Purple Martin Forum

Brad, two questions. Is there too big of a martin gourd or do they like them the bigger the better? I have a couple around 14" in diameter. Must be 30" around. And how many gourds per plant did you get? I seemed to have a lower pollination rate. Lots of small ones but not many took. I gave some plan...

I'm planning on adding some housing again in strategic locations that are at minimum 9 out of 10s on the purple martin site rating system. I've been trying for 10 years and I cant take 10 more so instead of waiting for Martin's, I'm going to add one or two more setups that are closer to an existing ...

Thanks for the ID help. Mine last year was much more dotted on the chest and dark overall. This one is weird this year. I saw it again this morning which makes back to back days and I think four days overall since the 9th. I'm not around the housing other than maybe 40 mins total a day, but I've nev...

So I saw a SY martin last week and thought it was a male. Didn't think twice actually because I've only seen males. I didn't have my good camera on me then, but I saw another one this morning, which acted like the one last week so I'm assuming the same one. I figured another SY male, but I grabbed m...

Any action at your site this year Ryan? Also any idea what the numbers are like for the older fellow with the active colony closest to you? The older guy has about 12 martins back he says. Same as last year. They're in a large house with round holes and small 6x6 compartments and nesting with starl...

So the SY from last year isn't back. That one hurt for sure but I guess I'm back to square one. I was so looking forward to seeing an ASY bird, something that I've never seen before at my site, but it's too late in the year and there's no chance of that happening now. Back looking for SY's to be dra...

If he was locked into your housing you may have a chance for him next year. The good thing about being late in the season for you is that if your SY took off it's better late in the season as the odds he's shacked up elsewhere are more slim in June. So it was only 10 days, but he may just be floatin...

You have the month of June with your northern range location.

Everything that I've read says yes, he will be back for you, if he survives. It's a long wait though, as I'm living it this year. And those 50-50 odds aren't great as I'm also dealing with the coin flip odds this summer. It's a long off season. The last couple weeks become painful as the window star...

If you have that many visits you could play the dawn song really low in volume or totally off when you're there and see visitors. You'll have to watch the situation. Martin's bring in more Martin's better than any audio track, but certainly play it as much of the day if your aren't seeing visitors. ...

Uh, still waiting here. It's painful, I will say. I'm starting to not like my odds as the SY showed up here June 7th last year. I really thought he would be back by now if he survived the season. There's some hope reading a couple threads lately about how late migration is and egg laying and all thi...

Not sure if the auto paint will move as much as acrylic latex. The metal on cars doesn't move much with temp or moisture changes, but your T14 really will. I think I read that you built it out of Cedar? There's so much movement in wood from the dry winter to the humid summers, that I'd say some of y...

As the martins age, they do tend to arrive earlier in the season. I would think a third year bird would likely show up in May at your location. Probably not early May, more like May 15th to the end of May. Hope he comes back for you. Well, it's been a long 10 months and I will say I'm getting into ...

Looks clear, even near dark.

Sounds like you're in pretty good shape. Good work putting the time in, hoping this is your year.

That's a great write up on feeding, Paule.

I'm no martin professional, but I'm unfortunately becoming a professional for waiting for martins. I think you're in good shape, don't sweat the birds that left, there will be more. Be patient, it takes time. I'm in year 10 and you've already seen more martins than I have in 10 years. You're lucky y...

Great stuff. Chop some trees, pre-nest compartments with some white pine needles and mud and keep that dawnsong going. Having a colony that close is an advantage. If it's not a well maintained colony it may not be full which is harder to pull birds from than a full house with no vacancy. However, Se...

Get that dawnsong running and pointed to the colony next to you. I'd be interested to see if you'd have any visitors quickly searching for the sounds.

Been trying for 10 years here so dont give up. With a colony a mile away you should get them soon if you make a few changes. My closest colony is 27 miles so you're in good shape stay positive, it gets frustrating but dont let it bother you. So I think you're too close to that tree as well. That Goo...