Purple Martin Forum

Emil,

How many do you have now? We are still waiting to see our first site of a purple martin. Are you catching them and keeping them at your place?

We didn't have time to stay outside to watch the gourd racks, so we don't know if they came back. I spent a little time outside this afternoon and have not seen any PMs today yet. The yard is silent and the sky is Purple Martinless at the moment.

I was out having coffee with a friend when hubby texted me the great news that the Purple Martins are back. It is cold and rainy here, but tomorrow will be sunny and warm enough for them to feed. I wish today were a more welcoming day for the two ASY-M that visited our yard. At least they have clean...

Thanks, y'all! And yes, James, they are Gemini racks. Bert says they are built well, sturdy, and will last forever. We repositioned them a little last year and reinstalled them. Here is a picture taken during reinstallation. About the solar predator lights, we have not had a problem with owls since ...

This is a picture from last year, but it is the same as today. We are ready. Any day now, they will be here.

Thank you. I just checked it and found our report from last year so easily. I couldn't remember when our Scouts arrived last year. Now I know it was January 19, thanks to PMCA. I hope to report this year's scouts any day now.

Aww, that is so sweet to give him credit. I think I know exactly how your husband feels. :-) Around here, I'm the helper. I love the Purple Martins and enjoy sharing the hobby with my husband. But he is the one that worries about predation, mites, weather, nest checks, nest changes, sparrow/starling...

Good luck! Sorry I didn't see your questions earlier. We have used all the Troyer gourds, including the ones you went with. They all have their advantages and disadvantages. The horizontals are what we use now because the longer entrance seemed to be more protective in our own humanizing way of look...

Hi everyone, Most of our chicks have fledged. We are down to just 3 gourds with young. As usual, there were a few pairs that got a late start with nesting. Our season is almost done. About a week ago, I noted that few PMs were roosting in the gourds. So last night I drove to 11375 Fountain Lake Dr S...

Steve,

Thanks for sharing your observation. I have seen Swainsons and Cooper's Hawks take our PMs. But never a Perigrine. As a bird watcher, I find all bird behavior interesting. I enjoyed reading your post even though it had a sad ending for the purple Martin.

Happy for you!

Beautiful view! How far from the house is your Purple Martin Rack? Purple Martins have a relationship with humans and they don't like to be too far away from human activity. I'm sure you did your research though. :-) Curious thing about Purple Martins. They don't read the books about themselves, so ...

Jeans, What is the name of your gourd rack and how many does each hold? Are you at full capacity? What are those black boxes that extend skyward from the top of each rack? Mitch I found out that it is a Gemini gourd rack that can handle up to 32 gourds. Here is a very good link to a previous discus...

I shared this in year 2010, and sharing again now. It is a slow motion movie I took when our colony was re-establishing in February 2010. We sold the gourd rack to a friend and now have a different set up. But the short movie is kind of wonderful if you live up North and need a Purple Martin fix whi...

Those black boxes are called Night Guard Protectors. They are suppose to simulate an eye and makes a predator nervous about being watched so they leave the area. Jean, Do these things actually work? From the information I have gathered it seems split in half if they work or not. A.P. A.P., thank yo...

Thank you A.P. and Michael.

We have 64 gourds and usually about 60 are occupied. My husband, Bert, is the brain of our operation. I'm his number one helper.

Seriously! After seeing reports of Purple Martin sightings all around Texas but our back yard, these last three weeks have been long. But our wait is over. When we got home from work yesterday evening, the unmistakable sound of Purple Martins greeted us. Three Purple Martins were flying above our ho...

Beauty and function are desireable and you accomplished both. Adding a very long perching rod along top rim of roof would be the cherry on top of the cupcake.

About 10 years ago, a bird bander came out to band all our baby purple martins. Over 100 babies were banded. The bander ran out of the little leg bands and he couldn't do all of them. The following year, we had only one of the banded baby birds return to our site. And the year after that, we had no ...

We watched for them until dark last night. Nada. Ha ha! Obviously, year 2015 obsession with Purple has begun. Now all we need is the purple. I'm not complaining. Anticipation is part of the fun.