Purple Martin Forum

Here's a good older PMCA Update Magazine article on external parasites of martins:
http://purplemartin.org/update/Parasites.html

I've seen all of them, including bedbugs.

Hi Steve,

Here in southeastern Michigan I've had pairs commence egg-laying as late as July 6. Our cool spring caused egg-laying to start about 10 days later than normal for most of my colony this season. So I think it is possible that your visitors are getting a late start.

Good luck, Mary

Hi Seller,

Purple Martins complete their molt into adult plumage during their second winter in South America.

You can read about that and much more in the Martin FAQ section:
http://purplemartin.org/forumarchives/archive/FAQ.htm

My best, Mary

Congratulations, Donnie!

You are so deserving of this given all your years of patient effort to attract martins with the best site possible.

Best wishes this season and for many to come,
Mary

Hi Sue,

You usually want to wait until the nestlings are 10 days old.

This article explains why:
http://purplemartin.org/update/92nestrep.html

My best, Mary

Hi Knifeman,

With rare exception, purple martins have only one brood. They just don't have the time for more than one, given their long migration to/from Brazil.

The rare two-brood exceptions happen in the deep south.

My best, Mary

Thanks for asking Vern. I simply have neglected to submit the data to the Michigan Martins website for several years. That's the site that hosts my page. Thanks for reminding me to do so. My colony has continued to fledge 200-225 young each season, with the exception of 2009 when I lost about half m...

Hi Tammy, I have been a martin landlord for nearly 20 years and have learned that where these birds are concerned, you can't wear your heart on your sleeve. That would be self-defeating, considering that individual birds have an average lifespan of about one year across all age groups: http://purple...

Hi Rupert, Thermal qualities of various types of martin housing: http://www.chuckspurplemartinpage.com/thermals.htm http://purplemartin.org/forumarchives/archive/Hotplastic.htm Do you do nest checks? If so, at what stage of the breeding season were the families in those houses? If you found no dead ...

Hi Bill, HOSP will nest in just about any cavity, including gourds. They don't even need cavities. I grew up on a grain farm where dozens of HOSP crammed their nests into the open steel beams of our metal equipment sheds. However, in my area HOSP prefer to nest in metal martin houses. I use that to ...

If you mean pop-ups, yes.

Well, I switched from Firefox to Google Chrome. Even better. Much faster.

Hi Ryan, Very cool housing! Love the chalets! Did you make them yourself? My first reaction is that the site is too far from human housing. The recommendation is to locate it within 100' of a home, but closer is better. I do understand that you are limited in where you can locate it. Even close prox...

Hi Ray, I see a lot of that behavior at my site, too. SY martins mob my tree swallow gourds, but can't get inside because the entries are too small. Here is another recent thread on similar competition. This one resulted in death of tree swallow nestlings. http://www.purplemartin.org/forum/viewtopic...

Peter, all this time I have wondered what happened with your pair of SYs. Never would I have guessed it is now a colony of 25 pairs! Well, I am doubly happy for you. Hope your new colony expands just as rapidly. I believe this is the Ken Kostka article you mentioned: http://purplemartin.org/update/9...

Hi Peter, Congratulations! What an accomplishment. I remember years ago a New York landlord reporting a similar achievement on this forum. He lived in an area where martins were unknown, like 100 miles or more from the closest known colony. Yet he attracted a pair of nesting SYs by playing the dawns...

Yes, it did seem puzzling when I first read that paper. But then I realized that in order for the martin population to remain constant, a martin only needs to replace itself during its lifetime. They sure have to work awfully hard to do that! According to the North American Breeding Bird Study, the ...

Hi Aaron, According to bird banding records, the record lifespan is almost 14 years. However, this study found that the average lifespan is about one year across all age groups. An SY bird has a 61% chance of surviving. http://purplemartin.org/update/15.3-HowLong.pdf Note that the above study preced...

Hi, Sorry to hear of your losses. Buffalo gnats (sometimes known as bull gnats and blackflies) are lethal to martin nestlings. You can treat the outside of your housing to keep them off the martins inside. Here is an article about them from the PMCA Update Magazine: http://www.purplemartin.org/updat...

I think that's an SY male. I believe I see purple blotches on his underside in the video, but hard to determine the color. I must say that for an SY male he does not have very advanced plumage. I can understand your frustration identifying him. He sort of looks like an ASY female. Definitely not an ...