Purple Martin Forum

Very sorry to hear that Brad. We had the same thing happen here in northern WI several years ago. I pulled over 90 nestlings out off my houses. This was in July after a week of cool rainy weather. And like in your case it was all the same size nestlings, the very small and the ones that had started ...

Courtney gave you good advice. The only time I've seen birds killed and consumed inside a cavity turned out to be a red squirrel. I know you don't have them in your area but a weasel is definitely possible. I would have a stovepipe guard on that pole tonight. Be sure and stuff the top with hardware ...

Hi Trishy, have you tried Tammi's Wildlife Rescue in Fredric? Once the eye issue is addressed I think getting him back into a cavity with similar sized nestlings gives him the best chance for survival. Tammi's number is 715 491 2352.

My money would still be on a second year male. Here they usually fly some distance from the houses before dropping eggs or newly hatched young. Even with the extra cavities all it takes is one frustrated second year male to cause a lot of damage. Their really isn't much you can do about it. Climbing...

I think you will do well. Three Rivers park district manages several successful colonies in the Minneapolis suburbs, Maple Plain, Plymouth and Maple Grove. They might have more I can't remember. I have a 90 pair colony just east of you between Luck and Cumberland. Glad to hear your lake colony is do...

Great news Daryl! I've followed your story since your first attempts at your parents place. You certainly earned them.

Hi Jim, most of the adults have arrived here in NW WI. The second year birds have just started arriving in the last week or so. Their is a great mentor right next to you in Barron, might be worth having her take a look at your site and see if she has any suggestions. You can get her contact informat...

Sorry to hear about your lost female, unfortunately that nest will be lost. Hopefully the male can attract a new female and start from scratch.

Don, those are fantastic videos! Thanks for posting them.

Good luck Daryl,

With all the work you've put in on your public sites you certainly deserve to have your own colony. Your new site looks perfect.

I see your colony at memory lake quite often and it's a beautiful site.

Tammy, Are your gourds vented? I used to see the same thing with my troyers and super gourds before I vented them. Older nestlings cause so much condensation that the nests rapidly turn to soup in warm humid weather. You did the right thing cleaning them off, they could not have fledged with their f...

Yup, that's the one Terry. Their is a third house on top of a power pole farther back in the trees. Their was a pair of martins in that also. I'm surprised their are any cavities still open enough for martins, the sparrows have most of them stuffed full. Must be a combination of site fidelity and th...

Hi Terry, I think I know the launch you're talking about. Completely under the tree canopy. The trio has a broken rope and spins on the pole, it also had two pairs of sparrows nesting. When I saw it their were three pairs of martins feeding babies in that house. The other two houses were in almost a...

I'm north of you in WI. Last night when my martins came in for the night their was a group of about 30 that circled until dark and then moved on so their are still new martins moving north.

Paula,

it sounds like you probably have some migrants holed up with your martins trying to survive this horrible weather. Somewhere north of you someone is waiting for their martins to return, they will, because of your kindness.

Good job!

Trish, I am just north of 48 about half way between Luck and Cumberland. It's odd, my martins seem to prefer eggs. I always mix the eggs and crickets together and the eggs go first. I had hoped they would have a good feeding day yesterday but they mobbed me as soon as I walked out to feed this morni...

Trish, great job keeping those martins alive, they would not survive the week without your efforts. Terry and Ed, I hope you see more martins soon, they are running late this year. My colony is about 30 miles South of Trish at Shell Lake and I only have 14 back out of about 75 pairs. They are eating...

Hang in there Terry, as has been stated it's very early here. I'm in Hudson but my colony is near Cumberland. As of yesterday I only have two back out of a 70 to 80 pair colony. I drive by half a dozen established sites on my way to Cumberland and have yet to see any activity. We should see a good i...

Emil, I have wondered about many of the same questions. I know that at our local wildlife rehab facility they transition them to a flight enclosure where they are taught to grab insects from a volunteer holding them aloft with a tweezers. Once they catch on to that they fill the flight with flying b...

Chickadee, your martins can survive the cold but they can't survive without food. Last spring we had three straight weeks of no feeding weather, they survived three snow storms and many nights in the single digits. I had around 50 birds back at that time and did not lose any but they were well fed.