Purple Martin Forum

I went to visit Chris in Hutto around noon. Found one Martin dead on the ground with its head missing. Found another dead inside one of his gourds. I don't have any martins yet this season (thank goodness), so I took him my platform feeder and attached it to his gourd rack. Put some scrambled eggs i...

Yesterday, I reset it in a different compartment that i had seen a little activity in and raised the house. When it got to the top, I heard it snap closed and thought I had tripped it when it reached the top. So I lowered the house again to reset, opened the door, and the stinking male Sparrow flew ...

I'm already using another of my houses as a trap house since I only have one pair of martins this year. Don't know what's happened since I had six pairs last year. I may now have a tree encroachment problem. And, unfortunately, the price of the spar-o-door makes it difficult to purchase several. But...

Ok. Got my spar-o-door yesterday and used it today. Got the male within 5 minutes, reset it and raised the house and got the female in another 5 minutes. That thing is awesome!

Are owl guards still needed with extended compartments on a Trio house?

Ok. Thanks. Gonna give one a shot.

But, how do you get the sparrow out without it getting away when you open the door?

Can someone tell me how these traps work? I have a couple of those wire insert traps, but they won't fit past the railings on my old Trio MK12 without taking things apart to remove them. My martins are about ready to start their families, and I don't want any revenge taking going on by continuing to...

After my initial post, I did a search by "mockingbird" on the forum and found someone who had the same problem. Seems as though the mockingbird may be defending the bush with the berries, (that there happens to be one of very close to my housing) as his territory, even though the martins have no int...

Well, I finally have four martins that have been hovering over my housing for three days now. They get very close to landing, but there is a pesky mockingbird that sits close by and chases them off whenever they are about to land. Have never had this problem in previous years of being a landlord, so...

Ha! That's funny. And in such a natural pose; hanging upside down. Guess you can't fool those martins huh? Fortunate that the hawks can be fooled though. I'll try to relax, but I had my first Martin by Feb. 22nd last year; that's over 2 weeks behind schedule! I can only keep my fingers crossed that ...

I also added a purple Martin decoy to the top of each of my houses this year. Could that be scaring them away? I actually heard some in the distance yesterday, but never saw one. I've actually had martins for the last 5 years before the end of February, so that's why I'm so freaked out over not havi...

Still no sign of a Martin at my place. So depressing when reading others posts so much further north than me.

Thanks all, for your words of encouragement. I'm actually glad now, that my martins are not here yet. Was 70 degrees this morning, and now 28. Old man winter needs to hit the trail! I'll hold out hope that mine will return with the next blast of air from the south, blowing in some warmth (and humidi...

I keep looking at all the scout reports in Texas and reading others posts about all the martins they have already; even from places not very far from me. I have yet to even see a scout yet and I saw my first one last year on February 22nd. I have heard some from afar, but haven't seen one yet this y...

We stayed at the Americana last year and were disappointed. Our room was dirty and there was actually a used bath towel hanging over the shower rod when we arrived. AND, we found it odd that their only ice machine was behind the front desk and you had to ask for it and only got a teeny little bag of...

I got to see them in person, and believe me, they're awesome. Hope he gets them fixed so everyone can enjoy!

Beautiful pics Chris. How are your gourds holding up? Seen any martins yet? I haven't, but I'm ready for 'em!

It was my pleasure. Anything to help our babies, right? You have a great site and I'm sure all your returning martins will be happy. Best of luck!

I may be able to help you next week, or whenever the weather warms up a bit. I live not very far from you in Pflugerville. I'll be in touch. Am currently in the process of cleaning out my houses and building owl guards for my new gourds that I bought at last years Martinfest in Tennessee. You don't ...