Purple Martin Forum

Thanks for the information! The same is true for all of New England i think if it were not for the PMCA and there study on larger compartments they would have been in worst shape people that have them now in the larger units seem to be the one's that have been able to hold on to there sites i think ...

Hi Shelia You have the trap the Van Ert and can be used in a SREH just bend the inside porch down and use a elastic band to hold the trap on the porch bent down the sparrow will perch on the bar and set the trap i have caught many this way other wise you will become over run with sparrows Ray in RI

Here in New England where Martin colony's are few and far between i have taken on two Private country club colony's last years the golfer's really enjoyed the birds and never once did i show up and not get asked how the Martins are? my sign poster and racks were paid by the private golf coarses!!! a...

Bailey, Aluminum is not the greatest house but they have lasted on the market for forty years so that must say something about them. If the weather turns bad no matter what house or gourd you have it lack of food
that kills more martins! Ray in RI

Hi Bob Any one that puts up a good set up and manage it should not have a problem getting Martins on Buzzards bay in MA. One of my sites that i am helping is on Narragansett Bay and the birds there have had a long 20 year history and were never manged. (go figure) There are many colonies in Plymouth...

Hi Kyle You have a good stock population of Martins in North west VT I was up there a few years back on a trip just to locate colonies. I was very happy to see so many good sites to i agree its very cold in there area of north west VT but because its a valley it maybe a little warmer. The T-14 is a ...

Donald
Dont worry i have three sites all Crescent no round holes
the birds pre-fer the extra large units over the small ones!
Ray in RI

Nesto Do your sell a favor and double size the units Martins perfer larger units and the females will have more eggs and chicks trust me six by six units seem to hold back on the larger number of eggs the females will produce and you will have more martins than you can ever imagine, with the six by ...

Hi John
Yes indeed we lost alot of martins in New England last year. I have hope
they will return to my northern site with the extra large units and super gourds that should be a helpful change. As for the gods not sure if it were
punishment or her reward. Best of luck to everyone! Ray in RI

Hello fellow Martin landlords
I have often wondered what purple martin means in Greek well i have
finally found out. The genus name of the purple martin Progne is from the
Greek word prokne, dauthter of Pandion the legend goes that she was changed into a swallow. Ray in Rhode Island

Hi all
So looking forward to spring with all my supergourds and double size
trio units, Will look after three sites two in RI and one in MA.
And i cannot wait...... Ray in RI

Hi Matt Dont waste your money those poles just rust and warp i had one for many years until the PMCA came out with the miltipurpose pole which is by far the best pole on the market today. If you must mount a house on a pole go with the PMCA pole only! The MPQ will get to a point and will rust and be...

Hi cransy The weather in May was record breaking cold but the nor'easter ocean storm the last week of May killed all my birds we had the same type storm the first week of May and the birds just had recoved from that when the other storm hit and it just finished them off. I also lost birds in 2003 Ma...

Hi Question for oneidalaker! You say that wooden houses are the main nest box for the martins in a cold spring do wooden houses help when there is a cold spring do they help to keep martins warmer and are more martins found dead in the trio units cause there not wooden. If that is the case then mayb...

Hi Cransy From what i can see super gourds really the top of the line housing It seems every one that has super gourds has a ton of Martins even here in New England the landlords that have modified and changed over to super gourds have record numbers of martins. I lost all my Martins in a rare winte...

Hi Jim Excellent pictures! You have made Parker river and its Martins famous! Please The martin needs alot of help in New England if you could please pass some pictures on to your local newspaper and see if they may want to do a little story on the history of martins at Parker river and that special...

Hi Sam I was wondering just how well your site was doing this season well, i have a bit of bad news the ocean storm we had last May killed my entire colony i lost 20 ASY and 6 SY birds pure horror the price i pay for having a site 40 miles in land many sites north and east of me lost many birds as w...

Hi Mary In the month of May New England was hit with the worst spring weather in almost one hundred years many martins died because of this weather event now i have been a landlord since 1994 and what i'm seeing is many of the young SY birds are doing clutches of five eggs over the years the aveage ...