Purple Martin Forum

That's what I was hoping! Thank you for the input. After the concrete dries I will get them up.

Happy 2024 Martin Season. With the return of our martins I have been expanding my site and moving poles around today. I rehab old houses and racks and was given a Fountain Rack on a 1.9" pole. The previous owner had no luck with his site and gave it to me to try (it's good to have good people a...

I recently purchased owl guards (from PMCA) for my gourds but the arms on my rack (deluxe gourd rack) aren’t the right ones. My gourds swing side to side, Not front to back. Have y’all worked out a good way to attach these? I added vent elbows to my gourds so the arm would have that to rest on on on...

Whippy,
Your colony has blown up. We moved out of mckinney and headed further north. We are starting to see some SY females but still all ASY males. It’s getting exciting out here. There are two nests being made. Owl guards are back ordered for another few days.

After several years of having a full occupancy of 24 gourds and 6 house cavities we had to make a move. My old neighbor offered to put up gourds this season for our returning martins (which they took to immediately). After moving into our new home, one of the first things I did was put up the gourd ...

3 showed up after I Posted that.

Just put an elbow pvc and then it is vented.

Whippy,

I haven’t seen any either yet. They will be here right after this cold front and the wind blows from the south again.

I use those vinyl numbers. My wife prints them out. They have lasted 3 years so far and look as good as new. I do a major decon and cleaning after every season and the numbers are still going strong.

Well she got him into a gourd only to find him back on the ground right before dusk (a good find). He is now in a bucket for the night with a makeshift nest and covered by a food cover for ventilation (one that keeps flies from getting to outdoor food) and to keep critters out. When I get home in th...

Brilliant! This we can do!

Heat index rose to 115 today. Only have found one jumper but have numerous babies out on the porches. We are so close to fledging that I am hesitant to tell my wife to lower the gourds to figure out where he came from (heavy rack and I am away from the house until tomorrow morning). What would you d...

I had a similar incident with some bluebird babies. I ended up losing them all before I could put a stop to it. Mine turned out to be a rat and it would eat the birds each night and leave a similar carcass. Rats are very cunning. When I had my incident other suggested squirrels but I found my critte...

Fotoman,

I sent you an email/private message about the traps.

It’s that time of year. Hawks are returning and raising a ruckus. The martins are piling in too which attracts them like a magnet. Today I witnessed an attack and that dirty hawk hit my decoy. Had to go set it up again. That is 2 times I’ve had to set it up in the last week. Time to add the others u...

I have built my perch rods/bamboo garden rods across the top of my gourd racks and built into the top of my Martin house. It doesn’t interfere with their flyway. They seem to like being able to fly down to the openings and gourds and check them out before returning back to the top perch rods.

I have been looking to buy some land to eventually build a house on and was wondering if any of y’all have ever started a colony on raw land before moving out there and building your house. I’m getting ahead of myself but one of my prerequisites is that the land be appealing to martins. I would stil...

How are you cutting the pool noodles to fit? And are we talking about the pool noodles/floaty tubes ?

Just trying to get an idea of how other landlords are plugging their vent holes for early season arrivals. Pictures, descriptions and tips would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for your input.

I have a RWS Diana in .177. It is more accurate than I am and has been responsible for the end of many sparrows and starlings. On windless days I have made some pretty rediculous shots on sparrows and starlings. Really accurate and reliable and they last forever. No complaints.