Purple Martin Forum

Hi My friends A very generous family in town donated 8 super gourds with round holes i want to add the troyer tunnel with collar to them to. Do I have to make the hole larger to 3 inches or can i keep the factory size round hole of the gourd which is a little smaller. To save myself alot of work i d...

I found a adult male and female dead a few weeks ago when i lowered gourds to clean them. I often find them in the spring. What i think happens these older birds cannot make the flight south and stay behind and expire. In the safety of there homes. And i dont blame them they probably have a bad wing...

I found a adult male and female dead a few weeks ago when i lowered gourds to clean them. I often find them in the spring. What i think happens these older birds cannot make the flight south and stay behind and expire. In the safety of there homes. And i dont blame them they probably have a bad wing...

I am at 230 cavity's for martins. I have 12 more gourds going up in the fall of 2014 Love the birds but it takes for ever to clean all the units. I hope to be done cleaning by oct 1 I have old trio houses that have been in place since 1993 they were well worth the investment but will not be replaced...

Super gourds do well outside even in the northeast. And cover with snow for weeks. I have one rack on a private farm and the gourds have been outside since 2004 all 18 of them. The other sites there stored away. They show no damage from the cold and snow. Worth while investment and they will probabl...

Weather here stays warm till mid September. Daytime highs in low 80s low's in the 50's some nights. Days are much shorter and many birds are on the move south. Last tree swallows leave here by Oct 31 but can be see all year along the ocean where there are bayberries that they feed on and hold up in ...

There are some 20 plus Martin Colony's in Maine. The sad part is many are old school farmers and have no computers. And still many have the birds in small units. They have Martin colony's not to far from Baxter state park in northern Maine. So there well spread out. I have been to some. Not so sure ...

The last pair fledged 1 wk ago. Last martin seen 08/22 there gone and moving threw mid atlantic states. Produced 368 chicks for Rhode Island towns of Barrington & Westerly. And 178 chicks for Rehoboth MA. They will continue grow and spread out there colony's in 2014 into towns where they have no...

I drilled out all my gourd vents and the birds seemed much cooler and no condensation. Its a must in southern states. Condensation is the issue in northern states. Think about it 5-7 chicks in the mid day sun the poor things must over heat. Once you vent the gourds you wish you had done it sooner th...

Same thing here a few runts found on the ground 4. Tried to save but to weak after being in the sun for hours. I look daily. The last of my birds will fledge 08/09 happy to see the season end its very stressful at times. It seems bug supply's are low from what ever the reason takes birds a while to ...

Hi Twins
They made a rare discovery in your state a new martin colony in Seabrook
the birds were in old wooden box's look on the NH state rare bird alert.
There are pictures as well. There are four colony's now in the state.
I hope people do something and add more new units.
Ray

Hi Louise How did Bob trap the female to read her geo/band? I had a banded bird here in a conley gourd but was not comfortable setting a trap on her. I will next year since i am getting numerous banded birds with the higher volume of resident martins every year. Some birds have started to move south...

Thanks for information.
Ray

Hi Cransy I have two females with the red and silver bands and one Sy male that just came in the colony passing threw the area with the same red and silver bands. I have another female with yellow and silver bands also. I think the red and silver are from CT also. I could have trapped one of the fem...

Milian emailed me so i hope they are going to work on this. He said they used that diatomaceous earth last week on the colony. Well i guess that stuff dont work. Time for the real deal before to late. Time is running out. Nothing more that can be done. They know now. Some people are not comfortable ...

Thanks for keeping touch. We have had probably one of the best years ever. I gained 30 pairs to reach 90 pairs in Barrington and gained 14 more in Rehoboth MA. 47 pairs there. four banded birds in Barrington that is weird how so few females returned. I wonder if they got trapped here and never retur...

It looks like the rack is infested not just one gourd its gotten worst. I live two hours away if i knew his address i would go there my self. I emailed Milian Bull he works for CT Audubon and is very compassionate about saving Martins if anyone can help Milian can. They may have older chicks and if ...

Hi Steve
You have alot of units to clean. Does any one help you? I have around
140 to clean I wait till after labor day when its cooler. I dont mind the work
once there done thats it.


Ray

The camera is running slow now. Hope for the best. And it easy to become protective of Martins when you manage so many. If there are mites I am sure they will address the issue.
If they have not already.
--Ray

I cannot watch this any more the birds are covered with mites I emailed them and they have done nothing. In a week those little ones with jump. They are not sleeping its impossible with all the mites. This is how you can tell you are in trouble and have mites. Its a good example and i wonder what th...