Purple Martin Forum

The replacement gourds are the same as the originals.

Just took down the gourd rack and checked those three gourds.No one seems the worse for wear,but one rack has the mites again.The birds in that gourd must have them on them.Will check on them in the morning again.

Emil,
Just took a look out there with the binoculars and everyone appears to be coming and going. Will keep you posted. Thanks for the reply.

Emil, They are exactly the same,except for the plates i installed for the starlings. Will clean those with alcohol and install them on the new gourds.The gourds with the mites in them need to be cleaned out with alcohol.There were hundreds of mites everywhere on those gourds.Will have the originals ...

I have a question for more experienced handlers than I. Have twelve TroyerII gourds,all occupied, with 4-5 young in all but one. Every season I see these tiny little black "mites". At least that is what I think they are. They were all over three gourds.I had 3 spare gourds and put cedar sh...

Mark,
I have 12 gourds with the Connely II tunnels. I have a couple of pairs of martins and a pair of starlings.

found the guards

Also,do not see the wing entrapment guards in the store anywhere.Will try raising the floor level first.

Thanks for the info so far.

So I should put the half rings on the entrances and raise the porches up,or should I try one or the other ?

I have a problem with starlings. I put up a gourd rack this season with Troyer gourds with Connely II entrances. Starlings get in these with no problem. Thought it was supposed to be the other way around. Any suggestions ?

Hello to All, Last season I left town in July with 8-10 pair of Martins settled into their usual homes.When I returned,8 days later they were gone.I found 3-4 dead Martins in the houses,and one gourd with four young and their parents. They were covered with mites or something similar.I asked for and...

This may be a stupid question but has anyone ever come up with an effective way to heat a gourd ?I have 12 Troyer II plastic gourds. Been thinking about heat tape,but do not know if that would damage the gourd. Also thought about wrapping them with xmass lights. Would provide some heat,but would the...

I thought I was a member.

Anyone who has some knowledge as far as how to adapt the multipurpose pole from two Coats Trendsetter houses to a 16 gourd set-up please enlighten me. It is not very clear to me from looking at what is available in the online store. Currently, the pole has a mount for both houses and the provision f...

Thank you to all who replied and tried to help me with the mite issue. I only had 4 little ones to deal with and three adults as well. The little ones were almost ready to fledge and after a couple of days of being handled so i could clean out the gourd they were in,they had enough.All bird are gone...

Just regular Sevin dust in and around the gord. Thanks for the quick reply. Will update as we go here.

SLUGGO

Any way to get mites off of the birds themselves ? Now that I know what they are,what is the best way to help the birds themselves ? Found the mites this week on a nest check because I was not seeing my birds in the morning or evening.The heat is already high here,so that adds to it.I emptied all ne...

Anyone have any good information for discouraging hawks from pilfering the houses.The houses are Waters Edge 8 suite houses,each suite having two rooms.I have the predator guards on them,but they simply use them as a point to latch on and reach in.Next season,I will enclose the entire setup in a cag...

Any ideas will surely be considerded.I have two 8-suite Coates Waters Edge houses mounted on a retractable utility pole.The heat here in West Tennessee(Memphis Area)is pretty intense on those metal houses come June/July.The birds are gone by August,but I need to give the little ones every chance for...

Hello To All, I have many questions as to building a T-14 house,most important of all being material selection.I have the plans the website offered for sale.They are straight forward and specific as to wood selection.I live in Memphis area,and it gets hot(100+)in the heat of the summer.I was wonderi...