Purple Martin Forum

Hurray, I had 4 pair show up and stay last night. Was working in the garden and I heard them coming before I ever saw them. Funny how excited you get when you hear that sound for the 1st time each year!! Good luck everybody, hope this is a good year for everyone.

Don't worry, they will figure it out. I change over to all sreh a couple of years ago. Before I did, I was fighting starlings off on a daily basis. The first year I changed I thought I had messed up, my 1st martins tried and tried and didnt get in, but they finally figured it out. Now, they all go r...

I can't wait for the martins to start coming in!! The jump my colony made from 2010 (6 pair) to 2011 (15 pair - 100% occupancy!) was beyond what I would have ever thought would happen. I know last years adults will come back, if they survive the trip, but... Do the martins born here last year come b...

that's great Tim i live on the other side of the state from you, jackson last weekend i had a bunch of sy's come in i went from 8 pair of martins and now i have 14 pair :grin: i am offering 15 gourds this year...so i am all but full up never thought i would get this many this year, not complaining f...

Linda, how high have you got your tray off the ground? and how long did it take for your martins to start using it? i took an old directv dish, turned it upside down and mounted it to a pole about 4' off the ground to put egg shells in. its about 20' from my gourd rack. i drilled 5 little holes righ...

was a little worried i might run some away, but after the advice from yall, i will put some in.

thanks everybody

i didnt have any nesting material to add when i put up my gourds...i got some pine needles today and was wondering..since i have 8 pair already in gourds...would it be ok to let down the gourds and add to them now, they havent started nest building yet...or could i just set them out in pile up off t...

I have had round holes ever since I started getting martins and have always battled the starlings...
This year I added tunnels with sreh to all my gourds...
I have 5 pair back so far this year and tonight I saw a starling TRYING to get in several with NO success...wonderful sight!!!

Well, I have finally seen my first martins this year. not really mine, but close enough to get me excited...my neighbor has a pair!! he has a house thats about 400 yards across the field from mine. they came over Sunday morning and hung out with me for a little while :grin: He usually gets a couple ...

sorry tony but i cant seem to figure out how to post a pic.

tried and tried and tried, no luck

if i ever figure it out, i'll post them for you[/img]

hope this works...trying to post pics i use s&k ultimate tunnels, i just cut off the square plate with some tin snips and filed the edge smooth. i liked the tunnels so much that i am putting them on my natureline gourds that my father in law gave me this year. i cut out the back side and use par...

Tony, it's really not to hard at all. I added some tunnels to my super gourds last week. I asked the same question on here a couple of weeks ago and did just as Emil said. I bought the tunnels I wanted, marked out the opening and cut it out with a rotozip, it cut through it like butter. I guess a ji...

what a great forum this is.

ask any question about purple martins and you get real, useful information.

Thanks everybody

I've seen some picture here of 3/4 netting to stop snakes. where can you buy this? how much should you use on each pole? and how do you attach it to the poles? I've never had a problem with snakes, but after seeing a clip on here of a snake climbing a pole so easily, I realize I probably should put ...

WOW!!!! Thats great Linda...I am in Jackson, not to far up the road from you. I havent seen or heard any yet. I spent today attaching tunnels to some of my gourds. Plan on getting a few up tomorrow, but wont have them all ready for probably a week or 2. I usually get martins around March 20th. I gue...

Thanks for the advice everyone! i have been trying to think of how to attach it to the gourd, i didn't think about inserting it in the gourd the way yall explained. this shouldn't be to hard to do. Great Help!! everyone's advice will definitely save me some trial and error. any pictures will still b...

hi everyone, getting ready for the new season...YEA!! cant wait for my birds to come home. i was wondering if anyone here has ever put tunnels on a super gourd? if so, what is the best way to do it? i have round entrances and wanted to change to a sreh entrance and thought a tunnel with a sreh entra...

hi marilena, I am in TN, by this time last year I had 5 pair and as of today I have only 1 pair and this pair was 3 weeks late. I asked this same question about a week ago and from the responses I got, it appears to be happening all over the place. I really hope that they are all just late and nothi...

thanks everybody

you have given me some hope anyway

guess it is not that something has happened to my colony

looks like it is happening everywhere and the weather was definitely colder everywhere this year

hopefully everybody's martins will be at their homes soon