Purple Martin Forum

That is incredible I wish it could be saved somehow.

https://www.pinellascounty.org/PublicWo ... ontrol.pdf

Here is a study on stomach contents hope this helps

You can’t move anything now it could completely stop the parents from recognizing their nest. Best to wait until next season. Their behavior is simply keeping the remaining babies safe and when they fledge they’ll likely not return to sleep either but that’s ok. Towards the end of my season the few ...

That is a very expensive nice house. I have never had one but I’m sure you could drill more holes near the tops of the compartments under the eaves. Or even adding some chimneys in the upper compartments with pvc pipe and a 90 on the end to keep rain out. I guess anything to let the hot air rise and...

I have had mites kill entire nests. If this is the case they should be really obvious crawling all over the nests. I have never heard of or seen the other insects you described near my martins.

Are the compartments like 6”x6”? If this is the case the hawk simply reached in and dragged them out. This is why it is recommended to expand those into a neighboring room so the parents can place the babies out of reach. Maybe this is something you can do for next season. Martins will visit other c...

Yes they tend to sit very still especially if there eyes are open they know you aren’t mom or dad. They have no natural defense so sitting still and hoping for the best is all they can do. You can gently open their beak and place a water soaked cricket or meal/superworm (dead) in their mouths and th...

The parents should resume feeding. Not drawing any further attention to the nest is there goal right now and two babies are easier to feed then 5. If you don’t see them feed by dark you may want to intervene.

Ok so I have used the bo gourds. The only difference is the clinger and the cleanout and you get a porch on the plus. The I can confirm they love the black interior I have 30 in use at one of my colonies

You don’t have to have an elaborate setup to have a colony. The fact you expanded the compartments is already great. I would keep the house as is and add a gourd rack for next year. Look at gourds that offer larger diameter nesting space, starling resistance, and tunnels all of these help keep the b...

I’ll have a full rack next year of the cheap bo plus gourds. I always had 6 bo gourds under my house and have had full occupancy. I consider them throw away gourds for the price and they are fun to modify. For some reason the starlings don’t mess with them here so I have left them with the round hol...

They will form large flocks of parents and fledglings before they start migrating back south. I have had hundreds at a time in old snags and all over the racks especially after a rain storm. Your returning martins will attract new adult birds who were unsuccessful the previous year when they return ...

I believe studies show around 10% of fledglings return to their nest site and the rest seek out new sites. I guess this is nature’s way of preventing inbreeding and expanding the natural range. Their biggest hurdle is simply surviving the migrations.

I think we have all had the odd nest with one or two babies even though 6 eggs were originally laid. There’s no telling what happened but the martins can remove them if they don’t hatch. Some do some don’t but I’f they do remove them they fly a good distance and drop them. You’ll see them do this wi...

As far as the new hole size your going to have to fit the plate over it and go from there. The crescent is a good starling resistant entrance and by ordering the plates there’s no guess work. You might even need a jigsaw or something to just cut out a square and then attach the plate. There’s really...

I was doing a job in a subdivision where the martins nest in the streetlights. I was driving to the house and I saw a crow hanging off the light trying to reach inside. Just as that happened an asy male came hit the crow turned and grabbed onto the crows back and they both spun down and hit the road...

I have not seen them feed the female but he will sometimes set the eggs and give her a chance to feed and drink. He is likely just checking in on the nest and his mate.

They like the cavities dark as stated above so you can seal off the rear opening anyway you see fit. You can drill a 3” hole in the diving wall or remove most of it they will nest in this back chamber. I never had starlings either on my farm then one day two land on my gourd rack. Start feeding in t...

When you consider an adult Martin is 6” long and a pair stays in the nest at night and they can have an average of 4-6 young who are practically the same size as the adults when they fledge you can quickly see why those compartments are too small. Expanding the compartments would be very beneficial....

Keep an eye out for owls. Set up a game camera if you can. Owls can and will land on gourds/housing and Shake the housing till the martins fly out in the dark then pursue them. I don’t think they would just abandon their eggs for no reason something happened. Here is a great video on YouTube showing...