Purple Martin Forum

The first of my Purple Martins has arrived. My colony is located along the shoreline of Smith Mountain Lake in Virginia. Enjoy your season.

A disadvantage of round PM polls is the round polls permit lowered gourd racks to spin in high winds. This will causes gourds to change location on the racks and nest entrances compass orientations to change. If this occurs during the breeding season and lasts for an extended time, when temperatures...

If you are in an area where a high wind warning has been issued, or might be issued, it is a good management practice to partially lower your PM rack. Doing so will lesson the likelihood of the pole snapping, reduce the chance of killing or injuring the martins, and potentially avoid replacement cos...

I am happy to announce the return of the Purple Martins migration to the southern portion of Virgina. A beautiful male martin returned to my site yesterday. This is the second time since I started keeping martins that a martin has returned to my site prior to the arrival of Tree Swallows. Enjoy your...

Looks like the PM migration into the southern portion of Virginia has begun in earnest. My colony population went from about six birds the day before yesterday to over a dozen birds today.

I had a male Purple Martin arrive on February 25th and a female arrive on February 27th. The February 25th arrival date is the earliest arrival date recorded at my colony site for a male Purple Martin. The arrival of a female on February 27th is also the earliest arrival date recorded for a female P...

There is a good influx of martins occurring in the southern portion of Virginia at this time. Picked up six today.
Enjoy your passions.

The first of my returning martins arrived on February 27. Good for me, bad for the martin. For my location the arrival of this bird is much too early in the season. Now the effort begins to keep him alive until natural food becomes available in a few weeks. If you are following the Tree Swallows mig...

I agree with the previous comments. The Hawk Eye Camera is great, but its field of view is rather small. So as recommended, place the camera in the tallest gourd you own or modify a gourd to make it taller so you will be able to see the entire nest.

This morning, March 2, 2017, we were greeted by a beautiful adult male Purple Martin. This is the second year in a row that a Purple Martin has returned before the Tree Swallows. In the previous five years the first martin arrived about ten days after the first Tree Swallow. These older martins are ...

Add me to the list of members who had trouble submitting a Scout Report. Even though I submitted a new user name and password my effort was rejected because an account with my email already exists. Discovered you must use your shopping account log-in information rather than Forum log-in information ...

Martins and golf too. Pretty good day. :-)

Excellent job Sharon. Well done.

Bill

Mark, As a deterrent I have found the commercial metal predator guards are almost worthless against snake attacks. I have seen numerous snakes get past them and get caught in the net snake trap placed above the metal predator guard. In my opinion placing the guard below the winch would make it even ...

Mark,

If the lubrication doesn't stop the rack from chattering as it descends I would look into the possibility that it is a balancing problem. Check with the rack's manufacturer to see if they have any recommendations for stopping the chattering or the use of a type of lubricant.

Bill

As for when the male martins perform the dawn song I have noticed that their singing is closely linked to temperature and the time of season. For example, here in Virginia on cold mornings the martins don't come out of their nest cavities or just stay huddled on their perches. No dawn singing going ...

That is one lucky martin.
Enjoy your martin season.

Bill

The martins in my area, Moneta Virginia, prefer wheat straw over pine straw also. I place wire baskets on a low roof near the martins each spring. One filled with wheat straw and the other with White Pine needles. The birds empty the basket containing the straw several times over during the nesting ...

If the martins are visiting but not staying I would check the adequacy of the housing being offered. If the nest cavities are too wet, too shallow, too hot, too bright, or not safe I would correct those issues. Offer twelve inch deep nest cavities in houses, and/or deep tunneled gourds. The deeper, ...

My congratulations to PMCA staff and contributing authors for another outstanding Purple Martin Update Journal. Particularly enjoyed the two research articles, Project Martin Watch by Joe Siegrist and the New Data On Second Broods article by John Barrow. John, you taught us something new. Enjoy your...