Purple Martin Forum

Although "post breeding defense" might be an answer, that research shows the behavior lasts only "a few days". It has been over three weeks since the last fledgling left the gourds and I still have adults coming back on a daily basis. I now find myself searching the sky for them ...

The last fledgling left my gourds over two weeks ago. Although no "overnight" birds remain, a number of adults have returned to the gourds nearly every day since the last one left. This monring, for example, there were eleven of them. A group will suddenly appear, making noises as they fly...

Matt, from Lonestar, called me this morning. He confirmed what C. C. Martins implied - that is, Matt instructed me to simply tighten the heck out of the screws on either side of the handle, which action should cause the handle to stay in place and allow the houses, etc. to be raised and lowered. Tha...

Two more pics.

More photos.

I ordered the Lonestar Goliad System through PMCA on Thursday, September 4. The bulk of it arrived Saturday, September 27. Although erecting the system seems fairly straightforward, I am stymied by the winch and handle. The instructions which came with the system state "Attach winch handle to t...

This morning I lowered the gourds, used a wooden paint stir stick to lift the portion of the nest next to the front entrance of each of the occupied gourds, and put about 1/2 teaspoon of 5% Sevin dust in both. Except for the parents screaming at me from the adjacent power lines, the process went smo...

Yesterday I lowered my gourds and found one which had lots of mites. That gourd has four healthy looking, approximately two week old, babies. I immediately looked at this forum for answers on how to eliminate the problem. Thanks to all who posted advice. I found a local store which has Sevin Dust in...

This season (only my second) I have been fortunate enough to have one nesting pair in my gourds. I began lowering the housing and making nest checks about ten days after I first noticed the pair bringing tree leaves to their gourd, presumably to add some softness to the pine needle base which I prov...

This is my second year and I am fortunate enough to have one nesting pair. I kept the entrances to my gourds covered until the first martin appeared. Despite those efforts, the tape to one of the gourds either came off, or was torn off by a sparrow, and they immediately built a nest which I just as ...

Congrats are in order I believe. Looks like you will have birds. Did you pre-nest so they have a nice place to sleep? Yes I did - with pine straw. As an aside, had I spent a few minutes early in this process I would have learned that "pine straw" is actually nothing more than pine needles...

Here is an update to my initial post. Yesterday (Friday, July 28), the day after the "gang" of martins swarmed my gourds, five came back and hung around much of the day. Because of an injury to a worker in my neighborhood, a police car, an ambulance, a fire truck, and several other vehicle...

As a first time landlord, what I have experienced since my first sighting on June 5 has been interesting, to say the least. Despite reading as much as I could, both in this forum and elsewhere, I was unprepared for the unpredictable - and what I think is rather fickle - behavior of these birds. Howe...

I live next to the Mississippi River in west central Wisconsin. I erected a deluxe pole/gourd system, with two decoys, in late April and have been playing the dawn song nearly every morning. Initially I only installed six gourds, three with round holes and three with crescent holes and perches. Alth...