Purple Martin Forum

People get so touchy. No need to worry about me...I won't be posting again.

This report is from Texbirds. Two purple martins, one an adult male, were seen on a "green and white metal house" in Austin, Texas today. Perhaps the unseasonably warm weather has brought a few birds in early.

Patrick

Williamburg bird bottles would be ideal for cliff swallows. You could mount several together to give them the "colony" feel. You can do a google search and find them. There are 18th century reports of martins nesting in them also. They sometimes referred to them as "martin pots".

Patrick

I'm going to use industrial velcro to attach tunnels to the front doors so they can be removed for nest checks. I'll remove the railings and add porches to all the tunnels. I hope to have it all done by Christmas so next year will be different for my colony.

Patrick

Just make sure you keep the orientation of the house the same. Don't change directions of the compartments. That will cause confusion and possible abandonment.

jasmemphis,

Whatever.

You didn't make a mistake by trying to replace them. The problem is, once they jump, they rarely stay put. Unfortunately, grounded babies are usually doomed, unless you want to try to hand feed for a couple of days. Some landlords have used a "halfway house" with success. That is a gourd with the fr...

Yes, I "dispatch" all of the sparrows I catch. They are aggressive non-natives and displace and/or kill countless native songbirds. There is no place for them in our environment.

Patrick

Anna, I place mine in the open underneath my houses. The advice from the manufacturer is that it seems to work better elevated, like on a picnic table, a box, or something. I'm not sure why that is. I have the Uncle Blaine's repeating bait trap. It really works best with a bait bird and that first b...

For those of you with repeating bait traps (such as Uncle Blaine's), post nesting is an excellent time to get even with house sparrows. I've trapped in excess of 30 in the last 2 days. Granted, they aren't the adults that are nesting in one of my gourds, but these young, inexperienced house sparrows...

On house sparrow fledglings, the black of the male's bib starts to appear right under the beak on the chin. I caught one the other day that was just starting to turn. The young ones are easy to catch at this time of year so get out those repeating traps and let 'em have it. I think I hate sparrows m...

Delma,

I'd leave the old martin nest in the house so it will look used and "successful" to any martins investigating next year. I envy you with the bluebirds. I wish I could get them here in Fort Worth.

Patrick

Check online or a birdbook to see if it is a marsh hawk. The males are grey and the females are brown. It could have been a male marsh hawk, also known as a northern harrier.

Patrick

I finally saw 2 martins on my houses today, almost a full month later than last year. I'm not sure how many will come but I would suspect more will be on the way with temps in the mid 70s this week. So metroplex landlords, eyes to the skies.

Patrick

Well, I finally did see some martins today but they didn't stop on my housing. They must be arriving in the area, considerably late. Though I would miss them, if they choose not to nest here this year I'm okay with that, too. After 2 conecutive years of high nestling losses, I don't need the stress....

None here at my site in Fort Worth either. I had about 22-25 pairs last year. I haven't even seen a martin this year. I think last year's high nestling mortality combined with this year's cold weather has slowed or maybe even stopped my colony. I've gotten to where I don't even watch for them anymore.

Buffleheads are incredibly beautiful. We have them here, right in town. They are one of my favorites.

Patrick

I had the same problem here. As far as I know, I lost every fledgling except for 2 that I raised and released. After the last nest jumped and/or died, all the adults abandoned the site. In general the young ones were thin and poor. I guess the parents just stopped feeding. I'm not 100% sure but I th...

My lone surviving nestling died today. There had to have been something else going on besides the heat and dehydration. No matter how many crickets he ate, he stayed thin and lethargic. He finally just wasted away to nothing. I'm sorry he didn't make it but I'm glad it's all over. My colony has been...

Yes, it is a disheartening situation. I guess what makes it such a bitter pill to swallow is that we do all the right things. I'm almost positive the parents just stopped feeding when the heat hit. The babies were thin and poor and some had diarrhea. Even when first rescued their appetites were poor...