Purple Martin Forum

Phil, great news. You can stop worrying and start enjoying.

Tom,

Great news. Let your season begin. If he took flipped food, you know he is yours.

Tom, A few years ago, I too had a resident male try to attract a female that was passing through. I could tell she wasn't mine because she could not navigate the owl guards and the male could do so at high speed. I have often wondered if returning martins transition quickly from tree roosting to hou...

Tom, Very interesting information on the arrivals since it is fact not theory. It is as if they get over the gulf and then recalculate. Here is another issue for your comments. On Wednesday, I had 3 males going into the gourds about 20 minutes before sunset. All three left and could be seen feeding ...

Like most of us, I check the arrival page to see if martins are back in my area. They first arrive in Florida then Louisianna. After that, martin reports come in from East Texas and move slowly west and even north. I am 60 miles northwest of San Antonio. Yesterday, my first martins arrived. This pat...

My last name is Saner. My friends have called me "Sane" for decades.

I think I will call my colony "Sane-gri-la".

Tom, Excellent tips for keeping our brown "feathered friends" healthy. I read with interest the part about the red flipping spoon during cold weather events. I use freshly baked bread. Anything left over that day; I throw out and bake more the next morning. Of course I use gluten-free, org...

It is really hard to be sure about the location from the photos but both locations look good. Martins also like to be near human activity. So, keep that in mind. I would also suggest playing the dawn song CD available from the PMCA. That will bring in some martins for a look, but it can't make them ...

Out of respect, I waited a while before posting this report. My colony is a little over a mile downstream from downtown Kerrville. The poles are slightly more than 100 yards from the Guadalupe River. This is year 10 for this colony. It is located behind an Assisted Living Center. I live about 4 mile...

Bill,

Congratulations on the start of your season. You have certainly put a lot of martin babies in the air. Impressive. It would be interesting to know how many new colonies were established with young from your colony.

Wednesday, Thursday and Friday didn't get above the high 30s. Saturday, it got up to 50 and in the mid 70s today. Late today, I checked all the gourds. No dead on the ground or inside the cavities. I stayed until dusk and 10 martins returned. Tuesday night I estimated 16 returned so I did lose some....

Dave, Thanks. I did not soak them, so I am still learning. This afternoon, only 5 martins emerged from one gourd (yesterday 20 total). It is only mid-30s so I can't imagine they are out feeding. One of 12 gourds was empty of the crickets and super worms. Some of the other gourds looked to be picked ...

Thomas,

I froze and thawed the crickets and worms. Since this is my first experience with feeding, I was afraid they could crawl out or up inside the gourd where the martins couldn't reach them. I will check this afternoon to see if they are accepting the food.

On Tuesday (18th), the temp was 68 degrees mid-afternoon. It dropped nearly 30 degrees by sunset. This year, I decided to try supplemental feeding for the first time. My colony is not in my backyard, so I opted to add crickets and super worms inside the gourds rather than flipping. That evening, I e...

PurplePupil, Yes, I attracted martins my first year. That was in my parents' backyard. As for a public site, take a look around your area and try to find places with open areas. Since you are concentrating at home first, you can at least identify possible sites for future use. These would include sc...

PurplePupil, You have received some great replies. I will add that a good no cost way to acquire martin housing is to find old Trio houses in bad shape. Usually, if you ask the homeowner, they are glad to get rid of them. Most of these martin houses were originally purchased by a prior owner that mo...

Martintown, Sorry to hear about your hawk problem. Landlords can prevent a lot of martin issues, but hawks are the hardest problem to correct. I had a Sharp-shinned hawk attack the colony I had prior to my current colony. It came back multiple years. The hawk would sit in a tall Live Oak (not decidu...

Tom,

If they do not put that house up, I bet you do get their martins. Some of my best years were when a nearby landlord moved and took the martin housing with them. Martins like to be with other martins.

My colony is several miles from my home, so I do not always know what is happening on a daily basis. This evening, I visited to get a count and was surprised to find 7 martins already back. Sometimes, I believe that area colonies that do not raise their housing until later, have their earliest arriv...

All, Thank you for your kind comments. I think we are all raising martins for future landlords. For instance, almost all of the martins that nested in my colonies were provided by someone who preceded me. We just enjoy them while we are here and pass the offspring on to someone else to enjoy. Throug...