Purple Martin Forum

I must apologize for not having posted on this forum for some years. Thirty-two years at my high school, an active martin colony for 25 (??) of those years. After a few years the colony topped out at around 40 gourds. Major construction/renovation all over campus this summer necessitated relocating ...

So with the Sparrows, you are completely clipping their tail feathers back to the nub and it appears the lower half or ends of the wing feathers? I can see that they can fly. I clip just the tail feathers and leave the wings alone. With starlings Bernie Nikolai (?? spelling?) up in Canada has poste...

Brings to mind the old saying...

Be careful what you ask for.....


...sure hope this is the end of our multi-year drought, the local martins have been severely tested.

Mike

Relax man.. you are getting worked up over nothing. No one is saying you have to kill anything. You are taking this way too personal.

???

I thought I was being purely pragmatic.[/quote]

Scully the root problem for your concern is that some people are sensitive. No Sir, a the root problem of my concern is that the hundreds of thousands of anonymous ordinary people who have given us the martin populations that we enjoy today by just putting up houses are being told that they are all...

Deb, I am fortunate in that I was able to incorporate a bicycle into my daily commute ie. a normal part of my day so I didn't have to set aside a part of my daily routine . What I did was ride a longer ten-mile route coming and going rather than the two miles direct. This is what cycling has done fo...

Kathy, It has occurred to me that here I am relating that I pedalled a thirty pound bicycle with forty pounds of gear and water on board close to 170 miles in two days in June, and then saying how it was nothing remarkable :lol: Truth be told, in August of '13 when I first started preparing, that wo...

Thank you Matt for your support 8) I guess I'm a pragmatist. What I think should be the first objective is to get people to PUT UP MARTIN HOUSING. End of story. I was looking at our data from six,seven, eight years ago and easily more than half of the martin housing sites in our area are gone, appar...

Good Morning Mike, very nice setup at the schools and what a wonderful experience for the students. I would sure like to have 24 of those owl guards for my gemini pole if you have any left. Please email me at ralph.avery@roadrunner.com Thank you so very much Ralph, same caveat applies, I'll be happ...

Mike, My sister in Seguin, TX has a K-Series Gourd Rack with 18 Troyer Horizontal Gourds. She is very actively managing her colony and it is thriving with a full gourd rack after only 2 seasons. She is concerned about hawks and owls on her THGs. I would gladly send you any cost to provide enough fo...

We have 24 Troyer gourds on our Gemini. You let me know how much $$, and where to mail it----I would run (OK, drive at the top-end of the speed limit) to the post-office. Private messaging has been disabled on these boards Since your need is apparently immediate, I have the owl guards, if you can g...

The mud definitely leans toward it being a Martin nest. Ya, forty-eight martin nests this year and ONE was a mud nest. Why the other martins don't do it or why this one did I dunno, we sure have had a lot of mud this year. Since so much of bird behavior is genetic, I'm wondering if collecting mud i...

Eastern Kingbirds generally do not breed in San Antonio, tho small numbers pass through in April and May on migration. I guess it could be one that is here anyway. If it IS a kingbird, Western Kingbirds are common here. Probably the most common birds harassing young martins here are great-tailed gra...

We commonly have great horned owls calling from the top of the school at night in January when the breeding season kicks in. Our colony is all gourds, and I have never been aware that owl predation is a problem. OTOH I monitored some neglected martin housing (Trios) in an area downtown close to exte...

Beating ME (or anyone else) over the head with these facts over and over and over still doesn't change who I AM. Why is it so hard to get the simplicity of the nature of my post? ALL I WAS SEEKING WAS A SMALL BIT OF CONSOLATION AND COMPASSION THAT EVEN THOUGH IT IS NECESSARY IT JUST SUCKS "FOR...

For those of you new to the Forum, Mike USED to transport his trapped sparrows across town, and let them go. Progress has been made! The problem is I have too much knowledge of population biology, limiting factors and all of that. Its important to separate out sentiment from fact. I dunno exactly h...

However, he certainly doesn't have to let it be seen that he is killing them. He can just say he is taking them far away to release. :-)

The problem is you can't teach about invasive species and S&S without them asking questions, and I hate lying about it.[/quote]

I shoot them, not out of enjoyment, but as a unpleasant necessity. OMG, I would love the heck out of shooting them. Hey, a scoped pellet rifle and careful marksmanship, I'd be all over it :lol: Just try even mentioning "school" and "rifle" anymore in the same sentence tho.... :r...

Perhaps on the flipside it's good the Coopers Hawk has adapted to suburban environments. They'll snatch a cowbird, STARLING and such just as fast as they will a desired bird's fledgling. Luck of the draw I suppose; whatever gets locked into their radar. They gotta eat too. They do prey on Starlings...

What is IMHO? I will try it your way as I hate killing birds. I will keep an eye on the bugger but if I find dead babies or poked eggs they are toast! Evil or Very Mad I'm in the country with a creek running thru it and wildlife pond of about an acre big. I have 65 acres. I have almost packed it in...