Purple Martin Forum

Yes, I also bought the tractor supply S&K 9's, and have 18 of them this season. Added the excluder tunnels to them. The tunnels come with these plastic push rivets that sometimes don't seat well, so I also caulked the tunnels to the gourds with silicone. One thing to make SURE to do, is to cut out t...

I still seem to have a few FY martins, and a couple SY trying to fledge the last babies. I hope they get the last of them fledged before they all leave!

The majority of my colony left at the beginning of July this year, which was almost a month early. Not really sure why. Had a good fledging though, so I guess it was all good!

Most of my colony has flown the coop, so to speak, but there were two late pair finishing up their broods until this week. Now, my gourd racks are absolutely teeming with fledgling martins! All the SY and mature birds are gone, but the light bellies are here. It is almost like a pre-roost roost. Or ...

Most of mine are gone now too, although I do see a few stragglers occasionally. Whether they are the 'resident' birds, or transients, not sure.

Yes, I bought those gourds (they came in a 6 pack) to add to my existing colony. I ordered and added the tunnel porches with the crescent holes. All 6 were occupied within days, and I expect fledglings in a few days. The lids are hard to pop off, so be careful doing nest checks.

Congrats on your success! My first batch all fledged from my established rack too. My second rack went up about 10 days later (due to demand), so I expect a second wave of fledglings in a few days.

I have had fledglings on the ground for the last week, but I don't think they are "jumpers" really. I initially wanted to replace them into the nest they came out of, but after reading a couple of articles, this behavior can be interpreted as fledging. Maybe a day or two early for full fledging, as ...

Last year (my first in many years), I just put up the bare plastic THG and they built their nests, no problem...all gourds occupied. This year, I left the mud base to the nests and removed the loose stuff. Added 6 more bare plastic gourds and again, no problems...all occupied and a few currently fle...

I can't get the picture to upload. Also, how do I delete my post, if desired?

That much poop sounds more like a Grackle invasion, not Martin.

Picture of colony. That sparrow was dispatched.

Hello again friends, It has been many years since I signed on, (Martineer) mostly due to the fact that my previous house was too tree covered to have any takers and I was dejected. I have since moved to the country out in Justin, TX, and now have lots of open space. In the spring of 2015, I modified...