Purple Martin Forum

Whippy, I don’t believe your martins will have any problems. Since I have started being a landlord I have changed my housing many times. Between a old wooden house I built. To S&K barns and then now I have settled with the trios. My martins have never had a problem with the change. As you said you r...

Just happened to get done with a nest check. We are going to have close to 40 pair this year. At this moment there is 40 Nests. 27 of them with eggs or babies. I actually have my first nest with 7 eggs. But not just one but two. Pretty crazy. Right now we have 118 eggs and 7 babies so far. Here’s a ...

I’m estimating 35-40 birds are here at the main colony. There’s still more coming in every couple days. The subbies should be arriving the first week of May so that will be fun. The martin have really started nest building. I witnessed the first one yesterday evening at my moms house. Yes we finally...

Dave, Thank you! Brad, I was definitely thinking about it. I was going to try them out for a bit and see what happens. I went ahead and made one that will cover the entire hole. What do you think? Randy, I did see them. They look great. I have always thought about using them for wing entrapment guar...

I decided I wanted to make my own wing entrapment guards. I know you can buy them but I love making stuff so I decided I would take it on. This is a first prototype of what I did it’s made out of wood. But my plan is is to mold that and pour liquid plastic in it to make them plastic and I can make a...

Thanks everyone for all the kind words. Flyin-Lowe, That’s awesome. I hope you have a good season! Archer, Yes there in and ready to go. I guess we will see what happens! Thanks for the ideas! Fuzzmeister, That’s funny. It’s always a competition here as well. Good luck and have a good season. Kyler,

As you guys know that I decided to not put up the gourd rack this year. I just wasn’t having the luck that I wish I was with the gourds. I would always have a couple pair but that is it so I decided not to put them up this year, but then again I still have the pole up so I decided to go ahead and ma...

Definitely a few more starting to make it home. I think we’re up to six at my main colony. Probably close to 6-8 at the other big colony. Then the other colonies are definitely starting to have some a activity. Been a little slow for them. https://i.imgur.com/ocIPFC0.jpg https://i.imgur.com/R8pT3ze....

The older Trio Castles are put together with rivets. They won’t be a problem to drill the holes to make the rooms larger. Its actually quite simple to do. I have always used a 3 inch hole saw on a drill. I know some people have used a extension on there drill but I have never had a problem without o...

Dave, Thank you! Hope you have a good season! Whippy, Thanks! Oh you know I will be posting a lot of pictures! Finally got around to take some pictures of the colony today. Can’t wait until this is full of Martins. I’m really excited about my multipurpose pole. I moved it from my golf course site. B...

I knew it was going to be any day now. Was out working on a couple of my houses and I happen to look up and there he was. ASY male just gliding through the air. Had a couple other ones show up on the 21st at another one of my colonies I manage. I’m offering 60 Housing Cavities and 11 gourds this yea...

I have wanted to do this for a while now. I finally found the perfect location to place a couple boxes. I have always like wood ducks when I was really little. I could never find the perfect pond to do it on. I’m starting a little Wood Duck Project and hoping to get some of the Boy Scouts to help me...

BirdBrain, That is exactly what I did at my new site back in 2016. I’m still not sure if that is what attracted them or not. It definitely made them very curious if they decided to land. The males never had anything to do with it but the females will definitely mess with it. I actually made a little...

Dave,
As always thank you. Can’t wait to hear how your season is going! I know it will be a good one!

MartinBoy,
There is definitely a little more weight on that side. They lean a little bit but I personally don't think it would be that big on a problem!

Kyler,

Finally got some inch foam. I decided to make a new jig to hold the foam in place while I cut. I made some for the original 6x6 compartments and some for the Trio Mini and Trio Castle compartments. They definitely turned out better than I though they would! https://i.imgur.com/3ENH8kn.jpg https://i....

I have always offered 4 Bo9 gourds in my colony. I always have had 6 more setting around, mainly because I didn’t have a place for them. My martins seem to like the gourds. They have always chose them over my modified Bo gourds for some reason. This year I decided to take 6 of my modified Bo gourds ...

Archer, Yes that’s the main reason why I’m trying these for this year. I have been averaging at least 8 or 9 pair of SY’s every year. I trying to help them be more successful in the long run. I have always had nest trays in my trio M12K’s but in my trio castles I would like to have something. I pers...

Archer, Thanks for responding! I was waiting to see what you thought about them. You have a really good point. I didn’t think about that. I was actually going to use 2 inch foam because that is what Rick Cruz used with his. But I like that you use the 1 inch. I will definitely try it and see how it ...

Alright this is my first try. Before I buy a whole 4x8 sheet of 2 inch foam I just wanted to make sure that it works. So I decided to stack a few pieces on each other to see. I would say it is going to work. The only problem I have is it isn't a smooth cut. It leaves these these little ridges. I per...

I have always wanted to make foam/artificial nesting bowls for my martins. Rick Cruz is the one that I got the idea from. Many people have seen his videos on YouTube of him doing nest replacements and just how easy they actually are. This is my first attempt at making the tool used to carve the bowl...