Purple Martin Forum

I'm having similar problems. I haven't gotten a perfect count yet, but it seems like I have way more males than females. It has been like a battlefield out there for the last few days. Lots and lots of fighting. I saw one ASY grab another by the head and just yanked him right out of the gourd entran...

We have had cloudy skies and very gusty winds on Friday and Saturday. Also a tremendous amount of rain Saturday afternoon/evening. I was aware is was a long shot. The reaction of that female just kinda cracked me up. We have truly had a lot of very cold weather since my martins have started arriving...

I really wanted to focus on supplemental feeding this Spring. I've never tried it before this year and I really need some peace mind knowing that I can help my feathered friends in times of need. I have flipped almost two thousand crickets and about two hundred dollars worth of scrambled eggs all to...

Friday for sure down here, they will be quite ready. Wednesday hope they hunker down. Its food, have to get something in them. I plan on no flipping, too much wasted effort for them. Ill put worms on the porches and my makeshift platforms over the gourd racks. Throw some on my roof. Iv 6k superworm...

oh my...I logged on today looking for advice, encouragement and hope....now I have a knot in my stomach.

Thank you so much.

The arms that hold my gourds are curved, but I think you have given me and idea.

I appreciate your help!

I agree with all above. All of my Troyer horizontals have the holes drilled out in the back at an upward angle (think I used 3/8 drill bit) and the 1 inch pvc elbow in the cap and I have had no wet nests this season, so adding the ventilated caps should really help. Something else you can do in the...

Thank you so much!

I always do put the sevin dust under the nest material. I even redusted this year.

I have learned a lot from reading the posts on this forum.

I really do appreciate the help that I have received. I have learned so much from you all

flyin-lowe wrote: ↑

Fri Jun 14, 2024 9:28 pm

I don't think it takes much of a hole to allow a little air flow.

I am sure you are right

C.C. Martins, This gourd is pretty much shaped like a "birdhouse" gourd, but plastic. It probably does have a two inch hole. It is not white - just kinda beige. There are a ton of them around where we live. I suspect a neighbor donated us this one. It reeks of tragedy and disaster. Does an...

Yikes! I just had a jumper out of that one gourd I was concerned about this morning. He fell straight to the ground. No flying at all. This particular gourd in question is not a Troyer like most all of my other gourds. I'm not sure what it is....other than bottom of the barrel as far as quality goes...

ok

Once again, that you for such a quick response.

You have likely saved quite a few of my baby Martins. We are so very grateful!!!

Wow, you guys were right! Even just those tiny little vent holes helped tremendously. We are trying to construct the temporary foam heat shields right now (great suggestion) and we are also installing the door vents. I do have one gourd that is in poor shape. The babies have already fledged from the...

I was thinking that same thing today. I guess I should have been more aware of this as a potential problem, but last year I was hyper focused on the hawk problem. Everything about these gourds made me feel so confident.... I just didn't pick up on the potential ventilation problems. Honestly, aren't...

Thank you so much for your help!

I just now realized i described the gourds as vertical in my earlier post. I do have somer vertical ones, but I'm having the problem with the horizontal ones.

apologies for the confusion

THANK YOU SO MUCH!!

I appreciate your quick reply.
I will take that advice.

I have been freaking out all day

These are horizontal. They seemed so very safe. Hawks are a real problem for my little tribe. I just should have been more educated about ventilation issues

Thank you all so much for you advice. We did drill those tiny tiny tiny little vents out yesterday evening. I am just afraid that is not near enough ventilation to deal with this amount of moisture. Condensation (or whatever) is running down the walls. The forecasted temps for this weekend are 98+ w...

Oh my. I was afraid that was going to be the suggestion. I really don't know if these babies will tolerate that much activity without flying off. I am super concerned about the weather this up coming weekend...heat indexes over 100. It is so wet in some of those gourds, I don't know how they could s...

It hasn't rained here in more than a week.
Regardless, the insides of my Troyers are all wet. Condensation? Should I try to do anything about it?
These babies are big. Im afraid they will try to fly if I mess with them too much.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.