Purple Martin Forum

I believe it was hours. They were active in the morning. Im not exactly sure how old. I do not have a pole that is easy to move up and down so, we dont interfere much unless someone falls out or we notice something off. This is the time they usually vacate my site, end of May beginning of June. I di...

We notice 2 dead babies today stuck in the entrance. I did a nest check and there are still 2 live babies. Unfortunately I believe the nesting site has been abandoned/fleged. Definitely abandoned, I just came inside almost dark and no one returned. I cant do anything with them tonight, so I left the...

Thanks daveh. That is incredible!

Im just reluctant to take away the house, as I have had one for 6 years and it is used each year. I have read that martin hatched in a house will seek out houses vice versa. Now that I have an established colony I dont want to change the options. I guess I will look at an additional pole for just go...

Looking to upgrade (for next year). I started with the s&k tri-tele pole and the house that goes with that pole (free cause my mom bought on clearance and never put up :-) fast forward 7 years. I now have (at least for the past 2+ season) 6 gourds + house. I noticed recently (unfortunately we ar...

Temps had been in 50s' during the day but nasty conditions,wind chill, overcast. I thought about starlings but neither bird looked like it had any trauma, of course I didn't investigate the bodies any further than what I could see. I don't know much about starlings but I will research and keep and e...

This morning we found 2 adult males laying on the ground under the houses/gourds. There has been visitors to our colony recently but unfortunately we are in central Florida and it has be unseasonably cold, in the low 40s/30s at night. Nothing appeared to be wrong with either bird. We lowered pole to...

Thanks Dave. I believe I have 4 nesting pairs. I got the s&k tri Tele pole up last year (20) with an S & k house and 1 heath super gourd. Also got a predator guard on the pole. Had a little activity but no one stayed around. Put up same pole with aluminum keys and 4 gourds this year (21). We...

Thanks Louise, We got it back up there, we just guessed which nest it came from. Same size only 2 maybe 3 in the cavity. He was happy to hurry back in. Watched for a bit both parents returned and entered a few times and baby stayed put. Unfortunately, the pole does not allow for safe nest checks (fi...

So I came home today and there is a little one on the ground, feathers bit can't fly yet. None of the adults are paying it any attention, they are busy catching bugs and feeding all other babies. Any suggestions? Let nature takes its course? I've been watching for over 30 minutes not one adult bird ...

Thanks for your answer! That all makes sense, I definitely see them coming and going. This morning there were 4 or 5 flying high around the houses, not much noise though. There are hawks around but I've seen the martins "gang up" on them early on, so the hawks appear to avoid the airspace,...

Hi, I'm new and my colony is new, first time "landlord" here. My martins, roughly 10-12, were very active and loud, especially in the morning. Over the last week or so they have gotten very quiet. Still coming and going entering the house/gourds but not the usual morning gathering that had...