Purple Martin Forum

Bo Nine Gourds have screws that are impossible to know when they are tight. Seams will not stay flush. Screws I thought were right fell out. I may have over tightened some because I can still get movement. Frustrating.

Is there a way to secure a rope and lanyard or a winch system? I was able to put a small padlock on the old telescopic pole.

I am wondering if there is any correlation between having bird feeding stations and having difficulty attracting nesting purple martins. Bird feeders attract sparrows and starlings. And the birds and squirrels attract hawks to the area. It would be interesting to hear from people as to their experie...

S and K purple martin plastic martin houses with dark roofs look like a potential heat problem. Any opinions out there about these the quality of theses houses?

Does it come in lighter color? Thinking about heat.

Has anyone used the Watersedge houses with the crescent entrances? They appear to be too high from the porch to keep starlings out. Any success out there?

I imagine what you are planning is painful. I am concerned that fewer young people are replacing the people that are discontinuing their valuable care I am aging out. I reduced the number of gourds to six. Three of them were equipped with owl guards. The martins would not go near them. (So basically...

Not good. Thanks. You are adding to the growing knowledge.

Has any one hung gourds from the aluminum Perch for Round Poles? Mine are one pound Bo Plus gourds. Wondering about the arm strengths I want to hang three..

I found the posting. You have to google New Ideas to Stop Nesting Sparrows, Purple Martin Forum. Birds have a primitive brain which is similar to ours. I call it the lizard brain. It is where the fight or flight response originates. The birds can feel anxiety, fear and anger. It is caused by tissues...

I found this idea on the internet and I can not pull the page up again. A guy reported that he will allow a sparrow pair to build their nest and lay their eggs. Then he removes every piece of their nest and he crushes the eggs, smearing them all over the clean floor. When the sparrows returned, basi...

It is dark now. I found the errant one. Instead of entering the round hole gourd, it perched on the top porch of one of the gourds that has the two-porch-with-rods owl guards. There may be an advantage. An owl could trap it in a gourd. Where it is, it has several escape routes.

Success. Two fledged. This is the second night they brought them both home to roost. One has been able to enter the round hole gourd only after struggling 3 or 4 minutes. This makes me wonder how fledglings can manage a SREH entrance. The other one never would even land on a gourd. Both adults chase...

Whippy, You are making the right choices. You found the only link I know of that shows the BO Nine Plus gourds and they are on sale. They have a diameter of 9.25 inches and the Bo Eleven has a diameter of 11. The former only weighs 15 ounces. After 50 plus years providing martin housing I was lookin...

Has anyone had success with The new Bo Nine Plus gourds. They are very light and have a black interior which I feel are good features.

Thanks, I did. He was using way too much energy.

Eggs hatched today for this single pair. The male has intensified his dive bomb runs on the decoy. He must feel threatened.

Maybe a exit only flap. Some bright mind out there may work it out.

My martins seem so vulnerable when they roost at night in a one entrance compartment. I am wondering if any of the creative landlords have ever tried a double entrance. I saw a pair of martins nest in an old stop light at a busy intersection many years ago. The nest was built on the protruding cone ...

A mature male arrived the first of June and eventually attracted a very immature female. He worked extremely hard for a few days. She sat on the perch for hours. He could not get her to stay at night so they roosted elsewhere. She did briefly check out his gourd a few times, for mating purposes I im...