Purple Martin Forum

Purple Martin Landlords of Tennessee and a public group are on Facebook. I'm from Iowa and I run the Iowa Purple Martin Organization. Find the Tennessee purple martin people and they will be happy to assist you.

Hi asop,
Deancamp and I are in the same thought with gourds racks, STREH and tunnels and 2 inch poles. You will see many differing opinions on this website when it comes to housing. I like the deep cavities the Troyer gourds offer.

Thanks for posting the article. Very true and very interesting food for thought. Now is the time to go out and recruit some younger people to pick up the hobby. On a side note, the picture on the left of the three fancy martin houses looks very much like the" Capitol ". But, after a closer look in c...

Hi again Whippy,
I have a strong feeling you will have a thriving colony in a few years. Best thing to do now is get your wife hooked more into the martin hobby, in the future we hope she will be as big of a fan of martins as you. Best of luck my friend.

Hi DBH,
It warms us all to see a new member and welcome aboard to the world of martins. This forum has many knowledgeable landlords that will be happy to answer your questions or concerns.

Hi Brent, Sorry about my slow response . I went ahead and answered your question on the other thread to posted as to why 4 X 4 inch mesh fencing.

Hi Brent, Great question. The 2 inch wide opening makes it difficult when martins launch to take their first beat of the wing and they sometimes have a hitch up in their take off. Also, The 2 x 4 inch fencing is lightweight and without some form of reinforcement around the structure the fence will s...

Thank you for spotlighting this topic as it is a concern for many current landlords. I think the fast paced world has made the martin culture as well as other outdoor nature hobbies suffer. You would think that such activities would be the solution to all the fast society stuff, but we just don't se...

That is a good looking set up Whippy. Looks like you should have a good season for your martins. Well done.

Hi again glfriend, The best thing for me to do is to direct you to the following for some very sound advice and good reading on dealing with Tree Swallows. First, click on the section titled Education near the top middle of the purplemartin.org website. Then, scroll down and click on download center...

The reason to place the swallow nesting box 30 feet from the martin housing, (if) you have tree swallows near your martins, can actually be a plus for your martins. It sounds silly and contradictive, but the single tree swallow pair that nest in that box will eventually keep other tree swallows from...

I would think they would be arriving soon if not already. But, sometimes landlords are a little late on entering their arrival on the scout report page; which will make it appear as if there is something going on with the martins. I can just see the martins telling their landlords, hey guys I'm here...

Tractor Supply Store is where I got my goat fencing. I have a huge colony with many rack systems, so buying the large roll is what I needed. I didn't look close at the pics I enclosed in the earlier post to see the mesh opening sizes. But, bottom line is you don't want the 2 X 4 inch mesh, you DO wa...

First check the google video titled "Great Horned Owl Purple Martin Housing" video online. Hopefully the pics show up below of examples of owl cages.

For the past 15 years since I put cages around my housing, I have never had another owl problem. Sorry to hear about your lose of martins.

Bumbee,
I was happy to see you took up the hobby of target practice on sparrow and starlings. I'm much like you in seeing very few sparrows and starlings in my area since I have rid them of the area.

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Hi Brent, It has been done and the results have been good. It is a do it yourself owl cage using fencing. try to get what is called goat fence with 4" X 4" mesh openings. Cut the fencing a length that allows for the fencing to stick out about 6 inches from the leading edges of the porches. Shape the...

That is an interesting twist of looking at things. It is food for thought. Thanks.

In two years you appear to be headed the right direction in attracting numbers. You are doing all the right things for the martins, keep up the great work. Congrats.