Purple Martin Forum

Penny,
I delivered a hatchling from an encapsulated egg but after reading your post I know I won’t be doing it again.
Thank you for posting this.
Connie

I’m trying them for the first time this year BUT they are in addition to my Excluder owl guards, tunneled gourds and pole guards. I have four units mounted to a small square piece of metal tubing. This way the blinking red light is seen in all directions, north, south, east & west. It is attache...

Greg, Keep an eye on the nestlings. Last year I had an older ASY female raising 3 nestlings. The breastbone on the nestlings started to show and they were not as healthy looking as other birds their age. I hand fed them crickets twice a day. I kept their gourd where it was, quickly removed all 3 bab...

Allan,
I agree with you about the Excluder Gourds. I have 32 Excluder Gourds with Excluder II entrances and I’ve never had a starling breach them. I’d like to try the TVGs but I’m waiting for the problem with the Conley II entrances to be corrected before buying them.

Sue, You are not alone. The first time I ordered crickets; I put the cricket box in a plastic bag and then put it in the freezer. After freezing the crickets for an hour or more; I opened the box to transfer them to plastic bags. Imagine my surprise when half way through packaging the crickets; they...

I’m a Purple Martin landlord and I live in Hopewell Township, NJ. Tim Shaheen also helped me when I was starting my colony. I can’t post pictures on here either but if you would like to email them to me I’d be happy to take a look.
[email protected].

Connie Roman

I have observed my SY bachelor martins fill their gourds with the nesting material I had put out for the martins. It’s as if he is practicing or maybe copying the behavior of martins around him. It doesn’t happen very often.

I keep all my martin housing closed until martins arrive; just to avoid hassles with the tree swallows. I open housing up gradually as martins return. My tree swallows have a dozen gourds to choose from.

Awesome!
She is headed to MY house. lol

David,
Saying that you’re doing an incredible job just doesn’t seem to cover it!
AWESOME * AMAZING * STUNNUINGLY GEORGOUS *

Connie

Malcolm,
Congratulations! You got the work done at your site just in time.
Connie

Jean, ¼ inch should work. I tried getting the porches almost flush with the bottom of the entrances. It’s also important to fill the gourds with pine needles (nesting material) to the fill line. I also have plastic canvas flooring in the gourds attached with pull ties. It keeps the nesting material ...

Jean, I have 36 of the Excluder gourds; 32 have the Excluder II entrances and 4 have the crescent entrances. I didn’t have a problem the first couple of years I used these gourds but as a precaution I purchased the wing entrapment protectors the PMCA sells. I also drilled new holes and raised the he...

I have this trap and it works on sparrows and starlings beautifully! It’s portable, so I move it around the property. I do get bluebirds in it; but I monitor it closely. When I trap a sparrow in the house trap, I use the sparrow as live bait in the repeater trap.

I have the Excluder gourds (and I’m thrilled with them). I didn’t put tunnels on, but I put the Excluder owl guards on that the PMCA sells. I think not having a tunnel on them helps with air circulation and ventilation. It’s just a thought.

Ray,
We didn’t go this year because it’s a two hour drive to get there and the two hour drive home after the cruise makes for a long evening. If we go next year I’ll be sure to let you know. It’s always a pleasure to meet fellow landlords.
Connie

Ray, Last year, my husband and I took the Saturday night cruise on the Bodacious to see the Maurice River Roost. It was A*MAZ*ING. I’m the Martin fanatic in my house and the cruise was a wonderful experience to share with others who love Purple Martins as much as I do. Thank you for sharing your bea...

"Oooh!"

Beautiful!

I’m really enjoying this NestCam.
Connie