Purple Martin Forum

I have encountered the same thing this year in regards to the tree swallows. Every year I would have occasional second nests after the first broods fledged, but it was only a few here and there. This year, all boxes which fledged young have second nests. However, these are from new pairs. Many of th...

I noticed my first SY male this morning. He is a resident bird, having already claimed "bragging rights" on a Troyer horizontal w/ Conley 2 entrance. I suspect he's been around a day or two since he already occupied the gourd at sunrise this morning. It's still early up here in my opinion. I still h...

Owl feather under rack is what alerted me.... This is what alerted me. Over time I found more martin body parts and owl feathers. The owl was taking juveniles which perched out on the racks at night. Eventually it discovered the gourds (two bent porches) but I don't know if it was successful at att...

Well, if the forecast holds true, they'll need more supplemental feeding early next week. Supposed to start cooling off here Sunday and continue till at least Wednesday or Thursday with highs in upper 30s and lower 40s. I can't believe these birds are showing up like this. I go from one bird on the ...

Frank, as always I'm envious. I'll never get my martins to feed like this. I hope they stay away for weeks. I fear we're in for a nasty start to spring. It's crazy your birds showed up so soon, but they are certainly in good hands. I remember your stories from a year or couple years ago about the ma...

~Ray~04 wrote:LOL, I already told my neighbors the lights that are up high were for low flying aircraft.

LMAO!!! Best of any excuse made.

Last year, I saw a bloody fierce fight between an ASY female who returned to find an SY male messing with her babies. When I realized what was going on, the SY male was screaming and trying to escape out of the entrance, but the female wouldn't let go. She'd pull him back in, or he'd wiggle back in ...

Vern Kleen is a great birder. I've been on a few IAS field trips over the years and he is a riot. I remember one year Vern walking through a wetland area trying to spook up rails. His movements were hilarious as he was trying to flush out birds.

Hope I get one of those banded subbies next year!

I'll never stop enjoying tree swallows. I know they can be troublesome with establishing martin colonies (as I've had experience in that situation years ago). But I don't care how many tree swallows have monopolized my bluebird boxes, I'm still able to get 2-3 pairs of bluebirds in the boxes my dad ...

I've had martins (the entire colony) do this before in the evening AND when an aerial predator is too close for comfort. They give this strange chortling sound every time the resident red-tailed hawk is hunting too close for comfort, but the martins dont' fly away, they just watch. In the evening, I...

Hey Glen , How bad was your season last year ? Hope you have a better one this year ! To be honest, it was hard to tell for sure. I found one owl feather in late May/early June. It was definitely a great horned owl. Dad had been losing ducks and went from almost 30 down to 8 current ducks. All the ...

These look fantastic. This is exactly what I need to do after last summers attacks on my colony. Thanks Steve and April for posting these photos and info.

Northern harriers cannot catch an adult martin. I watched once as a beautiful male harrier flew about 30 feet past my martin colony several years ago. It was only about 4-5 ft above the ground and the martins didn't even fuss. They quieted real fast and gave that weird chirring girgle when something...

I bought a small hunting blind on Amazon for this spring and it has worked wonders. No more hiding in my vehicle and the birds are quick to learn what I'm doing. I had the blind up and folded back in less than 20 minutes this past weekend. Got the starling that was nosing around and within ten minut...

I went from 1 on Friday to 4 on Saturday and then approximately 12-15 on Sunday. Today there are almost 40. Man oh man, they must really ride those strong south winds. I figured I'd have nearly all my surviving birds back before midweek next week. Subbies will start showing up here in about two-thre...

Matt F. that's just hilarious...and probably true. LOL

The smallest things I've ever seen vultures eat were snakes and rabbits. Neat that they'll pick up a freakin' starling.

Yeah, John was right. Pouring in couldn't have said it better. Mine started pouring in today. I went from the one lonely hungry guy who braved all that cold to four yesterday evening. Have over 12 today. I was literally watching them come in. Those birds couldn't have been happier or louder. Oh they...

There are also those of us who simply can't afford and/or don't have the time to offer supplemental feeding. I would if I could, but the odds are against me. I see my colony on the weekend and one or two week days when I can drive up to my "country" home to see them and tend to them and my yard. But...

Wednesday I had two male tree swallows. This morning was party time. I don't know where they all came from so quickly, but I must have at least 6-8 swallows now. They are having a ball, though the bluebirds are having a fit. I love having tree swallows around.

hehe I have this poster. I'll have to give it a try.