Purple Martin Forum

Have you actually seen starlings get in? It is not uncommon for them to go halfway in trying to get in. I would not be surprised if a HOSP. or wren was not the problem. Was there any small sticks over the eggs and original nest? House wrens will go in and build right on top, they will destroy eggs ...

attach sideboards as shown: https://www.purplemartin.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=34946 Emil, As of last night we were able to do exactly as your recommend and we attached sidewalls to the one front gourd. We waited and watched and the roosting pair hestitated for a bit but did end up entering...

This is our best year ever so far for Martins. We just added 2 Troyer Vertical Gourds this year below our house and the Martins went straight to them and began nesting in them early. We have consistently seen 6 pair on our Coates Original 12 room modified to 6 suite Watersedge Configuration with SRE...

What I was comparing my photo to...

Thank you Dave...I have released it.

We started using our trap last week. Today I came home to 4 birds in it. One was a female Cardinal which I promptly released. 2 are definitely male House Sparrows which I left in there for my husband to dispatch later today. But the other bird is a mystery to me. I don't think it's a female House Sp...

Tom, Yes we are trying to shoot them as much as possible but are also hesitant to shoot near the house with all the Martin activity. We tend to have a third pair that hangs out as well so there’s usually always a Martin around. We have 2 small traps and installed one last night in the suite the HOSP...

We have a standard 12 cubicle house which my husband modified to a 6 cubicle house with Starling resistant entrances to allow for safer parenting. This year for the first time we have TWO breeding pairs. As we have watched them building their nests, it was apparent that one pair is definitely quite ...

This is our 3rd year of having our house up. Last year we had one pair and fledged 5 babies. Our pair has returned plus one sub adult male has been coming by regularly but not roosting. Our pair has been interesting to watch this year. They have been roosting for a couple of weeks now. We see them g...

Matt F and KathyF...

I appreciated everything you had to say.

It is sometimes easier to trap house sparrows if you leave eggs intact, and put the trap into compartment with some of nest material, and some or all of the eggs. AHA! We will give that a try for certain... So are daily next checks ok or too frequent?? I guess I assumed weekly checks were set more ...

They cannot hatch without about 15 days of incubation by the female martin (her temp is about 105 degrees). Incubation does not begin until the day the next to last egg is laid. That would have been the 5th and the last time I saw her for certain was the 11th so that won't be happening. I will leav...

Mechling clan, it's possible that a hawk got the incubating female - or a snake. It's getting rather late for new nests in Texas, but this year the martins are running a bit later than usual - we have new eggs here in Corpus Christi. Maybe the visiting SY birds will get something going. I'd leave t...

I'd still be interested to know if there has been any research done relating to the incubation of the martin eggs. Such as how low can the temps get and the eggs remain viable without incubation by the female or any other information relating to temps and martin eggs. Thanks!! TimG I would like to ...

A good predator baffle is top priority. make sure it can wobble and is at least 7" in DIA. with smooth sides. The Kingston Stovepipe Predator Guard we were planning to make for our Martin house and Bluebird Nest Boxes has an 8" diameter, is 24" tall and is a free swinging baffle made...

Would the nest not show signs of a struggle if a snake got one or both of the birds? Nothing looked any different as the eggs and nest were not disturbed whatsoever. The only thing that was any different was that we added the two traps and since they were ones for the round holes we covered the SREH...

Fluttering and hovering martins at your house is usually a sign that something has happened. More than likely a rat snake has been up your pole and taken martins . They will abandon a site for this reason. Do you have good predator guards on your pole? That was our next project...I had printed the ...

STILL no activity... Three martins came by yesterday...hovered and fluttered right at the house almost landing on the house, but then flew off. Haven't caught another sparrow since the first two. Still thinking we implemented too much change by adding the traps during incubation. I also think that t...

Well because of the dogs, we opted to have two universal traps that fit into the Martin house as opposed to the repeating bait trap that my dad used for years...didn't need a repeat of the dog destruction, ya know? Not gonna lie...ALL birds have left my house within the past 36 hours...including th...

Well because of the dogs, we opted to have two universal traps that fit into the Martin house as opposed to the repeating bait trap that my dad used for years...didn't need a repeat of the dog destruction, ya know? Not gonna lie...ALL birds have left my house within the past 36 hours...including the...