Purple Martin Forum

Looks like large roost site on Bald Eagle Lake, Just north of St. Paul Doppler radar picked them up this morning leaving roost site. 8-11-2019

Now I just need a boat !

Hi Wisconsin neighbor, I had similar issue with Coopers Hawk. They would swoop in and grab martins. One time I Had a hawk grab a martin and bring him into a lower branch. I ran up to him, looked him in the eye, and said DROP HIM ! DROP HIM NOW ! He looked at me, dropped the male martin and flew away...

Dave, I had issue with my site like you are having. I lost all my martins until I started using the T-14 with owl bars. I had houses that I caged, but it did not stop the GHO from coming every night. They would crash my houses and do the grab. Good luck crashing a T-14. Ouch !! I have also noticed l...

I was wondering if anyone knew about where the PM roosts are occuring in Minnesota ? And if anyone will be doing pontoon tours at sunset? I would very much like to see one of these. Do they still go to Big Swan lake? Thank you,

The bird houses have a door that opens for removable nest boxes. The compartments are 6" x 12" each. The entrances are on two sides only so that they face our porch area for viewing and the house size is kept manageable since it is not on a winch system. We are fine with the houses being fixed onto...

Thanks Spiderman for the migration update. It must be interesting being on the front line of all the birds moving north. I have learned so much from listening to all the landlords. Our spring weather this year has been even worse than last year. I opened up my T-14s last week and it has been snowing...

Good idea. Get your housing opened up.. I put up a new T-14 about six years ago. They found it immediately. This was the start of a good thing for me. It was amazing how fast they arrived. It was almost like they have been waiting on me. Before I had the T-14, they would come by and look at my older...

I have a question about how instal a camera on the PM nest. My location is a community site and does not offer electric power supply. I have two T-14 houses and Troyer horizontal gourds. I was thinking I could use a solar power to power camera ?? We don't have many PM in Minneapolis and this is a ne...

I put plastic S&K entrances on my natural gourds that can't be eaten. They love a big natural gourd, and also I try to put the depression, if there is one. toward the back so they kinda settle down in there. IMO a level porch is best, but you have to drill the mounting hole straight if you mount on...

What is the best gourd to use? I used nature made gourds about 15 years ago but the owls would chew the entrance open bigger and destroy the nest. I just purchased an eight pack of the Troyer horizontal, with conley entrances. Does it not need owl bars? I thought I would try gourds again below my th...

Before you buy cedar or fir plywood I have to give a vote to a material called MDO Signboard. It's what road signs are made of. I was skeptical at first but built my last set of chalets out of it. I did roof and porches out of eastern cedar because water may sit on horizontal surfaces more. Honestl...

Western red Cedar has gotten really expensive ! Only bad thing about a T-14 is they need better venting. Sure has been a great house for my colony. Especially the starling resistant entrances. Adding third T-14 this year to my home site. 42 nesting cavities offered. I paid $1100 for the entire set u...

:grin: We were in the barn. Mike stepped out the door to dump some ice and hollered at me, "come here, quick!" I ran to see and there he was. A lone ASY male quietly sneaking into his gourd for the night. Time was 5:56. He made no sound as he made one swooping pass then dove into a gourd. Let the s...

I plan on opening a few of my gourds as soon as my established neighbor's do. Or when I hear or see martins. I know the scouts are asy Martin's, I have read that some people believe that asy Martin's will sometimes leave their previous site for a site they like better. Would anyone like to weigh in...

Looking for a little advice on attracting some Martins. Last year I had a S&K barn house and had quite a few visitors but none nested. This year I added some BO-9 gourds to that pole and another house that my grandpa gave me and asked me to refurbish. I put 6 decoys on the houses but my question is...

Well they are coming back quick! Our loyal ASY birds and eventually the first year birds will be back looking for their familiar spots, or unfamiliar spots if the SYs were drawn in by the older birds. at any rate they are coming. One of the many reasons I like them so much is that they seem to seek...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Ktb1_T81-g

Hi Ryan , Had trouble uploading Earth Day Video of our urban city park. We also have web site

www. cedarlakepark.org

Really like your drone video!

I took a video of my satellite martin housing a couple months back. I was testing out a new lens and thought a spin with the drone around the housing would be a good test. So this site in the video has never seen a martin, they're very rare up here. It's been up for three or four seasons now. It's ...

Great video ! The T-14 is a fantastic house. Thank you for posting. Makes spring feel close on this sub-zero day

I have an extremely aggressive hawk this year, and I am just about at the end of my rope. Last night he came in 4 times in a 2.5 hour period. Today I made a straw man to hopefully give me and the Martins a break. They are constantly on guard, and I feel really bad for them. Most of the babies will ...