Purple Martin Forum

The other evening at about 6:30 PM I was checking a few gourds when a hen martin slashed into the water about 10 feet offshore. A Sharp Shinned hawk landed on the rocks close by at the water's edge waiting for the martin to surface. I was able to shoo the hark away and a few moments later the hen po...

Toy, I had a similiar die of to the north of you (Oneida Lake NY). It had to be the cold weather because I have not used Sevin and I had not done a nest change out. You most likely saved a few of your chicks by having done the nest change. Outwardly my colony looks like it is thriving. Nest checks a...

Cransy, we got hit hard too. Found 69 dead young out of 191 on our July 3 nest check. Have 39 pairs, 213 eggs and 191 hatched. Found 4 more dead birds today. 40 have fledged as of today, can't wait for the rest to make it. Scout arrival, nesting, egg laying and hatching was all about 1 week early th...

Hello everyone I had a great start on Oneida Lake, population of nesting pairs was up 20% from 37 to 45. Lost numerous eggs to sparrows that I was able to pick off one by one and now the weather. We just had a record June for rain and it has taken it's toll with my Hatch-year young. Counted about 12...

Did my last nest check yesterday (8/27/08). My last 2 HY birds had fledged. Same story, renest of 4 eggs on top of 4 buried eggs. All four eggs hatched but only two made it (one disappeared and one dead in the nest). This is the latest I've had martins fledge since I took over the colony in 1979. It...

SUSANH, I share your concerns. Whenever those bad actors show up I send a message delivered at 1,200 feet per second. At 30 yards the issue is seldom in doubt. I occassionally give purple martin seminars to bird groups and garden clubs. do you think I could include your pictures to help convince som...

Two young raccoons by the poles yesterday late in the afternoon, a great horned owl (GHO) at dusk tonight. 75 HY fledged to date, about 75 left to fly, only 3 lost to date to Mr. Owl. Gotta hang on for a only a few more weeks to get the younger birds out of the nests. Can't leave nothing to chance, ...

Jim, nice photo. I occassionally do Puprle Martin Seminars to Garden groups, may I have permission to include your photo? It's always nice to have a picture to illustrate what one is talking about

GussieMike, how did you make the tail props??

Harley, your advise was right the on mark. Removing the hemisphere is the correct thing to do. You just were not expecting a topic form left field. I was just floating out a thought for PM Landlord Grad School which I suppose I should not have done. Doing what I suggested above should only be done i...

Kathy, I just did a quick web search and found that about 3 days before a chicken hatched, it will puncture the air sac at the end of the egg and take it's first breath. If all is relatively equal, perhaps a martin chick can survive about 3 days entrapped in a capped egg.

Harley, I guess I didn't clearly state my question. when I found the capped eggs in the past I removed the cap but unfortunately, the eggs never hatched. I hate to lose eggs so I am wondering if the cap or mucus from the cap can cause the egg to sufficate. If so it might be best to crack open the eg...

Way to go Martin Man!! That's great news

I've lost two eggs over the years when the hemisphere of a hatched egg inadvertently covers the top of an unhatched neighboring egg creating what's called a "Capped Egg". When this happened I pulled the hemisphere off of the unhatched egg and hoped for the best. Unfortunately, in each case the cappe...

2008 is shaping up to our best year ever in Central New York. A few weeks ago I was concerned that numbers appeared to be down as I was only seeing 15 to 20 martins at a time and only a handful of SY birds. While I still never see more than 20 martins at a time, nest checks to date are proving me to...

Bill, based on the last few years here in Central New York, the last eggs are laid by around June 16th. Theres most likely still some time for SY nesting.

I added 8 Natureline Gourds to my setup and am finding removing the entrance/access ports to be rather difficult. Is there a trick or tool out there to make lifting the tabs easier? The openings are oblong. I've fitted a few with porches. I've also found that my martins are yet to access the oblong ...

This year's talk for me was with the Betsy Baldwin Chapter of the Daughter's of the American Revolution (DAR) in Baldwinsville, New York. As always the talk went longer than planned due to the excellent questions posed by the audience. I encourage all martin landlords to consider giving talks in the...

Sandy brings up a good point, I'd check with the utility company before I touched that Heath house. You can call and ask for the line supervisor, tell him the the location and he'll advise you on whether or not you can safely access that house.

mike, third picture from the bottom shows the safety latch (or what ever its called). Slide it up the pole to a position above your head and pull the handle out to lock it in place. This way if the cable breaks the safety latch will break the fall. The winch is operated as follows, (second picture f...