George Kuehne SFC USA Ret..
- Hinesville, GA
- Liberty County
- This is my fifth year that I have been a landlord. I set up twenty four nesting sites in 2005 for the first time, and they have been coming every year since then.
I consider myself to be very lucky to get Martins to nest in my back yard on the first try.
I have about ten to twelve nesting pairs each year. In the 2008 season I counted twenty four fledgelings that made it.
I have done my homework, I try to do everything I can to have as successful year for my Martins as I possibly can.
The Purple Martin is a wonderful fun bird to watch. Its up to us to be as good a landlord as we possibly can to insure and secure there future for generations to come.
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- Posted: April 2009
Susan H
- Loxahatchee, FL
- Palm Beach County
- Started with a plastic house and have added Natural and artificial gourds. Had 85% occupancy 2008 with 65 babies fledged. Hope to add more gourds for next season. Am willing to give pointers and advice to any local wanna be landlords in Palm Beach County.
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- Posted: July 2008
Larry Gridley
- Albany, GA
- Dougherty County
- I am a second year landlord. I have 2 natural gourd poles up with a totla of 69 gourds. My first year I had 4 breeding pairs with 20 fledglings. This year I currently have about 15 pairs with more coming in daily.
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- Posted: May 2008
John Atteberry
- Cantonment, FL
- Escambia County
- I live on a lake in Cantonment, Florida. I live about 10 minutes outside of Pensacola, Florida. This will be my fourth year (2008) being here in Florida and at my current site. I had 12 pairs of martins in 2007 and so far this year of 2008, I have 25-28 birds but it keeps growing in numbers everyday now. I also put up a gourd rack at a school here closeby for the elementary children this year and have 5 martins at the school as of 2008! I will be happy to help and even put up the housing or gourds for anyone that needs help in doing this. Just call or e-mail me at anytime. Thanks John!
- John Atteberry
1199 Woodlake Drive
Cantonment, FL 32533
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- (850) 384-4310
- Posted: March 2008
Charles Blakey
- Titusville, FL
- USA County
- We have been active landlords since 1999. Currently we manage three poles with a total of 28 gourds. The poles contain a mixture of the \"new\" Excluder Gourd (Crescent entrance), Super and Troyer gourds. Last year we had an occupancy rate of 98 percent and successfully fledged 121. This year we added owl/crow predator guards to all of our \"Super and Extruder\" gourds because of crow problems last season.
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- Posted: January 2008
Rosemary Stone
- Punta Gorda, FL
- Charlotte County
- Have had an active PM colony for over 15 yrs. Our home was destroyed by Hurricane Charley in Aug,2004.The martin house was blown to an angle but managed to stay up and the martins came back and stayed and nested. I have just put up new digs for them and was not sure if they would accept it,but as of this morning(Jan,28,2007) I have one male hanging out in the new house.The other house down the road has been gone since \"Charley\",but we have managed to keep the colony,much to our surprise. They just know how much they are loved!!!!!!!
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- Posted: January 2007
Lisa M. Mabry
- Panama City Beach, FL
- Bay County
- Now in our 6th year, we have an active colony of 32 PM\'s nesting in round hole, supergourds. We are in the Panhandle of Florida, our rack sits on the edge of a lake on the Hombre Golf Course. I also monitor a Bluebird Trail of 30 nest boxes, and will be designing a nestbox for resident red-belly woodpeckers this coming spring. I\'m happy to share my knowledge and experience with anyone, just call or email anytime.
- 101 Tierra Verde Trail
Panama City Beach, FL 32407
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- 850-819-3354 / 1-800
- Posted: December 2006
Steven Getter
- Coral Springs, FL
- Broward County County
- I have had an active colony for the past 3 years. My 1st year 2002, I had one nesting pair that fledged 3 babies. My 2nd year 2003, I had 6 nesting pair that fledged 32 babies and this past year 2004, I had 12 nesting pair that fledged 46 babies. I use a Trio Mini-Castle Martin House. This 12 unit hexagonal aluminum house has a rope and pulley system for easy raising and lowering. In addition, I have 3 Plastic Super Gourds suspended below my Martin House.
