Purple Martin Forum

I continue to watch my Martin "condo" and did a check yesterday because of the larger egg I found earlier this week. I have had more grackles than is usual, but have not seen cowbirds, or anything else lurking about and annoying my Martins. I now have 18 eggs as of late yesterday afternoon...

I thought that my colony was protected in terms of guards to keep out creatures who harm my Martins. We have a pole guard, and my husband created something for our Lonestar House to keep out owls, hawks, etc. All was well until two seasons ago, when I discovered a yellow rat snake one night as I did...

It is early for me to find eggs in my colony. I was surprised to find any today, but generally start at least weekly checks when I see that the nest building has started. Today I found 3 eggs!! One of these eggs was the largest one I have ever seen produced by a Martin. I should have taken a picture...

For many years grackles would visit my feeders and clean them out on a daily basis. I discovered that they don't care for safflower seeds, which is what I use in my feeders exclusively, and until this year I haven't seen any in my yard or feeders. The Martins began to arrive mid-January. For the pas...

We have a 12 apartment Lonestar Goliad house that we rigged up owl guards for using old Trio parts. They are wearing out, and we'd like to add a couple of floors to our house, but are looking for any suggestions that anyone may have tried to protect the Martins from owls and hawks. Each year we've h...

We live in SW Florida and usually don't see a Martin until mid-January. I'd better get my house up. Hoped to add another floor to my Goliad house. Last year was a good year, but we did have some challenges with several Yellow Rat Snakes for the first time. The first one killed the parents in two apa...

We have a very large mockingbird population here in SW Florida, and I have never seen what was described. The mockingbirds do their thing and the Purple Martins do theirs. They will occassionally form an alliance and go after the crows, which I thoroughly enjoy. Both birds have excellent dive bombin...

There are so many creative people on this Forum. I don't know what I would have done without all of you and your help during our recent snake visit. We had the pole guard that was purchased when we got our Lonestar house, and did our own "creation" to take of any snake that comes near that...

Another update--> the netting is up, and while it isn't pretty, I believe that it will do the trick. As we were "creating" our snake netting pole guard, I decided to walk the dogs again. My 14 year old cocker spaniel has been very interested in what is lurking under the hedges between our ...

I am sure that someone has experienced this as well. We have one nest where 5 eggs were laid. When I completed my nest check just prior to their due date to hatch, the eggs were all over the nest, and it took me awhile to locate all of them. The next time I checked the eggs were rearranged all toget...

Quick update after finishing my nest check--> the Martin babies that were alive last night after we got the snake out of their compartment were dead today. It looks like the parents did not return, but perhaps there were injuries that I couldn't see due to the snake being coiled up inside their comp...

Thank you all for your support and suggestions. I believe that it was a rat snake. This is the first time we have had any trouble with snakes. I'm usually trapping and killing house sparrows. Apparently the snakes are very restless and aggressive this year in our area. Our pole guard is the one that...

I was out for my nightly walk with my dogs which takes me by our Purple Martin house. I was due to check the nest boxes tomorrow. I generally see an ASY male outside compartments 5 and 6. He wasn't there tonight, but what looked like a snake was. I could not believe what I was seeing. We have a baff...

Each season is always an adventure with no season ever the same. We have a small colony here in Fort Myers. Our house went up a bit late due to the Swine flu getting us, but as soon as it was opened for the season, the tenants arrived. We currently have 27 Martin babies of various ages. We seen seve...

I had 20 eggs when we did a check yesterday. I was hopeful that we wouldn't have house sparrows visiting this year, but late yesterday, a male and female appeared. We are planning to put a trap in one of our apartments today. I've spent the last hour or so watching our house, and the Martins chasing...

This is our 4th year as landlords. We have a new Lonestar house and 7 couples currently in residence. I take the house down on at least a weekly basis to see if the nest building has begun (we check every 4-5 days once eggs are laid). Nest building has not begun, but what I'm finding is that this gr...

Thank you all for your responses. We never saw a sparrow here in southwest Florida until our third year as landlords. With a new Martin house, we want to make sure that we are prepared. We also have a pellet rifle, but don't want to take the chance of hitting a Martin, and we're still working on our...

We are preparing for the 2010 season. Last year for the first time since we became landlords (it was our third year), the house sparrows found our small colony. We successfully used the Spar-O-Door, and trapped and eliminated several sparrows. The trap was easy to use,and worked well.We would use it...

This is our third year as landlords, and the best, in terms of numbers fledged, despite some problems with sparrows that were taken care of earlier in the season. In previous years here in SW Florida, all of the babies have fledged by mid June, and soon after the Martins are gone until next year. Th...

This is our third year as landlords, and the first year we've ever seen a sparrow here in Florida. We know own a pellet gun, and installed a Spare O Door into one of the Trio mini castle compartments. We've taken out many sparrow nests before the the trap arrived. Didn't have much luck with the pell...