Purple Martin Forum

I like to use hard boiled egg shells. much cleaner and easier to use than regular egg shells. haven't put out much anymore but I should get back to putting more out. I used to clean the shells with basic H and then dry them out.

hey kathy, I liked your article in the purple martin update called "house sparrow control myths". I've been passing it around to new landlord wana bees and the neighbors around my colonies. I wanted them to understand what kind of problem this little ISIS of the bird world can be. The neig...

Yep, probably Eastern King bird. I had one a couple of years ago fighting with my martins and I looked it up. They hang around our golf course. The golf course people thought they were martins.

hope you enjoy your martins. be patient, because usually only 1 or 2 pairs will lay eggs to test your ability to take care of them. The colony should continue to grow each year.

I added 3 gourds this year and the martins took right off with 3 new nests and one has 4 eggs.

good luck

ok BW, John, and all you other martin lovers out there, I normally wait till after a season to tell what happens at my site but someone may need to try some of these options during this season. I don't have any set procedures on using the soap to control pests but I will try to relay some of the opt...

might have been. or just this morning I did a nest check and recorded 3 eggs in a compartment. then just now happened to be watching my martins when i herd some scuffling in the house and two martins and two sparrows came fighting out of a compartment. I checked the compartment again and all eggs we...

that's right. location is the best starting point. it's also nice if there are other martin landlords in the area to learn how to care for them. you also might be able to pick up some of their fledglings when they leave mom & dad. martins are very social birds an like to visit other martins in t...

that's great work John. I usually go to Ivan Miller's martin open house every year in Jamesport, Mo. but this year we're going to be out of town. I enjoy seeing and talking with him each year. Last year I bought 3 plastic gourds from him and I modified them to fit on my telescoping pole perch at my ...

by the way John I see you do some work at forrest park in St. Louis. I think I remember reading an article in the Missouri consevation magazine about someone who takes care of some martins in the forest park area. did you see it? It's been some time ago so can't remember to much about it.

thats right John I do some other things also including removing & or replacing the nest. I didn't indicate some of the other things that everyone else mentions, but I'm sure surprised that no one else has used such a simple product. That was my main reson for the question. I'd like to know what ...

John this is just soapy water. never has hurt my martins and they walk on it all the time. the only reason it's called insecticide is it cleanses the soft shell bugs to death. I use to use sevin but this is so much safer for me and the birds. I always had a problem with the wind blowing the stuff al...

no problem. hope it helps, have a great season. it sure makes the martins feel better. and whatever makes the martins feel better makes me feel better.

Ok, I've gone back and done some research of my old martin files. back in 1982 we were all having troubles with buffalo gnats and nest mites. I ended up loosing all my chicks that year (some almost ready to fly) and we couldn't figure out what was going on or how to correct the problem. I figured th...

BW I'm having some trouble following this forum and I've been out of town for a few days. I started raising (landlording) martins clear back in the 70s and 80s and took the purple martin news paper which eventually became nature society news (not as good). At our old house of 27 years the trees grew...

BW I put about 3-4 oz of Shaklee Basic H in a 36 oz plant sprayer and fill the bottle with water. I usually do a complete nest check of the house (so I don't bounce back and forth with soap and checking) then I go back and spray the nests, compartments and and exterior of the house with the soap sol...

I read in the purple martin news, a long time ago, where a guy took a martin decoy and tied a rope to it because of hawk attacks. he said the hawk got a rude awakening when he got to the end of his rope and got yanked to the ground. he said hawk didn't bother his martins any more.

I found out about using a concentrated soap solution in articles about gnat control from other landlords back in the 70's and 80's. they said to use 1 part basic H to 10 part water mixed in a hand plant sprayer (about 36 oz). I've used it for years. My martins love it. From my observations I'll spra...

it might just be warmer near the rooftops and poles and closer to the earth and the bugs might be there also. I figure they go where ever the bugs are.

:lol: I just joined the forum but have raised martins for years. I have had a lot of luck with use of Basic H / water mixture 1/10 to control both fleas/gnats and nest mites. has anyone else used insectiside soap to control these varments? Never hurts my martins and they seem to love its benefits. R...