This morning, April 11, 2015 I took a few photos of my purple martin colony after most of the martins were swarming around it. I shot a male starling out of the top of a pecan tree in Bob’s yard and the martins were definitely spooked for a while!
Our two personal martin colonies are doing very well and we probably have 700+ martins in total. I believe I have 250+ pairs and Bob surely has 150+. ASY males are still trying to find cavities and more SY males are arriving and trying to fight their way into the colonies. I will probably have a better idea if we will have as many martins this year as we had last season by mid-May.
Here are a few swarm photos of martins flying above and around my colony.
Martin Colony History: Several colonies with in 6 mile radius. Have had visitor every year 2014-24. Two large trees removed in fall 2024 and moved T-14 to a more open location. 2025- 1 SY pair. Fledged 2. 2026- no pairs. One daily SYM here daily. Named him Riggs!
Wow! With so many Steve, why dont you just giftwrap a few pair to all us wannabe's If it was only that easy.
Bellefonte PA
2014, 1st year-a few lookers, no nests
2015-23. Visitors each year. But no pairs.
2024- most active year. 2-4 SY male’s hang out most days.
2025, 1 SY pair. 2 eggs, 2 fledged!! Other martins visited daily.
Still eliminating starlings and sparrows.
Martin Colony History: A new purple martin wannabe landlord, I took over management of long neglected colonies at two public golf courses Spring of 2015. I had 20 nesting pairs at Algonkian Golf Course and 15 at Brambleton.
After trying for as long as I have. I keep finding my thoughts going back to this subject time and time again. Sure wish the experts would come up with a tried and true method of transplanting viable compatable pairs to we folks who would love to host a colony. I have read where this has been tried in the past with little success, but where the species needs a real shot in the arm in some areas, I believe that this should still be experimented with. I mean where technology is continually improving, surely there are pathways that could be persued. Sounds like a worth while venture to me for universities and grad students.
2012 late start
2013 nothing yet, lots a lookers
2014 Bust again
2015 Bust again
2016 Bust again
2017 Bust again
2018 April 14 a group joined me, but moved on after a week
2019 Had SY male seriously check me out but didn't stay
I wish I could send a purple martin package to both of you! We are seeing a bunch of SY martins now and a big flock arrived this evening to roost. Many of these may be migrants so they will be heading north.
I hope both of you attract many martins this season! Good luck!
Steve
Hey phldave,
Purple martins have such strong site fidelity and it is possibly engrained in their genes. I don't know if humans will ever be able to successfully transplant martins from one area to another and the martins would stay and breed.
But science continues to advance and we learn more and more about the natural world through research. So maybe scientists will unravel more mysteries about purple martin biology and behavior that will help folks to attract martins.
For now folks must continue trying to attract martins to their yards by practicing good colony management and ensuring their yards are sufficiently open. I know it must be so frustrating to keep trying each season. But we have seen some wonderful success stories posted on the Forum so there is always hope.
I hope you will attract martins this season and share the great news on the Forum! Good luck.
Steve
Hey tmoe58,
Thank you for those kind remarks.
Since my martin colony has grown so large, I don't conduct complete nest checks on every nest. I do spot checks and look for possible problems. I usually have a pretty good awareness of the number of martin pairs by carefully studying each gourd rack/house.
I hope you have a great martin season. Good luck.
Steve
Short martin update...
Our two personal martin colonies continue to prosper with many new SY males arriving today. Fighting has been fierce between these new males and the dominant ASY males which are trying to control multiple cavities.
Bob, my next door neighbor, visited our five satellite martin colonies today and he told me they appeared to be doing well with few sparrow/starling issues. Bob does "discreetly" shoot sparrows/starlings when he can and I usually trap these pests.
But he witnessed a distressing incident at our local satellite colony which is about three miles from our personal sites. He said he arrived at the colony and parked his truck near the housing; he will do this and then will shoot any sparrow/starling that may be around the houses.
All the houses were filled with happy martins that were sitting around and "enjoying" themselves. But this would not last.
He had been at the colony for only a few minutes when suddenly all the martins bolted off the houses. Bob who is hard of hearing heard nothing. He looked out the window of his truck and saw an Accipiter hawk slowly flying away with a martin hanging from his/her talons. All the martins left and climbed up high.
This was most likely a migrant Accipiter hawk that saw a food opportunity from of a bunch of martins congregating around their housing. This satellite colony experiences Accipiter hawk predation every year at this time.
I am glad you like my martin colony. I have had this colony since 2005 and it has changed a lot over the years! I have added, removed, and revised gourd racks and houses and the martins have adjusted just fine.
We have very few house sparrows at our two personal martin colonies. I mainly just shoot any sparrows that show up and I have shot two males so far this year.
However, we do have sparrows at our various satellite martin colonies and I have used a variety of traps. If you have Trio houses, the best trap I have used is the spar-o-door trap. It works like magic to catch sparrows and I have caught many with it. I also use the Deluxe and Universal Sparrow Traps and the One Trap Fits All and all will catch sparrows. All these traps can be purchased through the PMCA and that is where I have bought most of mine. The PMCA's Starling/Sparrow Nest-Box Trap catches sparrows and particularly starlings and I use this trap, too.
I don't currently use any bait traps but have used a Trio bait trap many years ago at my boyhood martin colony. The PMCA's Wire Sparrow Trap looks similar to the one I used. I caught many sparrows with this trap.
I hope this information has been helpful. I hope you have a great martin season!
I just ordered a trap from pmca I will build a single bird house and mount it on a pole so the sparrows get used to it that way I can set the trap in a week or so there are very small little suckers starlings are easier to take care of. Thanks Steve
If it was only that easy.