Purple Martin Forum

Very, Very Nice! This is a great design!

Very nice!

Thank you all for the great tips!

Hello again to all! Really looking forward to the first arrivals of the year and getting my setups ready both at home and at our camp. I need some advice to repair a few natural gourds. I have 5 natural gourds that have a hairline crack in them. I really do not want to throw them out in the trash bu...

Very cool story. It is sad to see them go but you will have so much more to look forward to next Spring. Congrats on your season!

Wait until morning!!! If you lower your rack at night you run the risk of flushimg your entire colony subjecting them to all kinds of problems they may not be prepared to deal with e.g., owl attacks, night predators and potentially not finding a safe roost for the remainder of the evening. Wait unti...

I concur. The Hammerli 850 is a sparrow and starling killing machine. It is the single most important article in my attempt to stop S/S. It requires no pumping, no continous reloading (8 shot clip) and is whisper quite compared to other pellet guns. It shoots pellets fast enough for a quick kill but...

Awesome! Congrats to you and your new tenants!I know you must be overjoyed! We look forward to hearing about your nest checks!!

Where do you find someone to band birds in your colony? Is there a way to find out who is authorized to band in a certain region or state. Thanks in advance for any information.

I removed 2 from one gourd and one from another yesterday. The young were atleast 4 days old and I was concerned that one would break the unhatched egg causing some bacterial problems in the nest. Noone seemed to mind at my colony and it gave the young a bit more room in the nest. I hope this helps!

Very impressive numbers Ray! You have as many nests as we do eggs! I have not seen a dramatic increase in earlier laying this year as compared to last but I also did not have the quantity of nests from last year to this to really make a significant comparison.

I only saw 4 but I did not poke around or move any.

Hatch Day has arrived as projected by the PMCA prognosticator! Check out these little guys and gals. Todays nest check revealed 4 hatch day chicks from gourd #12 with one egg pipping and one (hopefully) on the way! 14 active nests with 66 eggs to go. All of which are projected to hatch within a week...

Haha... Funny you should say that. We looked at a house the other day and the backyard was not big enough to hosts Martins so we did not even make an offer!

I agree that most birders are extremely good people. I think this may be contrary, however, sometimes to the overall good to our native birds. For example, I have a neighbor that loves all birds and when I say loves, I mean she feeds and waters and adores the starlings that nest every year (for the ...

Welcome to the Forum Tom! To encourage some tenants I would add 4 gourds directly below your "martin motel". I assume that this is some form of a house? The PMCA has a great selection of natural and man made gourds. I personally prefer the naturals because I like the hobby of planting,grow...

Awesome photos and very informative Don!!! I am going to try to post some photos soon and may need some help to ID them. (Got my bride a new lense for her camera for Mother's Day) When she lets me use it I will try to post. Thanks again for the info. Moma Bruff- I will listen more closely!!! Great t...

It does not seem the same without her. Chickadee, I hope you see this and come back soon!

I agree with Sevin or Diatamcious earth to rid the nest of all creepy crawlys. I would also apply a ring of (automotive) grease around the pole. It does not have to be very thick just continious so the ants can not pass. This works great for ants getting to your hummingbird feeders too (the grease i...

Thank you Louise. There is a steep learning curve.Thank you again.