Purple Martin Forum

3 showed up after I Posted that.

Just put an elbow pvc and then it is vented.

Whippy,

I haven’t seen any either yet. They will be here right after this cold front and the wind blows from the south again.

I use those vinyl numbers. My wife prints them out. They have lasted 3 years so far and look as good as new. I do a major decon and cleaning after every season and the numbers are still going strong.

Well she got him into a gourd only to find him back on the ground right before dusk (a good find). He is now in a bucket for the night with a makeshift nest and covered by a food cover for ventilation (one that keeps flies from getting to outdoor food) and to keep critters out. When I get home in th...

Brilliant! This we can do!

Heat index rose to 115 today. Only have found one jumper but have numerous babies out on the porches. We are so close to fledging that I am hesitant to tell my wife to lower the gourds to figure out where he came from (heavy rack and I am away from the house until tomorrow morning). What would you d...

I had a similar incident with some bluebird babies. I ended up losing them all before I could put a stop to it. Mine turned out to be a rat and it would eat the birds each night and leave a similar carcass. Rats are very cunning. When I had my incident other suggested squirrels but I found my critte...

Fotoman,

I sent you an email/private message about the traps.

It’s that time of year. Hawks are returning and raising a ruckus. The martins are piling in too which attracts them like a magnet. Today I witnessed an attack and that dirty hawk hit my decoy. Had to go set it up again. That is 2 times I’ve had to set it up in the last week. Time to add the others u...

I have built my perch rods/bamboo garden rods across the top of my gourd racks and built into the top of my Martin house. It doesn’t interfere with their flyway. They seem to like being able to fly down to the openings and gourds and check them out before returning back to the top perch rods.

I have been looking to buy some land to eventually build a house on and was wondering if any of y’all have ever started a colony on raw land before moving out there and building your house. I’m getting ahead of myself but one of my prerequisites is that the land be appealing to martins. I would stil...

How are you cutting the pool noodles to fit? And are we talking about the pool noodles/floaty tubes ?

Just trying to get an idea of how other landlords are plugging their vent holes for early season arrivals. Pictures, descriptions and tips would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for your input.

I have a RWS Diana in .177. It is more accurate than I am and has been responsible for the end of many sparrows and starlings. On windless days I have made some pretty rediculous shots on sparrows and starlings. Really accurate and reliable and they last forever. No complaints.

I’ve got a few natural gourds that I want to try out and I’m about to start working on them. Do martins need a porch to get in the SREH or can I just cut that and be done with it?

Good deal. I was thinking the same and agree with the reasoning. I would never move anything during nesting season. It will all be up and running this month.

This winter we added a pool. It takes up a large part of my backyard and I have to reposition my Martin house and gourd rack. The backyard is now basically a clean slate and I was wondering if the martins will mind having ground cover/flowers around the base of their poles? The colony is mostly esta...

Do y’all angle the vents or just leave them pointing straight down or does it matter? Not an expert on airflow. Got the elbows installed and about to silicone them.

Has anyone planted a ground sleeve for the deluxe gourd rack ground stake? Basically I don’t want a stake sticking out of the ground for the 7-8 months while the martins are away. Are there any landlords that do this or have done this? Should I go for it or is it a bad idea for some reason.