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- Posted: December 2004
NIVIA VIERA
- Miami, FL
- Dade County
- This is my 3rd year as a Martin Landlord, last year(2003) I had Martin's nest for the first time, there were 5 beautiful martins babies, I am anxiously awaiting their return. I am ready this year with a second house. Many blessings to all of you Martin lovers and a Happy New Year. God bless
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MARK FLOOD
- Brooksville, FL
- Hernando County
- I life 30 miles north of Tampa 35 miles inland from the west coast. I'm 500 feet from a large lake. We have three acres with pasture all around. I'm considering trying to have Purple Martins as neighbors. I would like anyone that could give me some advise to call me. I have natural and plastic gourds that I purchased years ago and want to put them to use. Please help.
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- 352-754-9349
WILLIAM G. MOORE
- Brandon, FL
- We've had an active colony each year for the past 4 years. Last year we fledged 49 babies from 12 nesting pairs. Housing is a T-14 with 4 Super Gourds suspended below the T-14. Weekly nest checks were made. This year we added a predator guard and owl guards on the T-14.
- 602 Knowles Road
Brandon, FL
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- 813-689-6706
REGINA WOOD
DALE BENNETT
- Hillsborough, FL
- I have had martins the past 7 years. I have has metal houses and plastic gourds. I only have plastic Supergourds now. A total of 24 gourds. I do nest checks and have a pretty good success rate on fledged martins.
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CHRIS WAGNER
- Melbourne, FL
- I tried to attract Martins for 3 years in Kentucky with no luck. After retiring from the US Army in 1999 I relocated to Florida and had 9 nesting pair the first season with 37 young fledged. This year 2001 my adult martins arrived 20 Jan and so far I have 14 birds with the SY Martins due soon. I would like to help others in Florida provide Martin housing while reducing Starling and House Sparrow numbers.
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PETE HENDRICK
- Homestead, FL
- Last city on the main land. Five years as a martin house builder. Have nine wooden houses (160 holes). PMCA member.
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- 305-905-5322
DOREN CLAIRE
- Ocklawaha, FL
- North Shore of Lake Weir (Central FL) Email me and I'll share my Purple Martin experiences.
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MARVIN MARLEY
- Graceville, AL
- I would be happy to mentor someone in the Jackson, Washington or Holmes Counties of Florida as well as Houston and Geneva Counties in Alabama. My site is central to the towns of Graceville, Campbellton, Chipley and Cottondale Florida. Martins have nested here for the past 6 years and although there are a number of other sites in the area, there is always room for more.
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- 850-638-7646
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Jarbas Godoy
Lorraine Starr
- Wellington, FL
- Palm Beach County
- I work for PB County Fire Rescue and our Fire House is going to put up our first Martin house in hopes of becoming landlords by February. We are all excited about participating in Martin conservation and getting free mosquito control!
- 3411 South Shore Blvd
Wellington, FL 33414
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- 561 307-0094
- Posted: October 2009
Becky Cook
- Sebastian, FL
- Indian River County
- I am interested in starting a colony, but have many concerns which I need to discuss first with a mentor. Preferrably someone near my location who has experience with the local wildlife.
I have developed a natural habitat in my residentual yard which attracts everything! I currently garden for butterflies and hummingbirds. I have two large water containers/small ponds that hosts dragonfly larvae and other water creatures. And there is a small man-made lake/pond a coupke blocks from my home.
I have a bird feeder in my backyard which attracts various wild birds. We have a local Hawk and a family of Screech Owls both of which I have photographed at different times in my backyard. And of course I also have snakes and squirrels which are seen daily in my yard. I often witness the Purple Martins flying up and down my street in front of my house. I know my yard hosts a lot of insects, so that may be why I see the Purple Martins feeding near my home at dusk.
I would like to correspond with someone that can first tell me if I should even consider being a Purple Martin Landlord because of what lives in and around my yard. And secondly, does my front yard even have an area to add a small colony of gourd homes? I am partcularly interested in the gourd houses (plastic). I work full-time, so that is another concern as far as lowering the gourds in inclement weather.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!
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- Posted: September 2009
Donna Gerner
- Pensacola, FL
- escambia County
- I did not have any birds first year. I have two birds that I believe are martins arrived about a week ago. This is my 2nd year. I have looked at alot of pictures trying to be sure.I just need to communicate with a mentor to be sure. And any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks
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- Posted: March 2009
Dan Del Rio
- Southwest Ranches, FL
- Broward County
- I am just trying to get into the hobby and am looking for some advice on getting started for 2009. It looks like their is alot to learn. Really got some good information from your site.
