New landlord hopeful in Oklahoma with questions

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TammyBears
Posts: 135
Joined: Fri Feb 03, 2012 4:00 pm
Location: Bridgecreek, Oklahoma (SW of OKC)

Hello. My name is Tammy. I am addicted to Purple Martins. My housing isn't even in the ground yet , I've never seen a PM, yet I'm addicted. Seriously.
For the past 4 weeks I've read almost the entire forum posts and have watched lots of YouTube videos of the PM. Joined the PMCA and have scoured their wealth of info as well.

Question: I've been feeding my sweet little Cardinals, chickadees and a host of other songbirds all winter. Their feeding station is a long ways away from where my Martins WILL be. I have not seen a HS. I have tons of our native sparrows but absolitely positively not a HS. Is this a bird that will show up later in the spring, or could I be lucky and there not be many here in my area
(SW of OKC)?
However I am PREPARED for them. I also have not had any Starlings.

My housing,(see profile)is planned to be up and ready Feb 19. I have tons of pine straw for the nests I'll place in there.
It will be 25 feet from our house, open area, and about 90 feet from a tree belt. There is two quite large ponds 1/2 mile away both on the east and
west sides of our property.

If there are any fellow Oklahomans here, I would love to know
when the PM arrives in your area.

Thank you all for everything! I already feel like I know some of you I've read so many comments :grin:

Tammy
Last edited by TammyBears on Sat Feb 04, 2012 1:57 pm, edited 4 times in total.
Tammy
RIP my precious Josie, 7/5/2000-11/6/2014
2015: 22 pair plus lots of bachelors
2014: 25 pair and some bachelor subbies
2013: 17 pair
2012: 7 pair (first year)
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stan davison
Posts: 715
Joined: Thu Feb 17, 2005 7:48 pm
Location: Tulsa Oklahoma

Welcome Tammy! Don't worry the HOSP will arrive and try to run off any investigating martins. It is best to trap and/or shoot HOSP once they claim territory. If I were you I would get my housing up and prenests built for the martins. There is a good chance that you could get early adult birds that arrive in your area only to find their existing housing is no longer available to them for various reasons. Make sure your housing is near your house and in an open area from large trees. Good luck to you . :)
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D'Nese
Posts: 450
Joined: Tue Jun 22, 2010 3:09 pm
Location: Unionville, TN

Tammy, Welcome!
You are right, purple martins are addictive. If you check out a profile for the HOSP you can listen to their song, it will stick with you. Every time I hear it in the yard I cringe, load the rifle and wait. He will come!
Good luck with your year and keep us updated with how things are going.
D'Nese in Tennessee


2009-new house up, many visitors no one stayed
2010-3 pairs, 14 eggs, 9 babies 9 fledged
2011 20 pairs, 106 eggs, 79 fledged
2012 37 pair, 120 fledged
2013 37 pair, 173 fledged
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Gobbler T
Posts: 1518
Joined: Tue Mar 31, 2009 8:13 am
Location: Mississippi / Columbus

Hi Tammy and welcome.

If you've never seen a martin and are hooked, you're in trouble if one ever lands on your housing! :lol:
Good luck with it, I hope you will have a successful first year.
Tony


2007 --- 0 2011---0 2015---4
2008 --- 0 2012---0 16-19—0
2009 --- 0 2013---1 2020—?
2010 --- 0 2014---3
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Laverne
Posts: 2216
Joined: Thu Jan 08, 2004 1:58 pm
Location: TX/Alvin
Martin Colony History: Erected 1st house in 1997. Birds were checking it out before Mike got down from the ladder. Six cavities had a little colony 1st year. Grown to 88 cavities all gourds with near 100% occupancy. Most important factor for success is rain = bugs.

Welcome Tammy.

Here's a link to last year's Scout Report for Oklahoma. This should give you an idea of when to expect PMs in your area and where your fellow martin enthusiasts are located.

http://www.purplemartin.org/scoutreport ... =2011&S=OK

I hope you'll be blessed this year with resident Purple Martins raising their little families in your housing. Good luck!

Sincerely,
Laverne
Sincerely,
Laverne
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Tim Mangan-Kansas
Posts: 1728
Joined: Wed Mar 15, 2006 7:25 am
Location: Kansas, Pittsburg
Martin Colony History: 2016 - 22 Pair

Tammy:

Welcome to the forum. I must say, for someone who does not have martins, you are taking all the right steps to start your first year. I read your profile; very impressive; again, for someone just starting. You have some nice housing to start your colony.

One thing I would do, if you haven't already, is make sure your poles are equipped for ground predators. Following is a thread giving instructions on how to build a mesh net trap for snakes.

http://www.purplemartin.org/forum/viewt ... highlight=

As excited as you are now, I can only imagine how you will react when you see your first martin land on your housing.

