Purple Martin Forum

I haven't had any trouble with that in the past. Most of mine just keep an eye on me from perches or fly off for a minute or two. This year I do have one aggressive ASY male that gives me the business any time he gets a chance. I've actually been surprised by his aggressiveness, and on more than one...

I wonder if they may have been after some grit. For the first time ever I noticed my Martins landing under my neighbors bird feeder and picking something up this season, and thought maybe they were looking for grit. I have never seen this before.


Hanover Bill.

Hi Doug;

Good report for Western Pa., Doug. Pretty much parallels what is going on here, just on a slightly smaller scale. I'm a little concerned about this heat wave coming for the weekend, with it being close to fledge time for some. Hopefully it won't cause any to jump.

Hanover Bill.

Keep the faith Toy, you are too good of a landlord to not bounce back. I guess it's good years, bad years, just like good days, bad days. I'm sure you have many good Martin seasons ahead.

Hanover Bill.

Good to hear from you Toy. Hoping for the best for your Colony.

Hanover Bill.

Has anyone seen any posts or responses from Toy in Eastern Pa. lately? I haven't noticed any myself, and it is unusual for her not to post or comment for this long. Hope everything is ok with her. I know she was in the middle of the second rough year in a row for her colony with weather issues, etc....

During my recent nest checks I have noticed an anomaly. I am noticing some elongated eggs, which I have never seen before in my nests. Any ideas on what may cause this?

Hanover Bill.

It seems in my area of Western Pa. gourds are now the preferred housing for the Martins. It seems like it has been a gradual transition from a preference for houses like the T-14, which used to be preferred, to a preference for gourds. This is the second year in a row in which the gourds have vastly...

Hi Toy; Good work on the Starling. I had a smallish Starling breech an Excluder II Entrance for the first time ever this year. I was able to trap him in the gourd and dispose of him. It seems that this smaller variety is expanding their range, much to the detriment of other cavity nesters. It seems ...

Hi Toy; Sorry to hear you are off to a bad start for this season. A good landlord such as yourself certainly deserves better. Hopefully you will get a good number of SY's to help you recover. I have pretty good numbers over here. My two gourd racks are pretty full, and my T-14 is about half full. St...

Very normal behavior for the Martins. They will often check the housing out many times. Be patient, obviously they are interested. You are very fortunate to have that kind of activity this soon.

Good Luck;
Hanover Bill.

Sorry to hear about your hawk problems, Doug. Bill had mentioned to me that you were having a problem with them. Hopefully they are migrating through and will be leaving soon. Since you have never had that problem before it seems as if that might be the case. I have my one Coopers or Sharp Shin, I'm...

Best advice we can probably give you is to be patient. It took me 5 years to finally attract a nesting pair of Martins, and that included playing the Dawn Song every morning during Martin season during those 5 years. Actually my wait was not all that bad when you listen to some of the stories about ...

Keep the faith Toy, hoping for the best for you.

Hanover Bill.

Hi Ele; Welcome to the Forum and the ranks of Purple Martin Landlord. Only Mother Nature really knows when nest building will begin. It no doubt is controlled by a magnitude of variables. The tip off obviously will be when you see them carrying nesting material into their compartments. It is a good ...

Dave,
4x4 is probably going to be tough to find, I also looked for it when I was working on my owl cages. I just used the 2x4 and cut out pieces in front of the entrances to make 4x4 openings. This has been working out fine for me. The Martins seem to have adapted very well to it.

Hanover Bill.

Sorry for your losses Toy. I know what you mean about having so few and then losing some of them, it really stings. I lost two ASY males last year before the season even got underway. Hopefully many more are headed your way.

Hanover Bill.

Thanks for the good advice, I will try to put it to work.

Hanover Bill.

I am looking to upgrade the scope on my Benjamin air rifle, since I can't hit the side of a barn. LOL Any suggestions on a reasonably priced upgrade? I'm not the best shot but I still blame some of it on the scope.

Thanks;
Hanover Bill.

Thanks to all for the good ideas and suggestions. I will keep trying. Definitely will get some egg shells out there to try to entice them. Thanks again.

Hanover Bill.