I live on an open acre on the edge of the Glades with very little trees and a canal in the back part of the property. I have installed a telescopic pole, in the back area of the propery. The pole is 100 feet from the house, can be raised to a height of 15 feet and the area is free of any obstructions on all sides.
What do I do next ? Thank you, Dan.
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- Posted: November 2008
christie
- alva, FL
- lee County
- this is my first year and it was an accident.i got some gourds in N.c. i thought they might look indian-ish hanging in my yard. so i duct taped a old boat oar on top of a 20 foot high metal chain link fence pole. then hung my gourds about 6 inches apart. it looked pretty cool .that was in march 2008.within 5 days all the gourds were full.i had no idea what the birds were.then found this sight.it has helped me know that babies have to be returned to nest
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- Posted: July 2008
Brandon Davis
- Saint Cloud, FL
- Osceola County
- I am a PMCA member who has tried unsuccessfully to attract purple martins to my Natureline gourd system. Two years ago I added a predator guard and this past year I added a decoy and a speaker to play the dawnsong CD. I have just been blessed with a single nesting pair and would like some help in making sure this is a success.
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- (407) 891-8245
- Posted: April 2008
Jolie
- Wellington, FL
- Palm Beach County
- I\'ve lived on Lake Wellington since just before the hurricanes in 2004 and loved watching the Purple Martin activity in people\'s backyard condo\'s from my humble boat. In 2007, I thought I knew enough to put up a house and got an 18 room aluminum Heath house with the telescoping 15\' pole. They were just not interested at all last year. This year, I secured tomato fencing around it and added 4 dowels for them to perch and preen and the very next day, our new little B&B was fully booked! (well maybe not fully, but there was a ton of activity) So, it\'s only been a few days now, but I\'m afraid I\'m going to do something wrong in the long term and would love the help of someone with more experience so I can do this right and hopefully someday be a mentor. I really want to know if I\'m supposed to put bedding in the houses or just leave it around so they have access. Also, how often should I check the nests; I feel guilty like I\'m disrupting nature and don\'t want to scare them away. Thanks for reading.
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- Posted: April 2008
Jim Barnett
- Fort Lauderdale, FL
- U.S.A. County
- Hi, I just bought an intracoastal waterfront home in Fort Lauderdale and would like to establish a Martin colony as soon as possible, so I would buy the biggest colony house available, but need help in setting it up and pointers on where to set it up on the property grounds, etc. Thanks you for your anticipated assistance.
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- Posted: February 2008
Patty Combs
- Deltona, FL
- Volusia County
- We have the \"martin housing\" from our next-door neighbors who moved to another state. We put up their housing (four large nesting poles) in our yard to avoid them getting \"sold\" with the house.
We have them elevated, with gerbel bedding in them now. We need advice on whatever it is we need to do now. thanks, patty combs
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- Posted: December 2007
Marti Stupka and Robert Miller
- Fort Myers, FL
- Lee County
- We had a fairly successful first year as landlords last year. We would like to have someone available to us as a mentor when questions arise that we can\'t seem to find answers to on the website or in books.
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- Posted: October 2007
Kaly McKibben
- Sarasota, FL
- Manatee County
- I\'m a college student who will be implementing a nest box program on my campus for my senior thesis. This will include a purple martin complex, which I\'m in the process of designing right now. The more I learn about my target birds, the better. Although I\'m a Florida resident, I\'m listed in the Georgia section as well because the majority of my family lives in Georgia and I visit quite often. Mentors in both states would be well appreciated. If you\'re an experienced PM landlord and have any advice for me, I\'d greatly appreciate it. Thank you!
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- Posted: June 2007
David Lott
- Pensacola, FL
- Escambia County
- I am new to Martin Housing, I bought a house last year and put it up around the end of Jan. of this year. I have put the house according to what I have read on this site. The man next door has an active colony and a pond in his yard(we both have about three acres). I guess my questions are how long does it take for the Martins to take to the house? and if they have not take to by the end of may should I take the house down until next year? Any help or advice would go a long way. Thanks.
