Purple Martin Forum

Martins showed up on Feb 15th. The season is underway. Best of luck to all.

Steve, What has happened to your martin landlord skills? Only 700 pair? That is quite frankly an astounding number. I am having my best year with about 45 nests with young. I am going to make a recommendation to all who can do so. If you get the opportunity and you are not too far away, go by Steve'...

Thanks Tim for the info and the pictures. I may alter the ones I have or do it during the off-season. I am going to order some more of the horizontal gourds from Andy. It is my understanding the new ones have been modified to eliminate the wing entrapment risk.

I just wanted to remind each of us to be aware of martins getting trapped in the tunnel of the Troyer horizontal gourd. I noticed a martin yesterday that was trapped. I managed to release her but upon inspection this morning found her to be dead inside the gourd I had placed her in. I think a number...

I was in Tyler last night and noticed the Tyler roost seemed to be in full swing already. The roost this year is at the Best Buy shopping strip just south of the mall. Hundreds, if not thousands, were gathering at dusk in the oak trees around this location. It is definitely an intriguing event to wi...

I was doing a walk-around inspection yesterday evening and noticed a male was trapped at the entrance of a Troyer horizontal gourd with the tunneled conley entrance. I immediately lowered the housing and found him to be already dead. Upon looking inside the gourd, I found another male and a female t...

On the thread entitled "Sevin Addition", Birdy Girl asked a question concerning bird mites. Do the birds bring the mites with them or do they pick up the mites once they are here? I thought it was a good question and would appreciate any thoughts on the subject.

Kenneth

Arrived home from work yesterday and noticed five martins flying around. I almost wrecked the van because of looking skyward rather than looking forward. Two males stayed for the evening and I was happy to accommodate.

I am located about 30 miles south of Tyler.

Kenneth

Linda,

Thanks for your response and suggestion of offering white millet. I am not sure what my mother-in-law had on her bird feeder but it definitely attracted them.

Do you know where they make their nests? It would be a beautiful bird to have in the yard.

Kenneth

I saw a painted bunting last Friday on a bird feeder at my in-laws here in Jacksonville, TX. I must say that was probably the most colorful bird I have ever seen. If you have not seen one, as I had not until this past Friday, you can do an image search on Google and see a number of pictures. Not pur...

Doing a nest check yesterday and found a gourd with 10 eggs in it! Anybody ever come across this before? Sounds like fertility drugs gone wild.

Kenneth

I was curious if anyone knew where to get some additional parts for the Quad Pod set-up. I have a pole and some pods but I need the sleeves that attach to the pole and the wire hangers the pods attach to. I did a little looking on the internet but was not successful in locating replacement parts. Th...

Steve, I agree with you on your assessment of the Troyer horizontal gourds. I just received a shipment of four more of them yesterday. This will give me a total of 28. I have a Heritage Quad Pod system that I have been using for a few years now but it was not very successful. I took down the pods an...

Great photos Steve! I hope to make it over in the spring, drink some of that sweet tea and watch the aerial display. I currently have about 20-24 birds. Did not have any last year until March. Here this year much sooner. Maybe Al Gore's global warming is bringing them in sooner. Take care, Kenneth

Karen,

Have you had success with that design in the past or is this something new you are trying?

I have some Big Bo gourds and may try this design.

Thanks,

Kenneth

Thanks for the reminder. Just completed the scout report.

While outside on this beautiful day, I heard that unmistakable sound about 2:00 this afternoon. Looking up into the sky I spotted a lone male. A few hours later he was back with a female and they took up residence in one of the Troyers this evening. Martin season is underway in Jacksonville(30 miles...

They are south of the mall in the Barnes & Noble and Circuit City parking lot on Broadway Street.

There is a substantial number roosting just south of the Broadway Square Mall in Tyler. I drove up there yesterday evening and there is too many to estimate.

Pretty cool sight.

Kenneth

Steve, While out mowing yesterday evening I noticed a hawk on two separate occasions. I am not sure if it was a Cooper's Hawk or another species of larger hawks that nest nearby. Whatever it was the martins took out after it in the same manner that your birds do. I will be more attentive from now on...