Purple Martin Forum

I moved to Tiki Island from Houston in October of last year. Had to start over with martins. I put up (2) 9 entrance double room houses during contruction. Had 2 pair in each house. Does your father-in-law have houses at Tiki Island?

Does anyone know the approximate date that Purple Martins return to Tiki Island, TX?

May want to turn the volume down close to what would be naturally at a colony. I used the bird magnet successfully at a lower volume but continued to play it even though I had a few pairs. This year I haven't played it and have more martin activity and pairs than ever before.

Have you thought about making the neighbor an offer on his current housing that he removed or is removing? It might be a good idea- the martins would be back home with the same housing only moved a bit.

Congratulations James! and for a good job dreaming up a different way to attract PM's to your site.

James,

I would play the dawnsong at a somewhat normal level instead of unusually loud. What are you using to play it?

James,

I would play the dawnsong at a somewhat normal level instead of unusually loud. What are you using to play it?

James,

It is recommended that you leave everything up until the very end of the season for Florida. PM's check out other sites for next year. You need to stay in the race. Most of us have had problems attracting purple martins.
You have already done all the work, why take it down too early?

I have used Sevin-5 (5%) dust in the past but I am thinking of using liquid seven. What is the best time and way to apply it? Is this a good idea? I have had mites in previous years and that's what prompted me to use Sevin-5.

Your site looks great. Good luck this year!

Tony,

The turkey may make them wary. I have some windsocks attached to the eave of the house that I take down when they are due here just in case.

Looks like the Nay's have it! Thanks for all the input!

I forgot to mention that the entrance plates that I have on the house can be switched back from the round hole to crescents within a couple of minutes should I have a big problem. I was thinking of maybe 10 round holes out of 39 available cavities. I remember reading a while back on the forum that s...

I have all Crescent or Conley II entrances and I am thinking about adding some round hole entrances for variety to maybe attract more martins. I used to have a bad starling problem but rarely see them now due to a pellet gun purchase 3 years ago. It seems that they know this is a no-fly zone from th...

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Delma,

You could get the Starlings under control right away by ordering new crescent replacement doors from the manufacturer of your house. Then you would only have to worry about sparrows.

IMO the dawnsong works better playing it at a normal volume or just slightly higher instead of full tilt.

Houston, TX. This all probably sounds familiar because I responded similarly on post regarding the bird-x magnet last year. You can do a search and find it that way. I think you can find a cheap price on the bird x- magnet on E-bay or just typing in your brouser and doing a search.

Tony, The CD and the Bird X Songbird Magnet are the same sound. I would continue to use the Bird X Songbird Magnet and put your volume at the halfway mark- (straight up and down),buy an Intermatic timer at ACE hardware, then set it to play off and on anywhere from a couple of hours or so before dawn...

I have the bird magnet and the dawnsong CD. The bird magnet plays the dawnsong. There is a switch inside the bird magnet to have it play songbirds but what you want it to play is the purple martins. I think it was helpful in attracting my first pair. Last year I had 8 pair and I am not playing it no...