Best of luck to you, keep reading and there are many knowledgeable people on this forum who will be more than willing to answer any questions you might post.

Tim
Licensed Bander
2015 - 14 Pair - fledged 68
2014 - Moved to Kansas - 7 Pair, 35 eggs, 28 fledged in first year
2010 Thru 2013 - Moved-Tried to start new colony
2009 - 46 pair, 217 eggs, 178 fledged
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akp
Posts: 62
Joined: Wed Jun 02, 2010 2:38 pm
Location: Collinsville, Oklahoma

I am north of Tulsa and my first birds showed up right at the beginning of April last year. Had a few flying around at the end of March. It was my second year and my gourds filled up.

I tried a traditional round hole house my first year, but couldn't keep up with the starlings. Gave up on that and have starling resistant entrances on everything. Won't even consider round holes here. Sparrows are around, but don't seem to bother the gourds much. I have killed a few. Good luck!
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dsonyay
Posts: 1677
Joined: Fri Jul 02, 2010 3:10 pm
Location: Louisiana/Broussard
Martin Colony History: 2010-2014 located in Slidell LA. Gourd rack with 16 gourds. Max of 2 pairs during this short period in Slidell. Plenty of fledglings.

2014-present.. moved to Broussard LA. Same Gourd Rack but added a 6 room house (modified from a 12 room)

2020: after a long drought of nothing, 4 pairs and 4 nests, 23 eggs total.
6 fledges.

2021: 9 pair, 47 eggs
36 hatchlings
30 fledged

2022: about 12 pairs.. many eggs, all fledged.. only had one hatchling die.. probably because of our schnauzer. :(

2023: 16 pairs. So far about 60 chicks with about a dozen eggs to go.

2024: 13 pair. About 60 eggs
2025: 14 pairs .. 69 eggs.

Nice prifile pic! :)
Mine is called "Mulie." Those poor ears won't fold over.

I doubt if you have problems attracting a purple martin. You'll see some soon enough. Be careful of HS and Starlings. Good luck. :)
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Dave Duit
Posts: 2145
Joined: Tue Nov 25, 2003 2:02 pm
Location: Iowa / Nevada
Martin Colony History: In 2024, 82 pair with 350 fledged youngsters. 110 total cavities available, 82 Troyer Horizontal gourds and a homemade PVC / metal 28 compartment unit, 1 fallout shelter. Hawk and owl guards included. Martin educator and speaker. President and founder of the Iowa Purple Martin Organization. Please visit Iowa Purple Martin Organization on Facebook link: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1627283871068161 Emails send to [email protected]. Subject line include Iowa Purple Martin.

Hi Tammy. It is so nice to see a new martin fanatic. I caught the bug for martins several years ago and now my little martin hobby has turned into a full blown addiction. I welcome you to the world of martins. Always remember that there will be good years and not so good years. Never get burned out and keep on with enthusiasm. : )
ImageMite control, heat venting, predator protection and additional feeding during bad weather add up to success.
ImageIPMO LOGO1.jpg
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Tim Stover
Posts: 505
Joined: Fri Jan 22, 2010 4:04 pm
Location: Tennesse/Madisonville

welcome Tammy
you have come to the right place to learn about purple martins
i will warn you now this is very addictive stuff i started out
with a little hobby and it has blown into a full addiction good
luck
Tim
2009 2pair 2010 24pair 2011 106 pair
2012 124 pair
2013 145
2014 170 pair
+
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Stretch
Posts: 192
Joined: Wed Sep 29, 2010 2:25 pm
Location: White House, TN

Welcome Tammy...if you are addicted now, wait till you've got birds! We all feel the same way 8)
2011 19 Pair, 108 eggs, 74 fledged
2010 9 Pair, 44 eggs, 30 fledged
Mast 1: western cedar T18 + 4 SREH tunneled gourds - 3"x3"x24' alum. custom fab mast
Mast 2: 11 Horizontal Gourds with custom Jack Petty entrances +6 SREH tunneled supergourd - 2in deluxe 18.
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John Miller
Posts: 4866
Joined: Mon Mar 22, 2004 9:11 pm
Location: St. Louis, MO

Welcome

Re: house sparrows, they are in most but not all locations. It's promising that you don't see any now, so at worst I'd think you'd only have a few to deal with and maybe none. It's martin heaven. John M
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Don~VA
Posts: 391
Joined: Fri Mar 13, 2009 11:01 am
Location: Virginia/King George
Martin Colony History: Had a colony many years ago which dwindled over a couple of years and then did not return. Kept trying each year for almost 20 years and finally had a small success in 2011 with two pairs nesting. Colony has grown slowly each year with 22 pairs in 2015. In 2016 my gourd rack of 18 gourds filled up so I added 4 more gourds and then put up a small rack of 6 gourds. All of those were claimed within a few days so I believe I have at least 25 pairs this year.

