Purple Martin Forum

You need a TV antenna! That's where martins perched high when I was a kid. You can add something to the top of your house (your own house or your martin house) but if the site is open martins may need anything. They will use tall tree tops, especially dead limbs high, in the absence of power lines.

Thank you for your service. Sometimes us purple martin folks just gotta do what we have to do.

Someone here suggested a teaspoon of sevin under nest material. That's probably enough for 10 gourds. Be careful with pesticides.

whew.

John Miller

Permethrin is a long lasting, lab created pesticide that can probably kills birds...will fish. I fear you have overreacted. Mites sometimes explode in numbers after the babies fledge and you will see them moving over gourd surfaces. Mites in great numbers will weaken birds, but they also will tolera...

An old castle was donated to Forest Park, St Louis, three years ago and martins love it. It has expanded units. Now it's white because the owner had painted the green beige and I repainted all white and think it looks nice, but attributing high occupancy to all white...I dunno...I think it's the lar...

Yes...agree closer to your house. Or, looks like a school a block away. This spring the virus concerns here would make meeting with them tough, but consider contacting them in the future. They have a few potential open spaces. Some people don't want to get into public sites, but some folks do (I thi...

St. Louis needs more housing. We're already near full occupancy at the housing in Forest Park and the Missouri Botanical Garden in the city, and a colony at Creve Coeur Park. Contact me this summer is you want to visit some of these sites and see nesting martins. I am concerned whether your site is ...

No, not time lapse. I have another shot a moment later and another female is in the air with the three males all moved just slightly forward. I don't have permission to post that one, but it's on Facebook, posted by the photographer. John Miller P.S. spoke with the photographer. She replied, pretty ...

Want to share a fantastic photo taken last week in Forest Park, St. Louis, by a long-time nature photographer, Marian Brickner. Marian has been spending considerable time getting "flight" shots at one particular house in the park. Shown are four males, three in flight.

Very happy that we may have a good start of a new colony near St. Louis, Mo at Riverlands Audubon Center, West Alton, Mo., adjacent to the Mississippi. This should be a good location for martin education. We've had a rack of horizontal gourds there now for four years, but always trying to deal with ...

Hi Brad

Those are sort of aluminum chalets. A landlord in Virginia named Tom Brake is manufacturing them and I wanted to try a few. He calls them "Chirpy nests." They hang much like gourds. They are said to have a lot of nice features including excellent drainage.

John

Couple of pics from St. Louis. First is from Forest Park, golf course site. Spotted two males and a female yesterday. Other martin vocalizing is on a house at Creve Coeur Park, St. Louis County, photo by volunteer Karen Meyer who manages the colony there. We have about 70 pairs that nest each season...

Brent Probably would reduce risk a great deal. I'd personally also recommend getting some kind of PVC trim to fill in the bottom a little as well, so that a wing doesn't overhang there. This is because Trendsetter crescents are 1/2 inch off the floor. I'd not go flush, but approx. 1/8 inch below the...

well I'm contrary on this issue because I've pushed for a decade for a more effective PMCA wing entrapment protector. Not sure new design is perfect, but should help.

Surely the issue with Troyer Tunnels is one for Troyer to address, not the PMCA.

John Miller

Ya'll probably could take a hack saw and trim the height of the new guards to fit. Mark a line how much you want to remove from each leg then lay the guard flat and secure it some way to saw. It's soft plastic so cuts fairly easily. Over the last decade I have purchased many PMCA guards to double th...

Brad I have used the WEPs this way, but gets expensive. I have as an alternative cut a ring 3/4 inch wide off thin wall, 3 inch diameter PVC drain pipe. Then use tin snips to cut out an arch that I added to fronts, using white Quad Caulk as a glue and to fill in gaps. I don't see that the photo of t...

Arch guard looks great. One can make the guards out of thin wall PVC, 3 inch diameter. With thin, I first cut a 3/4 inch ring (as shown) but can use tin snips to next trim out an arch to fit...cutting a little at a time to get right fit (not a tool guy). Comes in 8 foot lengths from home centers.

Longtime users of Trendsetters here. Yes, remove the subfloors to use the factory nest trays because as you observe the entry would otherwise be blocked. Want to add that one also needs to clear debris from under the factory wood trays when doing nest checks, otherwise it can raise the trays as well...

Doubtful will help. It doesn't address entrapment at the entrance. But...maybe worth trying as it's low cost.
John Miller

Porch placement below the crescent also is a factor. At one-half inch, starlings may be able to use their legs to get leverage. Placed about 1/8 to no more than 1/4 inch below, martins can enter fairly easily but starlings find it more difficult. Flush is the most restrictive, but can be a little to...