Hi all,
I am a new Purple Martin Landlord - I put up my first house this past season and had 10 nesting pairs. We had alot of fun watching the young birds learn to fly and watching the purple martins. The last young bird came out about 1 month ago for about two weeks we saw less and less of the martins. About a week ago we had 10 or 12 sitting on top or around the house, but we have not seen a single one in over a week.
While running yesterday, I saw a neighbor - 1/2 mile away that had three houses in his backyard have 40 or so martins sitting on or around his houses. We are the only houses in the neighborhood that I have seen. We both live about 1/4 mile from a large manmade lake and another 1.5 miles from Lake Lewisville.
Why do you think the martin's left?
Behind our home are model homes so there is minimal traffic in our ally's and the birds never minded me walking under the house to mow or to take out garbage cans. I setup the house to face North and South since the winds usually come that way and it gives them a long straight shot in either direction to enter the house.
My children and I had alot of fun watching the birds and our fly and mosquito population was nothing compared to previous years.
Martin's Left House - why so early?
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CraigMo.
- Posts: 1480
- Joined: Mon Jan 05, 2004 12:30 pm
- Location: Missouri/Lone Jack
- Martin Colony History: Active since 2003
I imagine your martins are done. They come here and have babies and as soon as thats done they get ready to migrate back south. Your neighbors house probably still have a few babies at there place. My martins were only here for 4 months this year. Most of mine have left. I have 3 nest with babies still so I am lucky I still have a few left. If I didn't have these babies I would bet I wouldn't have any right now. Its a short year having martins. This is my shortest year yet. Usually I have a few martins up to the 1rst week of august, but I don't think I will this year.
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Laverne
- Posts: 2216
- Joined: Thu Jan 08, 2004 1:58 pm
- Location: TX/Alvin
- Martin Colony History: Erected 1st house in 1997. Birds were checking it out before Mike got down from the ladder. Six cavities had a little colony 1st year. Grown to 88 cavities all gourds with near 100% occupancy. Most important factor for success is rain = bugs.
Hello Texas Mike.
Welcome to the Purple Martin Forum. The Texas (and Southern United States) Purple Martin season is winding down. Many colony sites are vacant now. Our PMs arrive in late winter/early spring and stay until mid-summer. My usual first arrivals get back in mid February and my last birds are usually gone around the 4th of July. Today, I still have one nest of 2 young who should fledge today or tomorrow. They will return to spend the night in my housing for about a week and then they will just disappear. They don't wave good-bye or nothing.
You could locate a premigratory roost near you. If you are in the D/FW area, there are several huge roosts up there. They are in full swing right now and spectacular sites to see.
It is very quiet once they are all gone - busy yourself and your children with reading about them on the PMCA website. There are a lot of informative articles and some pictures to look at. And read this Forum regularly. We're here to help you in any way we can.
Congratulations on a successful Purple Martin season and best wishes for many more in your families' future.
Welcome to the Purple Martin Forum. The Texas (and Southern United States) Purple Martin season is winding down. Many colony sites are vacant now. Our PMs arrive in late winter/early spring and stay until mid-summer. My usual first arrivals get back in mid February and my last birds are usually gone around the 4th of July. Today, I still have one nest of 2 young who should fledge today or tomorrow. They will return to spend the night in my housing for about a week and then they will just disappear. They don't wave good-bye or nothing.
You could locate a premigratory roost near you. If you are in the D/FW area, there are several huge roosts up there. They are in full swing right now and spectacular sites to see.
It is very quiet once they are all gone - busy yourself and your children with reading about them on the PMCA website. There are a lot of informative articles and some pictures to look at. And read this Forum regularly. We're here to help you in any way we can.
Congratulations on a successful Purple Martin season and best wishes for many more in your families' future.
Sincerely,
Laverne
Laverne
Yes, do what Laverne said. Good advice. Start getting ready for next year Keep busy, read up and stay on the forum. Plan on upgrades for next year. I live alone, so when the martins are gone it gets real quiet in a hurry! 
I want to start my upgrades and maintenance a little sooner this year. I always find myself scrambling around the Christmas Holidays to get my housing up by Mid-January. Congratulations on a successful first year! 
I want to start my upgrades and maintenance a little sooner this year. I always find myself scrambling around the Christmas Holidays to get my housing up by Mid-January. Congratulations on a successful first year! I'm a "nestcamaholic" Is 18 hours a day a bad thing? (I have 2 this year, luckily I have 2 eyes!)