Welcome to the Forum Tammy and the world of Purple Martins! If you have read so much of the forum I'm sure you know its a great place to find answers and enjoy the posts from a lot of nice folks. It sounds like you already have a great set up so Best of Luck for your first season :)
Don~Northern Neck of Virginia-PMCA Member
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mcollmer
Posts: 140
Joined: Thu Mar 04, 2004 2:33 pm
Location: Oklahoma/Hobart

HI TAMMIE, WELCOME, ITS ALWAYS NICE TO SEE ANOTHER OK PERSON.
GOOD LUCK HOPE YOU BECOME A LANDLORD THIS YEAR.
Martha

PMCA member
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~Ray~Gingerich
Posts: 2122
Joined: Mon Jan 05, 2004 10:24 pm
Location: Delaware/Dover

Hi Tammy,
Welcome to the forum. It will only get better once you see and hear your first purple martin.
~Ray~ Gingerich
1999 1pair, 2006 2 pair, 2008 2 pair,
2009 23 pair, 2010 39 pair, 2011 67 pair,
2012 115 pair, 2013 160 pair,
2014 152 pair, 2015 174 pair, 2016 178 pair
2017 187 pair, 2018 200 pair, 2019 171pair
2020 233 pair
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TammyBears
Posts: 135
Joined: Fri Feb 03, 2012 4:00 pm
Location: Bridgecreek, Oklahoma (SW of OKC)

Thanks to all of you. I can't wait to get started, and hope and pray I can share some good news come March/April. Either way, I'm in it for the long haul!
Tammy
RIP my precious Josie, 7/5/2000-11/6/2014
2015: 22 pair plus lots of bachelors
2014: 25 pair and some bachelor subbies
2013: 17 pair
2012: 7 pair (first year)
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barry resvick
Posts: 185
Joined: Thu Jun 23, 2011 3:07 pm
Location: Alberta/Didsbury
Martin Colony History: 2010 we had just one sy male all summer
2011 we had the same male come back but eventually brought home a female and had five eggs but were infertile
2012 we had our first two chicks but lost them
2013 we fledged six and had two pair
2014 we fledged 13 from four pairs
2015 we fledged 24 from 6 pairs

Hi Tammy!
If you love Martins,you have come to the right place.I to am a newbie and have had many visitors in the past two seasons and although it would be nice to have nesters the first year,they are always nice to wake up to first thing in the morning.When you hear your first one around your site,you wont mistake it for the dawn song as their sound is very distinct.
The fellow landlords here are very helpful and eger to help newbies so dont hesitate to ask as many questions as you want.
2010______2 visitors
2011______1asy male 3 visitors
2012______1 pair,possibly2(5 infertile eggs)
2013______2 pair,5infertile eggs,4hatched,0 fledged
2014______3 pair,Fledged 13
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tonyg
Posts: 1520
Joined: Fri Feb 27, 2009 4:16 pm
Location: Olpe, KS
Martin Colony History: 22 year landlord, 14 at current residence..offering 9 racks and a homemade T-8 for 166 total cavities. 160 Pair in 2018 Racks consist of a Deluxe 12, AAA 16, Starburst 16, 2 K-18 Series, Super 24, 2 Gemini, Multi-purpose/two trio’s/4gourds and a T-8..Great hobby to be involved in..

Welcome and good luck Tammy! Nice profile pic..we have a black one..best dogs ever!!
22 year landlord..9 Rack Systems for 2018 and my home built T-8 for a total of 166 cavities..160 pair in 2018 ..SUPER COLONY!!! Love You Bev... Fan of those St. Louis Cardinals!!!!!
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diane davis-ms
Posts: 131
Joined: Thu Jan 15, 2009 8:29 am
Location: Baxterville, ms
Martin Colony History: Last colony I had was in 2015.

Hi Tammy,
And Welcome to the P.M. Forum! :grin: There are lot's of Very helpful and friendly careing people here with ton's of great information. I am also addicted
to Purple Martin's and Just cant help it! LOL! Glad to have you and im wishing
you the best of luck this year! ~Diane~
purple martin addict!
pmca member.
2015 sy's males here hoping for new colony!
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Michael Sanford ~ OK
Posts: 233
Joined: Tue Apr 06, 2004 9:00 pm
Location: Oklahoma/Edmond

Hey Tammy! I sent you a private message. Give me a holler if you want to talk martins.
MICHAEL C. SANFORD
EDMOND, OK
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