Purple Martin Forum

I see you’re in Radford, Va. a short hop from my home on SML in Moneta! I’ve been trying for years and finally have a breeding pair. They showed up in June, laid five eggs, four hatched. A hawk reached in and snagged two of the babies before I could run it off. My two remaining babies are poking the...

flmike, Do you have any hawk distractions in place? Many of us use Martin decoys strategically placed around our housing to attract the hawks attention when busting in. There are many threads related to this with a lot of great ideas. I've not lost a Martin to a hawk all season. My decoys are set 1...

You can’t move anything now it could completely stop the parents from recognizing their nest. Best to wait until next season. Their behavior is simply keeping the remaining babies safe and when they fledge they’ll likely not return to sleep either but that’s ok. Towards the end of my season the few...

Are the compartments like 6”x6”? If this is the case the hawk simply reached in and dragged them out. This is why it is recommended to expand those into a neighboring room so the parents can place the babies out of reach. Maybe this is something you can do for next season. Martins will visit other ...

SSMartin... you were right, the parents have returned and are busy feeding the two hatchlings!

I feel soooo much better, my blood pressure is returning to its normal range!

The house is a trio t-12 I think. I never saw the hawk reach into the house, I just saw him hovering/flying closely around the house then lit on the top perch... I yelled, it flew off with a couple of pm’s chasing. I actually only had four babies, one of the eggs didn’t hatch. So the hawk only got t...

Thank you for the quick response.
Is it normal for the babies to be listless when I’m checking them?
If I need to feed them; what and how?

This morning I saw a Cooper’s hawk around my pm house... I didn’t see it at the opening, but it landed on the top perch. I stomped and yelled and he left. The parents have not returned to the nest since. I had 5 babies, now there are only 2. When I lowered the house the two remaining babies are aliv...

Ms Porter, that’s a mighty nice lookin’ bird you’ve got there!

I’m digging the nest cam photo!!

I have my first ever pair.
A nest check last Monday the 22nd had one hatchling, today I have four hatchlings and one egg remains. I checked it for being capped.

So when they leave the nest the first time, they don’t return to the nest?

Thanks for all the good advice! I didn’t know to not do the nest checks after the 20 days... great info. I had a half dozen or more visitors yesterday, flying around and perching on the house... greeting the newbie, I guess. They didn’t seem to mind when I lowered the house, but I was walking throug...

I did a nest check, sprinkled a pinch of Sevin dust around the nest edges and installed a snake guard of netting on the pole. I wasn’t expecting the baby. I’m pretty sure the last egg was laid on the 11th, so I was figuring the 25th-27th for a hatchling. If I’d known they had a baby, I wouldn’t have...

I had one nesting pair in the “love shack” house and one lonely male in the “empty arms” house. We’ve had heavy rains for the last four days. The female is spending most of her time sitting on her five eggs, leaving the nest occasionally during breaks in the weather to feed. It didn’t rain all day y...

The good news is we’ve had a break in the rain all morning.
The bad news is I haven’t seen any of my pm’s all day... they usually come out around 6:30-7am, and hang around the house all morning. I’ve been watching closely and haven’t seen a single pm.
I’m going to do a nest check after lunch.

Continuous rain expected for 3-4 days. High temperatures of 60-62f. The insects have gone to ground.
Should I be looking for meal worms or something else to feed the pm’s?
Can I place a container of food on their porches?

flmike, The Dri-Nest trays for Trio/Nature House houses are to elevate the nest off of a wet floor when it rains. Sevin dust is deactivated by moisture. Every time it rains, then you will have to reapply the Sevin dust if you put it under the trays. Sprinkle the Sevin dust on the corners and edges ...

you change the nest and add 1/8 of a teaspoon of seven for babies. did you prenest? Change the nest? How would I change the nest? Prenest? Huh? I’m new to this! Thanks for the education. Lower the nests and add 1/4 teaspoon of 5% Sevin dust under the nesting material. As they sleep at night and vis...

I have three PMs nesting.
All three perch on the house and constantly scratch themselves with their leg and beak.

Is there something I could do to manage mites or whatever they might have?