Purple Martin Forum

I've been gone the past three days and the male SY seems to have found a mate. Both were popping in and out of a gourd this morning. So now it looks like three nests and another one on tje way.. They may have started already. Gonna check later in the afternoon.

deancamp wrote: ↑

Fri Apr 17, 2020 11:40 am

Just when the colony settles in, here comes the sy crowd to stir it up again. I like the activity.

Exactly.. lol

I have seen lots of color variations of SY males over the years. So with no purple at all and others that look like they have some weird disease with random splotches all over them. It's just a good sign when you see them start moving in. The ones I've seen before had those dark splotches.. I'm wat...

I did a nest check yesterday... Was gone for three days.. 2 complete nests, no eggs. 1 nest started.. Also this morning, an SY male is here.. he's a fiesty lil guy. Working very hard to attract a female and seems to like a BO9 gourd.. and bounces over to the lower level of the barn as well. He is lo...

I’m using the attic on my s&k I added porches I just use long 12” tweezers and pull everything out of the hole at the end of the season. That's a good idea too.. but I'd rather be able to access it with my while hand like the gourds.. in case a bird is stuck or to do next checks. But yeah, I bet mo...

I have the entrances plugged too.. I really dont want to deal with those. That barn has 6 compartments total. I done the modification to double the compartment size... They seem to love that. I've got 3 pair in the house and I pair in a gourd. I may have a 2nd pair in a gourd.. noticed a female last...

Short clip of a young female bring in nest material.. looks like I have four.. maybe 5 pairs building nests. One nest looks nearly 100% complete... The other 3 or 4 are in early stages

https://youtu.be/sLYplX7Comg

Yeah.. maybe a BB.. the image color is seems kinda harsh.. so the feather colors seem off. But definitely not the body of a PM.

It's not a PM.. doesn't look like a BB either.. maybe a yellow Rumped Warbler.

You are on your way. I noticed your YouTube it looked like you went from a whole gourd setup to less gourds and a house. Just curious why did you downsize? I just didn't think I needed all the gourds hanging.. since I haven't had a pair to start the year. Also.. hung the SK barn (modded to the doub...

Gobs.. I mentioned your name just a few days ago when I made my first post after a 5 or 6 year hiatus. Prior to that I was in Slidell La developing a colony.. had a couple of pairs going, then we moved to a new town. My new site was even better.. 0 trees, plenty of power lines behind our house.. 2 a...

I have one, maybe 2 SY females. Using binoculars to ID the telltale features. Pretty sure I have 2 here, but can't get the other one to face me. LoL. Lot's of screeching and hollering around the gourds today... Males keep popping in the compartments and singing away. Romance is in the air. Broussard...

You are well on your way to a colony good job. What kind of gourds are those? I have an s&K house and it always fills up before my expensive troyer gourds. Funny how some martins have different preferences. Thanks 😊. The gourds are SK models. BO9, BO11, and Big BO. All have porches added and vent c...

If they're behaving, it should be ok. I think your martins are established , so they may not be bullied into leaving. Looks to be what's happening at your place. Maybe next year you can put the martin housing up later so the BBs will take the boxes first. Where I live BBs start picking out boxes a f...

I've been gone a few days.. when I left I had a pair plus a male. As of tonight, looks like three pairs. Two pairs for sure. Looked like a pair was on the side I couldn't see. About 5 minutes prior to shooting the video there were a total of 8 flying all over the gourds. Really fun to watch. Here's ...

Looks like my single guy has a female visiting all morning... Unfortunately the other male keeps fighting with them. Very possessive!

Sounds good. Yes I have plenty of accomodations. He was trying to entice a female this morning. And the other male keeps going into a gourd with oak leaves. Nest building has begun for those two. I'm sure the single guy will be successful. Im hoping he finds an ASY gal soon.. but if not , the SYs ar...

I have a pair in a gourd and a male in the house. The gourd is starting to have signs of nest building soon (couple of oak leaves and a piece of pine straw). I'm assuming the single male is trying hard to lure a female, and even right now as I write this I'm seeing an additional female on the gourd ...

pmlover wrote: ↑

Sun Mar 22, 2020 9:05 am

im so glad your back may God bless you and your colony

Thanks pmlover. Same to you

Anybody ever had to use PM decoys, do they work? I've seen them work with my own eyes... Twice, my wife and I saw a hawk try to drag off with a decoy, allowing the martins times to escape. The decoys may help attract martins with new housing. When I first started I'd see visiting martins swoop down...