Purple Martin Forum

I have no experience with using a dslr for digiscoping, check their website for if they make adapters for them

Hi Mitch,
I am using an adapter for my phone that I got from Phoneskope.com
Just tell them which scope and which phone you have and they make one to fit exact

I answered Andy's email, but will provide details here too on the winch assembly. The pivot arm was made by Frank Hargis of IL, and given to me to test many years ago. I haven't heard from him in years, but he does have an email link on the members list here. I have no idea if he still makes them. I...

The endangered species list he spoke of is at the state level, being listed as "Species of Special Concern".

Thanks for posting John. It was actually on our NBC affiliate, it's a popular weekly Outdoors show. This is at least the 3rd time they've done a piece on Martins.

Is anyone developing a smartphone app to do nest checks?

These birds can take the cold if they get enough to eat, one guy way up in Bovey has kept his lone girl alive for a week despite temps down to 10 degrees at night.

Minnesota is in the same situation, unfortunately many martins are here already with nothing to eat. A few landlords have been able to keep a few alive by feeding crickets and eggs, but we are stuck in a cold pattern for at least another week. I'm sure we will lose 1000's of martins this April here.

Darryl, the trick to flipping crickets is not to flip it "at" them but near them so they don't feel threatened. Hopefully they don't feel threatened by you and you can try again, get near them and flip up and away from them so they can get a look at the crickets and hopefully one will figu...

I saw a banded goose while reading bands on Trumpeter Swans, it was a 6 year old bird and was banded just a few miles downstream from where I saw it.

If you leave a sparrow in the trap to lure others, it's a good idea to trim it's primary feathers off one wing so if it escapes it can't fly properly.

The server for MNMartin's forum crashed and all data was lost. Hauns is working on trying to restore it but it involves quite a bit of work and time. If he cannot restore it we may start a new forum on the website.

I have close to 50 pair here and there is only one martin that dive bombs me. I think it's just his personality, he's a mean old bird.

Last year I had an ASY female that wouldn't leave whenever I did nest checks. So when it came time to band the babies she got banded too.

Yes, mine is a lot like yours, but with one more level and a gable roof. My compartments are drawers that pull out, tunnel and all.

Hi Bernie, I see the access caps in the middle, which rooms do those go to?

My 20 room foam house only had one nest last year, it looks like it is going to be used much more this year, with claims being made on all sides of it.

The eggs should be OK if she didn't start incubating, they usually lay 6-7 eggs around here.

Here in the north we have trouble with blowfly larva infesting the nests. I change the nests when the babies are 5 days old and again at 15 days. Last year while we were banding my babies one of the nests had about 100 blowfly larva in it despite the fact I had changed the nest 8 days earlier.

Don't worry about doing nest checks while martins are there, they won't mind. Just don't do it in the morning, almost all eggs are laid in the morning. Remove any eggs that aren't martin eggs, cowbirds eggs are speckled.

Louise, the problem with the report form is with the Firefox browser, I was able to enter them using Explorer.