Purple Martin Forum

Hi Ken, Yes, I have had success, with one of my gourds and the piling cavity now holding 4 or 5 baby birds each. They are at least a week old. The other gourds and mailbox nest on the same pole get lots of activity but no eggs. I believe the neighbor's piling cavity also has babies. I'm going to be ...

Hi Stan, That is really exciting! Not that I know what to expect being so new to this. I did some modifications per Bruce Cousens advice and have seven excited birds (one banded, which I've turned in) at gourds and piling cavities around here. The weather turned nice about the same time. This mornin...

Hi Ken, Yes, I tried the meal worms. This time I put them on a white plate so they would be more visible to the birds. I put the plate on a hanging tray under a swallow perch in my yard that the Martins sit on occasionally. The Martins didn't notice them and the rain drowned the worms. I've tried pu...

Thanks so much for mentioning the wind. My gourds are exposed to constant wind and I have noticed the shaking even when they are down for nest check. Of course the piling cavities (that the Western Purple Martins are apparently used to) aren't affected by wind. The vibration is one of the things I a...

Thanks, Ken, I am hopeful. They must have redesigned after your input because the porches are real close to the bottoms of the openings - perfect for keeping Starlings out. When I get eggs I will be asking your advice about land based predators. We have racoons here and I have seen river otters on t...

OK, I do have matching porches on the insides of the Excluders. I whittled down the teeth on two of them and added some dried Blue Oat Grass as it drains freely. It is raining this morning and three soggy birds are perched out there. Will try to offer mealworms.

I feel like crying with frustration. The Kitsap Audubon folks who tend the gourds at Seabeck and Brownsville Marina urged me to remove the dried fir needles I had placed in the gourds - saying the birds like to add their own grasses, leaves etc. So I did. Nest check last night showed no sign of nest...

Bob, I thank you so much for the links which I will study and follow up for information about taking care of my birds. I am following your signature advice and offering live mealworms in a feed tray with the gourd array, and this evening the worms are gone and the ASY Female is looking for more! I h...

Hi Bob,
Too soon to call success, yet, with a mix of Excluder Gourds, piling cavities (worked last year), boxes and planning to try a mailbox.

I have been unable to get in touch with the west coast martin program, so a contact would be helpful.

Hi Bob,
I am new to this (second year) but happy to have ASY martins - about five - in the neighborhood since May 1. On the west coast of Washington State north of Seattle.

The reason you want the SREH opening flush with the floor is: Starlings have longer legs than Purple Martins. If the opening is as low to the floor as it can possibly be (i.e. flush) the starling can't crouch low enough to get under the top of the opening. But the martin can. Good luck.

Hi Stan, Thanks for the response. I'll contact you by email for a meetup. Yes, when the purple martins showed up last summer I called Steve Ellis, president of Whidbey Audubon, for background on PUMAs in the county. On Whidbey Island there are birds visiting boxes on public land at Crockett Lake as ...

Hi Stan, my Excluder gourd porches are on the inside and outside and have ridged surfaces, so I think they are as good for exiting as they are for entering. Certainly that ASY female didn't have any trouble getting out this morning. Thanks for alerting me to this potential problem though and I will ...

This morning a female easily entered an Excluder Gourd with a slightly modified opening. Now I wish I hadn't modified it at all. Very glad the martin can get in but worried starlings might follow. Lacking the White Pine needles that pmca.org recommended, I lined the gourds with dried Douglas Fir nee...

My Western martins, new to the neighborhood, aren't entering the new Excluder gourds I put up this year. They are very interested and pay more attention to them than the piling cavity they used last year (first year). The PMCA says the gourd openings were designed for a smaller subspecies. How do I ...