Purple Martin Forum

It was a very exciting morning to hear the beautiful sounds of of Purple Martins. I jumped up from drinking my coffee to run outside to see 3 Martins on the house, claiming their spot. Bluejays were trying to vie for air space but the Martins held their own. I missed watching for them at sunset, so ...

Thank you all for the responses. I did post it on the Scout Arrival study, as this seems to be the unanimous answer to my question.

I had a ASY land on the house this past Saturday, January 31, 2026. He went inside and stayed a bit there and then on the perch for about 15 minutes total. I have not seen him since. Would this be considered as a Scout Arrival date for the "Scout arrival study"? I would like to help keep t...

Hi Mike, it is a bit later for many of us in S. FL this year compared to last year. Hopefully, we are only days away.

Someone asked me yesterday, "How did you even know about Purple Martins?" Way back in 2004, while working as a Physical Therapist, I had a recurring patient who would come in and say "the purple martins are back" and the first time he said that, I had no idea about their existenc...

Very funny C.C. Martins. Those Mockingbrids are quite sneaky!

Thank you all for the responses and encouragement. There were no predator attacks in either house last year, but one condo in one house had several babies that died and I never confirmed from what. They were very bloated but still all together as babies with beginning feathers. no signs of foul play...

Not the Martins "checking in" yet, just needing a little reassurance that they will still be arriving. I put my house up in 2022 and had a pretty successful season, with the Scout arriving 2/23/22. The next year, scout arrived 1/18/23, then 1/12/24, then 1/5/25. I havent seen or heard any ...

Hi All, Getting very excited for the 25/26 Martin Season! This past weekend ws spent cleaning the houses, loading the condos with pine needle bedding and raising the houses. Since I began hosting, the Purple Martins seem to arrive a bit earlier each year, so hoping they will arrive soon. Happy Purpl...

It is a bittersweet time here in Jupiter Florida. All have fledged and the Martins are moving on. There were about 20 in a nearby pine tree last night but the houses and condos are vacant now. They arrived much earlier this year and have left their accommodations earlier this year as well. I have wi...

The first born Martins of 2025 that I host, have fledged this week. They were born sometime between 4/5-4/10 and in nest check today, they were not there.
Lots of Martins hanging around and still feeding, hopefully teaching the young ones how to survive out there.

I just completed my nest check and found 4 dead babies, all about 2 weeks old, with swollen bellies and no sign of trauma. Three were in one condo, together with 3 live babies who look healthy, and 1 in another condo with 4 healthy looking babies. The live and dead ones had their beginning feathers ...

This is so sad when this happens. I just completed my nest check and found 4 dead babies, all about 2 weeks old, with swollen bellies and no sign of trauma. Three were in one condo, together with 3 live ones who look healthy, and 1 in another condo with 4 healthy looking babies.

On the last nest check on 4/5, there were 6 eggs, all in the original Lonestar House. Today, ten days later, there are 76 eggs!!!! One condo has 7 eggs. The majority, 54, are in the original house, and 25 in the other Lonestar House that I put up a year after the first. It's interesting to observe t...

Hi Mike, I am a bit south of you in Jupiter. Similar results here. First arrival was January 3rd this year. First eggs were 3/21 and by 4/5/24, there were 22 eggs. As of 4/525 (yesterday), there were 4 eggs in one condo and 1 egg in 2 other condos. I, too, found a dead ASY last month. I was wonderin...

We finally have eggs!! Four eggs in one condo, and 1 egg in 2 other condos. So the first egg was laid on 4/2/25 most likely. This is much later than last year, with the first eggs being laid on 3/21/24 and by 4/2/24, there was a total of 22 eggs. Have others noticed later egg laying this season? Doe...

No one laugh please. I am a baby boomer with very little technical skills, but very good Purple Martin hosting skills. How do you add information to you profile that will appear when you make a post? For instance, how many active colonies, fledglings, etc and quotes at the bottom of your posts, i.e....

I am also curious about the mirrors in the gourds and what this does.

Woke up this morning to the beautiful sound of Purple Martins. I believe an adult female and definitely an adult male. Best thing that has happened in 2025!! So excited!

This was briefly addressed in a post in April, 2024. I have been asked to help with adding Purple Martin Houses to WiFI towers in a high end MotorCoach resort in FL. They will have about 1 tower per 3 lots and they want them to be environmentally appealing. Would love to hear opinions and concerns f...