Purple Martin Forum

Bill, I am with you on the theory that most of the birds lost in the Ohio Valley and heading northeast into Pa. were probably ASY male birds. This is the first spring that I had to deal with considerable death of adult birds due to Hypothermia/Starvation. I found 7 birds dead in nest cavities. I did...

When weather throws the purple martins a serious curveball like we have been dealing with this spring, supplemental feeding via "flipping" can be a colony saver. Extremely low temperatures and consistent rain confront our martins with two fatal battles...starvation and hypothermia. In my opinion, le...

When weather throws the purple martins a serious curveball like we have been dealing with this spring, supplemental feeding via "flipping" can be a colony saver. Extremely low temperatures and consistent rain confront our martins with two fatal battles...starvation and hypothermia. In my opinion, le...

mifog,
Very good advice.

Firefighter, The picture you posted of the nest in your gourd is definitely not a martin nest. When you say that you watched 2 martins take heavy straw material into the gourd for a long period of time, I would guess that those black birds you saw building a nest with that heavy of material were mos...

All is not lost if you have 3 birds still alive. SY birds are still heading this way. This spring has been the most devastating I have had to deal with since I started my colony. This is the first spring that I had to remove dead ASY martins from their nest cavities on consecutive days. The weather ...

Ed, I can't imagine dealing with the temps you guys have in Minn., and Wis. et al !! I am struggling with cold and wet weather that has been in the high twenties on and off for the last 3 weeks. I have been flipping Mealies and crickets to save as many martins as I can, but my flipping sessions are ...

Brad, So sorry to hear about the loss of your chicks. Terrible. We are much farther north, many birds have returned, mostly ASY birds have made it back to my colony. Due to terrible spring weather here, our birds have not shown any nesting activities yet. They are struggling to regain some sort of c...

Dave, It is not a good day when you find a bird in one of your towers that did not survive this terrible cold, wet weather. It is the worst when you are doing all that you can to provide supplemental feeding to try to help your birds survive these conditions. I am fighting the same battle that you a...

alaningeorgetown, You have gotten the basics of Starling control from some very successful landlords who posted ahead of me. As you have seen, it all starts with STREH entrances to your nesting cavities. Next is removal of the problem with traps that fit in housing along with target practice using a...

Amen !

Good offerings for those picky martins! Maybe they are Tiger fans...offer Joe Burreaux autographs!

"Bird"

John, Glad to hear that your new colony is up and running down in Florida! My birds are not back yet, but we are expecting them anyday. Thanks to your generosity when you left Ohio, we have spread the equipment you passed down to create 3 new colonies in this area. I will let you know how things go ...

keckbird, Very interesting question. Over the years, landlords across the country have experimented with a number of different types of "owl guards" to protect their housing, gourds and "apartment housing types". Most of these attempts are different designs of metal rods shaped around the cavity ope...

birdbrat, Ohio is now up to 3 reports. I hope they brought their long johns with them, as we are supposed to see temps below 32! My colony is east of you outside of Athens, more Bobcat and LSU Tigers than Buckeyes, but all-in for Purple Martins! We have yet to see any matins over this way, but after...

This topic of "Frustrating year" is a great advertisement for the importance of routine nest checks. Most all of the questions raised here could be answered by nest checking.

Bird

tboydshirt,
Moving your colony closer to your pond and into a more open area should pay off for you this year. My home colony is a bit farther from my house than we would like to have it, but having more open air space and the colony on the dam of a pond is a good trade off.
Good luck this year!

Louise, Thank you for your input on this topic, and more importantly thanks for all that you have done over the the years for the Purple Martin. I agree with you 100% that there are not enough landlords who are supplemental feeding that would impact or change the colonies in a negative way. It can b...

TNMartin,
If Martins have been seen in your area, get your housing up Yesterday! Be ready to deal with starlings and house sparrows as you wait for the martins!

Bird

jhcox, It takes the martins very little time to understand that the insects are flying again and they return to their instinctive feeding patterns. As the weather warms, it is a matter of a day, or maybe even hours and our birds are airborne and hunting down food as it is available to birds still st...