Purple Martin Forum

I read a lot of people saying to only open up a couple holes. I have never done that, personally. I have always opened them all because my thinking is that martins are picky about direction, fly ways, and general cavity characteristics. So, I want to make sure they have options. If you are able to m...

My experience has been that the most critical elements for attracting purple martins are: *Open site with no tall trees in fly ways *Type of housing being offered *Keeping cavities free of other species *Playing the Dawnsong to attract visitors I have started several martin colonies in my lifetime a...

In your experience, how long will a starling persist if you take its nest out every day or two. I have literally taken a starling nest out every day or two for over 2 weeks. What a dumb bird to continue to build a nest when I'm just going to take it out. I have even tossed its eggs multiple times. I...

They are probably from a neighboring colony. I have heard that you can hear martins from quite a distance away.

I run in the mornings before sunrise, and can hear my martins singing on most of my run, even when I'm over a half mile away from my home.

Belpre gary - You should definitely expect to get some SY birds in your second year. In fact, you may just double your colony with SY birds. Most likely you will NOT have any SY's return to your site that fledged from there. The SY's that come to your site will mostly be birds who have fledged from ...

Agreed. I would not make any changes at this point. True, a startling could enter the compartment at this point, but if they are 6 x 6 compartments, the starlings would have little interest in competing with the martins to nest there. My suggestion is to leave everything as is and convert your housi...

Glad you have finally seen the return of some of your birds. If you look at the history of scout reports for coastal states, you will find that the coastal colonies generally report later arrivals then inland colonies. Here in NC, the first arrivals are almost always in the center of the State, and ...

I would DEFINITELY open my housing for ASY bird arrivals, and I would fight off competitors each day. I have started two PM colonies in my life and BOTH were started by ASY male purple martins. In fact, my current colony was started by 2 ASY males and one ASY female. My father-in-law started his fir...

Welcome to the forum, and "hello" from a fellow North Carolinian! In my opinion, it is fine to add additional housing during the season, but do not change or eliminate house once martins have arrived. For example, I would say it is OK to add another entire system (another pole and housing)...

Where is the hole's location in relation to the compartment? Is it centered in the middle of the 12 in compartment or is it on either side? Ideally, if you have the 6 in. deep and 12 in. wide configuration, the martin should have to enter the compartment and turn to the side to go to the back of the...

Yay! It worked! My 13 birds ate over 100 crickets! Thanks guys!

During the last cold and ice spell a couple weeks ago I had 4 martins here in NC. I tried flicking crickets to no avail. So instead I placed them in cavities and the birds ate and survived. Today marked the third day of another spell of cold with rain and ice. Now with 13 birds I tried flicking cric...

The starlings were sticking their heads inside and grabbing crickets. They can't get in my goourds because the entrances are SREH. They were just sticking their heads in.

My martins have probably not fed since Sunday morning due to a cold rain setting in Sunday afternoon. Since then it has not left the 30s and we've had rain and ice. My martins are hunkered down in gourds with prenest materials. During the last cold/ice snap I attempted to feed the 4 birds I had at t...

Where in West Virginia?

I certainly think you stand a chance in attracting martins. Purple martins are a little more scarce in that area so it may just take little more time. Don't give up. I agree that the grass should be kept short and you need a predator guard, especially since you won't even be there a week at the time...

I am in central NC and we have terrible martin weather this week. My birds are not feeding at all. I also do not have a flexible work schedule so am not home during most of the day. I may possibly be able to get my hands on some meal worms. Does anyone ever use mealworms as supplemental feeding?? If...

I think you will find its a matter of opinion and personal preference. I think the one thing we can all agree on is that purple martins LOVE big gourds and seem to prefer them in many places within their breeding range. At my site I use Excluders, naturals, and Supergourds. The martins seem to first...

I have a small, 3 year old colony, and each year I have experienced loss of a parent martin. The first year, it was a female who disappeared after young had hatched. The ASY male father successfully fed, and fledged the three babies on his own. Last year, it was the father that disappeared. This ASY...

I can't neccesarily speak for your area. Perhaps there are some regional declines in your area. However, as far as this season goes. I am truly seeing everything happening WEEKS later this year, when compared to last year. My birds came back later this year, and the subadult arrivals seem to be near...