Purple Martin Forum

If only we knew what they were thinking. On the first day the SY Male hung around all day, on the 2nd day he was here only a short time, and on the 3rd day he wasn't here at all. In fact, I'm pretty sure he did not spend the night last night unless he slipped in silently after dark. He was here agai...

Thanks flyin - He’s back again this morning so Dawn Song off.

Hi Kim - Dawnsong has been running from 5am until 7pm every day. It's playing from a 2nd story window --> pointed above the PM housing. For a while I had it turned off from 11am-3pm to avoid endlessly annoying the neighbors. Everyone's been at home 24/7 for the past 9 weeks, and I'm sure people are ...

Thanks flyin-lowe - Great advice as always. That makes perfect sense. One other thought - The male TS spends most of his time perched on the 18' tall PM housing (since it's much higher and probably better vantage point?). Would it make sense to move the shepherd's hook just far enough away where he ...

Hi All, Fantastic news. After playing Dawnsong for 68 days straight, a SYM showed up on May 16, and has stayed the past 2 nights! Never give up hope. There’s also been a pair of Tree Swallows here -since 3/26 - defending the PM housing from anything that moves. I’ve successfully relocated them to a ...

Added another pair since I posted last. So this morning it seemed there were 8 birds all total. Wow - Great results for your first year! Any details on what you've done to attract new PMs? Where is your PM housing located vs. your house? What type of housing? Are you playing Dawnsong? If yes, what ...

Great pictures. How encouraging - At least you know they recognize your housing as PM friendly and are comfortable there. Nice mud smeared on the entrance holes BTW.

I’ve got computer speakers in a 2nd story window about 35’ from the closer pole. Speakers are aimed about 45 degrees up. I wondered about annoying the martins so I have it playing 5am-11am and 3pm-6pm. If I see one hanging around I can experiment more, but the 2 I saw were the first Martins I’ve see...

Bamboo works really good for perch material. It's free if you can find some - and lasts a couple seasons.

I know this is silly for most of you - But I've been stuck at home for 6 weeks, looking at empty gourds has me bored outta my mind: So last Saturday - It's nasty rain and a bit cold here in Middle TN. My wife says, "Hey, there are a couple starlings out on your birdhouse". So I head out on my daily ...

Smiths, Thanks for the Larry Melcher link. That’s a great method too! Now to figure out which way to go. Stick with the current plan (of leaving everything closed until TS take ownership the Shepherds hook gourd - which hasn’t happened yet) or open up PM housing and see what happens with the plan to...

All - Thanks for the replies - good input. I just measured and my TS gourd is 27 feet from my 2 PM racks (think 3 poles in a triangle). There are still feathers in the shepherd’s gourd from last year’s TS. We have tons of turkey feathers in the yard, so I could easily cut the white part of some of t...

After 3 weeks of Dawnsong ... still no PMs. Housing still closed up. However, our friendly neighborhood Tree Swallows are more than happy to take ownership of any cavities that are open within an hour. I’ve tried opening a couple cavities 3 times now and the TS show up immediately. I have a separate...

I used the pipe insulation trick to block holes. Works great. Opened 3 gourds yesterday morning (first cavities opened this year) and TS was in the gourd within 1 hour. Closed them up immediately and have the TS shepherd's hook gourd set up now 30' from PM racks. TS back this morning hanging around....

I used silicone between the tunnel and the gourd when assembling. Seems to keep the water out as I haven't noticed nest material getting wet.

@ flyin-lowe -

The one pair I had was 2 years ago. Last year, a TS pair ran them off before I realized what was happening. So keeping a watchful eye out this year for TS, which is another reason I have everything closed up until I see PMs. Just not sure how to know if the PMs are here.

Well - With the COVID-19 fun many of us get to work from home for the next several weeks and go nowhere. On a good note, it gives us more time to keep an eye out for returning Martins. Here in Middle Tennessee it's cold raining and just nasty (40's and 50's). It's hard to imagine a PM could survive ...

Thanks all for the comments and great advice. So - The recommendation of waiting 4 weeks past first arrivals in area when starting a new colony is incorrect. Housing should be up before first arrivals with adequate protection from invasive species moving in. Dawnsong started immediately / at an earl...

Doug - The Pair that showed up and nested beginning March 24, 2018 were ASY. Last year's visitors that hung around in early June, I'm not sure of their age. I know they were PMs though because they looked huge after only seeing TS for weeks. I have plastic entrance covers for all of the gourds. For ...

Hi All - A new season is upon us. I need some advice from those of you with much more knowledge than I have. I'm trying to determine when to put up housing. I'm reading that it should be 4 weeks after first arrivals, but I'd like to know why this is the case. I'm in Middle Tennessee and first arriva...