Purple Martin Forum

Think about this from the birds point of view. Even thought they now nest in man made housing they still have thousands of years of genetic programming to nest it deep dark tree cavities. So natural wood it what they like on the inside. I all so believe they are way my sensitive to chemicals then we...

A scout report was submitted for Grande Prairie AB on Apr 30. I live in that area and am very interested in starting a colony. The nearest colony I know of is 100 miles away at High Prairie. Is there any way to get her contact information or give her mine and request she contact me. Any help would b...

Who comes back first martins or treeswallows? I see central alberta filling up with martins but have not seen any treeswallows in the north yet.

I know several people that use these cameras for hunting and security. They get amazing pictures day and night. You can get just about anything you want depending on how much you want to spend. If you have good cell coverage at your site you can even have the camera text you the pictures at they are...

I would like to see what the boys on American restoration could do with this house.

I just have to chime in hear. I always get a kick out of you southerners talking about the long cold winters. Up here in northern Alberta the snow will start falling mid October and stay until mid April. Amazingly the martins show up right behind the snow and stay. Please keep up the reports and sco...

When we use an elactric fencer for cattle we just drive the ground rod in right beside the charger. The hot wires can run a couple miles and you get a good jolt any where on the fence. So at the garage by the charger should work and be convinient. From what I have heard is for snakes you have to run...

Treeswallow and blue bird boxes on the cheep. If you want to set up some boxes with out spending too much money google treeswallow nest box protects. I have 50 of there long point boxes out for treeswallows and have 99% occupancy. They also give good descriptions of poles and mounting options. I use...

Owning lots of rental properties and having bought and sold many times. I would wright on a clause allowing the colony to stay until the end of the nesting season. Then giving you permission to enter the property to manage and retrieve the houses at the end of the season. (Put in the clause that you...

I have been getting driven crazy by sparrows every time I drop my kids off a school. There is a back yard there that they are feeding cheap bird seed and I see hundreds of sparrows on a regular basis. Now I trap them at my house but I live in a new subdivision with no old buildings or sheds. So ther...

I will take some pictures when it tamp in the posts and through out the summer. In the fall once I see how wind has affected things I will post a report with pictures.

I'm putting up two North Star houses this spring and was planning on concreting them in. We have very heavy clay soil in the area and desiccation cracks open up when it is dry. They can run as much as ten feet deep and two inches wide. After talking to my mentor he recommended drilling three foot de...

I know exactly how you feel I have everything lined up to get my first house put up here in northern Alberta. I have to wait until May for the ground to dry up enough to get into the field and drill. If you are impatient to see some results and want to have some nests to show your girls. Google tree...

If you are going to try it I would suggest a heating mat for germinating seeds. They are water proof so there for fairly safe. When I use mine for seed germination I use a thermometer and place the seed trays on top of layers of card board until I get the desired temperature. If you built a dedicate...

This is an idea I came up with and wanted to see what people think and if it has ever been tried. Ok we are going to have at assume that all the nesasary permits are in place. Step one establish a tree swallow grid with single compartment Martin houses or girds. Step two take the tree swallow eggs f...

Google Alberta Purple Martins and it will lead you to a web site with all the information you ever wanted on suplimental feeding of martins. If you are handy there is enough information to build your own feeder.

Hi Avesrun I'm a little new to martins more like a collage grade more education then experience. Sounds like you are in a great area and will get the formula right. I feel it important that you remember one thing. You won't get martins if you don't keep your house/gourds 100% house sparrow free. Do ...

On the west coast they are fighting an up hill battle and do things a little different then we do in the east. They build single unit houses and hang them in groups of three to twelve. They hang them on of shore or over water to try to keep starlings at bay. Bob's bungalows are prety much the same t...

I’m new to the forum and an amateur / beginner to purple matins. My history with martins goes like this back in junior high I built and installed an old style fixed pole house with 6” x 6” compartments. Martins checked it out several times including some asy males. It was infested with sparrows so n...