Purple Martin Forum

I have a single color band on a martin and don't know where to report it, as it has no silver USFWS band. From experience, the USFWS and bandedbird.org sites will reject this because of lack of silver band. This green/yellow band on the right leg is on a fairly recent arrival SY female nesting with ...

Thanks, last year, the eggs were always in view, but, this is year 3 for my ASY and his female looks quite the experienced queen, too.
I really believe you are right, since you can't sometimes see them, even with access holes. I will do a more thourough check today. I bet the eggs are still there.

I looked into my natural gourd (I have no human gourd check cap, so just a flashlight into the entrance hole), and the 3 eggs seen last week appear to be gone! Is that possible? This year's nest is not very deep and maybe, they are just hidden, but, if they are, they are well hidden, there isn't muc...

I noticed that my colony starter, a 3rd year male, has no black on his right foot-it looks pink colored. Also, the foot's long toe in the front is shorter than the other foot and other martins. He can perch ok, but, Iwonder if this is an injury of some type or some malady, such as mites. At the same...

This website explains everything you need to know and do. I overcame the TS my first successful colony year and prior to seeing this website, had TS in prior, unsuccessul years as the TS drove off the few, precious and critical moments when subbies are house hunting. Now that the colony is in it's 3...

By following the instructions given to the webiste, I looked at the 4-8am window off of the North Webster, IN radar site, which is very close to us. I found your Lake St. Clair site and knowing it was there gave me the "teaching lesson" on what it looks like. So, I looked elsewhere, and no...

I checked the closest unconfirmed NEXRAD roost near my N. Indiana colony last week. At mid-day, I found 20 martins, 150 swallows of 3 types. A local farmer told me that "at dinner time, the birds come in". This is on some wires on a secluded open, farming area--no real water bodies. I came...

My birds (all except hatch of year), keep coming back every few days, this time was sunday am and they all landed on the house and chirped for a few minutes and left. The babies have been out since July 15, but, mostly, they land up high on my neighbors' short wave antenna, which is their post-fledg...

Our birds, plus another dozen of nearby housed PM's form a mini-roost each year on a stall short-wave antenna and at night in the nearby tall maple tree at my neighbor's house after the birds fledge. They were still here sunday am and hadn't been back to the PM housing until sunday, when 11 birds an...

Our birds, plus another dozen of nearby housed PM's form a mini-roost each year on a stall short-wave antenna and at night in the nearby tall maple tree at my neighbor's house after the birds fledge. They were still here sunday am and hadn't been back to the PM housing until sunday, when 11 birds an...

I have my current housing on the end of a boat dock and need to expand . I own a second house that can be converted to 6x12 with SREH holes. I can also add 4 natural gourds to it, or just build a gourd rack for 8 or 12 gourds and keep the house as a back up. How close to the current housing can I pu...

My ASY/SY pair continue to feed the 3 fledglings and they looked ok on saturday nest check. The SY pair next door in their gourd are with green leaves and trying (may already have) to lay new eggs, having lost the first 2 in the storm. The ASY who showed up on his own after the storm ( I located in ...

Thanks to all on the sevin advice. I will do a nest check today or tomorrow and hit all the nests with a little spray away from eggs and babies. Our new ASY(s) from the downed house did not show up since early am today, I will go by boat and check to see if the house is back up-could be weekenders a...

Our 2nd year Martin colony in Kosciusko county went down in a heavy storm wed. before dusk, as I received a call at 9pm from wife as I stepped off a plane arriving at Midway airport. Her car was damaged, too. I made a hasty decision to drive the 75 minutes from Valpo, despite how tired I was from a ...

My 2nd year male and his mate were going very well 2 weeks ago, with green leaves on top of the nest, and mating, and then, WHAM! We got hit with 5-6 days of cold, wet weather, and my birds and the newly arriving subbies were lucky just to survive! It has been 8 days since good weather came back, an...

I finally got the nasty HS that has been hanging around and building nests. Had a cocktail, sitting on the deck with my wife and neighbor, when he landed on top of the PM house, so I had a clear shot and had to take it even though in front of others-- "I shot him, I shot him dead. I shot the ho...

My colony starter second year bird and his mate survived the 5 days or horrible weather here. it was only below 50 for a high on one day, but, wet and consistently in the mid 50's. I think that they survived due to being on a lake and the lake temperature and insect hatches that occur even in the 50...

After 4 unsuccessful years, I found this website, and upgraded my house to 6x12's and added 4 natural gourds below it and holes but 2 gourds went shreh. I ran dawnsong all along since in april and may I got a pair of subbies last year, and 5 eggs, but not hatch, they were too immature. The male retu...

Engineers and scientests don't make good presidents, or managers, or CEO's for that matter any day. Too much insight or technical knowledge is unnecessary and in the way of progress. My point is that no one liked Jimmy Carter and wanted to admit his brutal honest truths of that day, but, one of them...

This is the trihabitation website, which gives you the benefit of many years of trials and tribulations such as yours with BB, TS and PM and how to make all three or two of the three get along cooperatively. Sounds like you are doing the right thing, keeping the PM housing closed, but, you should ha...