Purple Martin Forum

Some signs are obvious depending on the type of housing you use. Natural gourds will have the entrance hole broken, mainly at the bottom edge, there will be scratch marks or puncture holes where talons left their sign. Plastic gourds are harder to tell, but if you use gourd mounting arms, the gourds...

I have divided plastic trays (tool or kitchen flatware) that are partitioned attached to the rack arms. These are attached with u-bolts bolted through the bottom of the tray around the arms. The trays will need small holes drilled in the bottom for drainage. I supply oyster and egg shells, as well a...

Thanks for the response and picture as well. Certainly puts the size in perspective. Much to large for the martins, but about right for wine jugs

That is indeed the issue I'm having. I purchased gourds from commercial growers the past 2 years; the size and shape I wanted. I planted seed from these and waited for the results. At most, 10% looked even close to the gourd they came from and none were usable. Most growers now produce several varie...

I would like to grow my own gourds. I have in the past, but have lost viable seed from the old fashioned type I grew. Most of the commercially available gourd seed available now is a smaller type; 7"~8". There is a "Giant" martin gourd seed available and was hoping to get opinion...

Due to time restraints as well as size issues, (SS-24) I will not be able to get a cage built for my cross-bar gourd rack this season. In a previous post, Kathy posted pictures of wire guards made and installed by her mentee. These guards look very adaptable and easy to build, so I am hoping to make...

Thanks for the insight Ray and April. Your previous post have helped much in determining how I will build the cage. Last season all of my 8 losses to owls came at the end of season. I feel like the returning fledges were too nervous to stay in the gourds after they learn to fly, and were flushed out...

Due to owl pressure this past season, I am using the winter to install cages on my larger systems. I'm a little nervous not knowing how martins react to the new cage. I need a little advise from those who use cages. From what I have seen on the forum it seems the birds land on the wire, and then hop...

Hey Steve I am trying to make up my mind between a Gemini or K-24 system. Since you have a years experience with the K-24, have you seen any advantages of one style over the other? As you stated in earlier post you really like both types. Any advise about wind resistance, nest check efficiency, or o...

This is my first time dealing with cold weather and the effect on eggs. Normally once it turns warm here it stays. I live in south Alabama and had extended cloudy and cool days around May 4 & 5. I know several posted concerns about the martins being gone from the nest, and the eggs being damaged...

I too have observed them leave the big gourds till last. I think they like to start with a more confined nesting area. I was just considering the extra depth they offer for owl defense. I had also not considered the extra wind load they would create. Think we'll stick with 10" size, and put up ...

I am preparing some natural gourds for next season. Some are very large, measuring fully 12" across. They seem huge compared to the standard 10" that I normally use. Are these too large to be accepted by the martins? I have seen in print the phrase "the larger the better", but I ...

Do SY birds follow a similar pattern for their return as ASY birds? That of the males returning ahead of the females? I have just observed the past couple years that male SY's seem to come back first at my colony. Or is it just more SY males that survive to begin with? Any of you veterans observed a...

Thanks John

May be long winded, but precise is what I need!!

Thanks for your help

Tim I intended to start a new thread for my question, but instead posted to yours. Mabey we can all learn however. In reply to your question, I have excluder II, modified excluder, and round entrances all on the same rack. The first to be chosen were the excluder II. I don't know if it's the form fi...

Last week after reading the post about Excluder gourds, I saw where Doug Martin advised checking the entrance size. I found a 35MM film canister and proceeded to find the excluder ll proper sized. The modified excluder entrance however is only 1 2/16" high. Should I dremel the bottom curve in b...

I am purchasing some Troyer gourds this year, and it will be my first experience with tunnels. I know they are readily accepted even here in the deep-south. My concern is with the behavior of soon to fledge young and the heat at that time. Do the young all pile up at the tunnel entrance, and have po...

Thanks all! I'm all in favor of no more work than needed. And all my gourds are opeque. It sounds as if traction is in order however. They are very slick on the inside as you know. They gourds are heavy and don't move much in wind, but I'd never thought about nest construction being affected. Don't ...

Any thoughts on darkening the interiors on white plastic gourds? I have seen that PM prefer dark interiors and several on the forum have painted their gourds with paint suitable for plastic. I just want to make sure there are no toxicity issues brought about by the spray paint. This could be either ...

Thanks all for your input. I think the potential is here as well. Last year my neighbor had a colony of 18 pair in a fully occupied rack. He knows a grey rat snake made a foraging trip up the pole, but has no idea how many were lost. This year there were only 3 pair that returned and once again he c...