Purple Martin Forum

Thank you Dan for re-posting that story about the billion bug highway. That helps to explain how the largest known nesting colony of 1,000 plus purple martin pairs there in Alabama can find enough insects to feed their young.

Robert you have quite the challenge in front of you but it will be worth it when there are more martins in your gourds than house sparrows. I would tackle sparrow removal with three trapping techniques. Your ground trap is one method. Maybe try placing seed on the ground without the trap. Once the s...

I was able to view the housing on Monroe Street with Google Earth's street view. That median is very well maintained and beautiful as far as city streets go. The Jackson Audubon Society probably has members in Vicksburg, Mississippi. Maybe a couple of them would be willing to manage the housing.

This is not new because it was introduced to me a number of years ago here on the forum as an alternative to Sevin. Avian Insect Liquidator by VetaFarm is made for killing lice and mites on indoor caged birds. It can be sprayed directly onto indoor birds as well as onto their perches and nest boxes....

I would clean out the nests. If trapping and shooting prove to be difficult, you might have success forcing the starlings to abandon your site just with your presence. This practice worked again for me back in March here at my home colony where I am able to do it. A pair of starlings claimed one of ...

I believe "scout" reports are specific to active or established colonies based upon the instructions. However when a martin shows up at a new site and sticks, it would be important, when reporting, for the lucky new colony manager to answer the question about how many years their site has ...

I would shoot for the second week of April to install new housing at your latitude. Numbers of returning martins will have increased by then and the bulk of European starlings and English sparrows will have chosen nesting sites. You will still have to battle starlings, sparrows, and possibly tree sw...

The research is supposed to continue into 2026 so there should be a request for volunteers again soon. I wonder if Colby College will select a completely different group of volunteers for 2026 to include more of the martin's range? We should hear something in the next couple months.

The location looks great. I don't have experience with that brand and style of house. From limited observations here in Kentucky with that style of house, I see very few occupied by martins. I would add 4 natural gourds by hanging them from each corner of the house.

Difficult to know what might have caused them to leave. Maybe a tree has grown too close to your housing over the past 14 years. Can you attach a photo of your backyard with the housing in view?

For anyone in or near central Kentucky, this roost is still going strong on radar. The birds are roosting in a 7-acre woodlot adjacent to the Walgreens in Winchester. The Walgreens address is 2045 Bypass Road, Winchester, KY 40391. I visited on August 16. Upon arriving around 7:50 pm there were a fe...

A nice treat for sure to have that many martins visit in the evening. I heard some martins this morning high above the yard. I believe that my martins are part of a pre-migratory roost located about 46 miles to the west in Winchester, KY. Some birds will return in the mornings for a while. At my lat...

There is a roost located on the northeast side of Tulsa. A radar image from a couple days ago is attached.

Very good chance that all of your nestlings have fledged. I noticed a roost ring on radar to the southeast of Faquier County. I'm guessing this is a pre-migratory roost of martins and it is very likely that your birds are a part of it. The location is on the Potomac River east of Fredericksburg near...

Your description matches the behavior of the colony when birds are actively fledging. Same thing has been happening in my yard the past few days. Yesterday evening there were lots of new fledglings going to roost in the tops of trees about 100 yards to the east. Some fledglings returned to the gourd...

Yeah that would suck. There is always a chance that the aggressive bluebirds won't survive another winter. But in case the bluebirds do survive, I agree with your approach to not put up the bluebird nest boxes next year. I would take the bluebird nest boxes down now or as soon as they finish with th...

Congratulations Dan - well earned new colony establishment this year. Central Pennsylvania could have so many more martin colonies if people would catch the passion that we have. I hope both eggs hatch this week. One of my brothers lives in Lycoming County to the east of you and he has no cicadas. H...

The periodical "Biomass Pulse" has ended here in eastern Kentucky. What a difference a week makes. Just a week ago, Saturday, June 14, I was able to sit and observe the martins for a good hour that morning. Periodical cicadas were a frequent food item delivered to the nestlings during that...

That is great news from Delaware. Have you observed anything obvious to account for the colony's success? Maybe a reliable insect hatch each year along the coast?

I live about an hour or so east of you in Rowan County and observing the martins feasting on these periodical cicadas has been wonderful. I wish we could have some insect explosion every year for the martins, similar to the mayflies along Lake Erie.