for all the new sites started in 2016
you gain many new Martins and enjoy the hobby as much as I have after 24 years of being a landlord. Best of luck to everyone!
Ray Barrington, Rhode Island

Martins are running Late. There are none on Cape Cod and I have only 5 males and I hosted over 100 in my town. Your birds are in route and you will have them in a week. This has been a cold spring. The birds I have now are old. The two year old birds don't show until the last week of April and many ...

I used to have the same crescent doors from trio no starling problems, But the big problem i did have was some martins could not enter the crescent hole was to narrow. I had the same male three years could not figure out how to enter the crescent once the eggs hatched he would stress and panic and j...

Hi John Some Martins did return to Rhode Island none of Mine yet. I did not check my sites in Rehoboth I manage over 100 gourds there Its seems the martin is really spreading threw out South Eastern MA. Please let me know how your site is doing and if we can add you to the state list as a landlord. ...

Hi Folks One thing i have worked on in the last years is what to do with the crescent gourds I have. I don't like them because you cannot manage sparrows with them so i have studied the most popular gourds are the bottom ones with the HOSP The Martin favors the top gourds on the rack This year all m...