Purple Martin Forum

Us in Northern Canada we always have a huge blow fly infestation. I premake all the nests. In the fall we remove the nests and burn out the cavity. At that point I dust the whole cavity with Sevin then make the nest with straw and dead leaves. At nesting times I take the babies out, put in a can and...

well I played the dawn song on my ghetto blaster 24/7 for 3 years in the spring/summer. We live on an acreage and distance. Our neighbor would open his bedroom window and hear birds chirping all night. Needless to say he was so glad 3 years later I got a pair...LOL...I did play it quite loud but not...

We love our birds so much. I am like you always worrying this and that. My goodness they fly from Brazil, across the Gulf and all the way to Northern Alberta and nest. What incredible birds. I do premake all their nests so when they arrive they have a cosy home all ready.

Hi from Northern Alberta. You have a nice condo. So exciting to have your martins and it is just the beginning. It took us 3 years to get one pair and as we speak our Condo is fully occupied. 12 pairs and they came quickly.
Good luck and happy martins. More will come now!

Update. Our condo is full. 12 families are making nests. The trees just budded and actually have leaves now. I see the martins collecting dead leaves but no green leaves yet. What a wonderful site. I put out lots of straw on the ground for them.

Glad they arrived. Here in Alberta they have been here almost a month. Our condo of 12 families is full and they are nest building. It is so darn exciting!

wow the martins have come full force here in Northern Canada. Our condo is full with 12 pairs....it does seem really strange??

Such a joy when they arrive! Happy Bday to you!

How cold is it??

4th Gen Martin Fan wrote:April,
I think that some members here in the US are presuming that you are talking about 0 degrees F.
I understand that your posts have been referring to 0 degree C.
Mark.

sorry it is 0C...

I am so grateful for all the feeding done south. Our birds this year are all very healthy. I havent been supplemental feeding as there are lots of bugs out.
Wow so sad about all those martins dying!!

So very cute and what a great shot. Some of our nests from last year had huge mud dams. I thought are we needing Noah's arc soon. They were crazy!

Please keep the beak up!! PLay your dawnsong 24/7. In canada very far north all our martins are arriving. So it doesnt seem to be less at all. Actually we have more now as they filled our condo later last year. I am very persistent and never let down. Just took huge patience. 8) So very grateful for...

Are you playing the Dawn song 24/7. It finally worked for me after 3 years and believe me I was a freak about it. Our neighbor would open his bedroom windows and at 0300am he would hear birds chirping and we live on acreages.

As long as it warms up during the day and not freezing cold the martins do fine. Last winter in May we had a freak snow storm and I had a ladder up against the house and put dead crickets on each level. They did gobble them up so saved again. Now it is nice and warm during the day , here nice is 16C...

it sure sounds like a hawk attack. Our house we have has overhangs and is owl protected. The cavities are deep and the martins all make their nest in the back 1/3. Sometimes they build mud up by the front hole also. Just an idea of what we have.
PMC2000

We were mentored by the Purple Martin Conservatory at Mulhurst Bay. Very close to us. Debra and Del Mckinnon made these as kits. So we bought the kit and they came over and showed us where in our heavily wooded area we would get martins. They also banded our babies for a few years. It is my art work...

I premake all their nests. So when they arrive on their long journey north they have a cosy warm place to land . I always see their little beaks poking out of their holes. As now it can be below zero at night They start to lay eggs the beginning of July. Then hatch the first week. Start fledging in ...

Today is a good day. The condo is almost full. There isnt even any buds on the trees yet. But the martins have been arriving strong in the last week. So by this weekend there should be no vacancy! Yeah!

You will see from my photo how close our trees are but it took us about 3years to get martins. Now we have a condo full. It is one of the greatest joys of my life to take care of these birds. As soon as you get 1 pair more and more will come. They do like swallows. It is a companion bird as they all...