Purple Martin Forum

This is my first post in a long time. I felt a bit defeated because everywhere I look I see PM houses falling down and filled with house sparrows. Even in my neighborhood I am unable to get a colony started because of them. However sometimes you are blindsided like I was last August in a nearby town...

There is a man willing to build wooden Martin houses very reasonably I'm told. Of course, the weight of wood would be maybe 4 times heavier than a metal house so I need to consider the strength of a pole. I plan to use 3" poles. I also need to work within a small budget. One thing you could po...

I'd probably not go with wood because of maintenance, and sometimes wooden houses attract sparrows and starlings more so than gourds. (sparrows will build in gourds but I think are easier to control than in houses). If you have the budget, the Trendsetter line is the sturdiest aluminum housing on t...

We're rebuilding a very active Martin colony along the Mississippi River. We must replace the old houses and there is an objection from the head of the Community Betterment Committee to using the plastic gourds. My question is about using wood versus metal housing? My feeling is that wood is great b...

It definitely warrants repeating what a wonderful thing you did for those baby Martins Linda! Are these the houses where this took place? Click here to view Linda says: Yes Matt! That's a good picture of the location. The water does get high here but not to the bottom of the Martin houses I don't b...

Just curious, Linda, how do you go about eliminating the sparrow problem in the winter? Sorry I can't held you much with your dilemma, but I'm a relatively new martin person and I don't have all the knowledge like other posters. But I do have a lot of problems with sparrows nesting in my martin com...

Linda, thanks for your excellent advice and info about Clarksville, John Miller. We belong to the Garden Club in Clarksville although we don't live nearby. I will look for the colony when I attend the next meeting. The difficulty with the poles at this site is the houses cannot be lowered for nest ...

We have managed to rescue 7 PMs and restore the house with liquid nails and some screws to attempt to hold the rotting house together. We had over 20 PMs chattering and flying overhead as we were working on the putting together this broken house. As we placed it on the base and secured it as best we...

I can't bring myself to go back down there without someone to help me get the houses on poles. I know they didn't survive the night if the adults couldn't find and feed them. If I could reach them I would anchor them with liquid nails or strips of wood. I need someone with a ladder. I only have a se...

I just witnessed the most horrific scene!! Dead and dying baby martins thrown to the ground when their dilapidated homes blew off the base. The house were full of babies, eggs, and a couple of fledglings ready to fly. Parents were flying overhead unable to comprehend where their babies were or their...

Yesterday my martin pair arrived on schedule May 21, 2012. I don't know why they are so late every year. I tell myself that they live on the far side of Brazil. I've almost given up when I hear them before I even see them. My hubby thought I was playing the Dawn Song. I use excluder doors (Thank God...

I'm so excited seeing at least 10 or more PMs in the morning coming in and out of my Trio house. I'm just doing a dance. What is it about PMs that get me charged up?? I didn't understand why I'm getting so many now so thanks for the posts. I have 5 open compartments since I have only one pair so far...

I think you have the answer. I spend no time in that part of the yard except to do nest checks and clear HOSPs. I see a new project in that part of the yard so they get to know me. Thanks. I'll give it a try.

Thanks for your encouragement that my martins aren't demented. Since I'm the culprit that bothers their home by moving it up and down, they must not like me. How can I get them to tolerate me so we can both live in peace together? I see all 4 flying overhead. They are neat birds but I can only imagi...

I have one pair of PMs who just fledged 2 little ones. They've been here for several years. I've noticed during the year that whenever I approach our tiny colony of one pair that I upset the PMs. The family is now airborne and at least one SY has started to dive bomb me when I walk out the front doo...

I'm a new landlord and I too discovered the babies lethargic and just laying there. I thought they were dying but guess they will be fine. Big disappointment is that there were 6 eggs and now only 2 chicks. No unhatched eggs or anything on the ground below. Last year my only pair raised 2 chicks tha...

You are all so dedicated and I hope I can live up to being a good landlord. I wanted to add my 2 cents here about your wife who doesn't want you to harm any bird. And I'm a woman who's seen enough to get over it. I'm the one that puts them down. My husband leaves that chore to me. Last year I think ...

I have only one pair (original pair) of PMs in my trio house. The other compartments have been closed off to prevent HS from moving in since the season is almost over. Last week there were 6 PMs who visited to our colony. I guessed it was the original pair and their 2 young from the year before with...

Thanks for your input on both types. I have a crescent that I'm not using because I just couldn't risk starlings so it sits there with the others unused. Glad that either works for you.

Appreciate your help.

Linda

This is good information. I think I will try the dremel tool to fix the doors for next year. The pair I have are happy and get in and out without any trouble this year. They don't like me bothering them but it's for their own good. Hope they get used to me soon. We've enlarged all the compartments b...