- 10075 Rebel rd.
Pensacola, FL 32526
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- Posted: May 2007
Diana
- Green Cove Springs, FL
- Clay County
- We just put up are house. We want to have a successful Purple Martin Colony..
- Capito
1838 Creek View Drive
Green Cove Springs, FL 32043
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- Posted: April 2007
John Allen
- Boca Raton, FL
- Palm Beach County
- I have a colony of 20 purple martins nesting in my purple martin condo .Very successful breeding going on but I have not lowered the nest for inspection out of fear of scaring the colony away. Is it manadatory that I do so? They seem to be very active and very happy, I do see some scratching from time to time and a hawk has taken a bird or two over the 3 months they have been nesting but I want them to be healthy so i need assistance on making sure I do the right thing.
- 12300 Cabot Court
Boca Raton, FL 33428
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- Posted: May 2006
Fred Hall
- W. Melbourne, FL
- Brevard County
- I am a PMCA member and had a colony for 7-years in Sebring, FL. This ended in Dec. 2004 when I moved to Melbourne, FL. I now live in an independent retirement home and would like to start another colony on the grounds of this facility.
I would like to meet some local Purple Martin mentors to learn from their experiences and to show other members of this facility what it's all about.
Please contact me ASAP.
Fred Hall
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- Posted: September 2005
AMIE CAMP
- WINTER BEACH, FL
- INDIAN RIVER County
- THE COLONY IS IN SEBASTIAN FLORIDA WE HAVE OVER 39 BABY BIRDS AND 6 OF THEM ARE FLYING AROUND AT 24 DAYS OLD WE HAVE ALOT OF MOVEMENT WITH THE BIRDS AND THEY ARE FUN TO WORK WITH BUT THE SAD THING IS WHEN WE LOOSE BABY BIRDS WE ALREADY LOST 9 BABIES. WE HAD A BABY BIRD THAT WE WERE TAKING CARE OF AND SATURDAY MR.MCCARTY CAME OUT AND CHECKED ON HIM BUT TODAY 5/9/05 I WENT OUT THERE TO CHECK IF HE WAS STILL THERE AND HE WASN'T THERE AND WE THINK SINCE HE WASN'T DOING VERY GOOD THAT THE MOTHER JUST TOOK HIM AND DROPPED HIM OR HE JUST FELL OUT OF THE NEST AND A HAWK GOT HIM. HIS BROTHER AND SISTERS ARE VERY HEALTHY AND I GUESS HE WAS THE RUNT AND HE COULDN'T GET ANY FOOD WHEN HIS PARENTS CAME AND GAVE THE FOOD AND HIS BROTHER AND SISTERS JUST BEAT HIM TO THE FOOD AND HE COULDN'T EAT.
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- Posted: May 2005
Thomas Rybarski
- Lillian, AL
- Baldwin County
- This will be my first year I have housing available. I have a modified MK-12 (now 6 room) up and will put up 12 Big Bo gourds soon. Any advice will be appreciated.
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- Posted: February 2005
ron ruffner
- St Pete, FL
- Pinellas County
- I live on a salt water canal near treasure island. I have installed a house on my dock. I would like to find someone nearby to help me and make sure I set up the housing so it will work.
- 7825 2nd Ave S
St Pete, FL 33707
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- 727-347-2560
- Posted: February 2005
R. RODRIGUES
- FL
- Brevard County
- This will be my first year trying to attract Purple Martins. I'm researcing/reading on line and have the housing (for 20 pairs)/pole and predator guard. I'm ordering the dawnsong and decoys today and will be putting my housing up as soon as they arrive.
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JOY CORBETT
- Jacksonville, FL
- Duval County
- I have tried for 10 years to attract martins. I have had three martin houses and also home grown gourds. Nothing, but I never gave up. This year I have had one subadult male checking out my houses' rooms since april 25, he is here every day, I play my tape for him. I talk to him but so far he is the only one, does this mean I wait till next year to get a family? I am desperate to know what to do. Anyone please give me advice. Thank you. -Joy
- 15970 Sawpit Rd.
Jacksonville, FL
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- 904-757-7362
DENISE CAMPBELL
- Ft. Meyers, FL
- I live in Ft. Myers FL and have my first nesting pair in 4 years. I also have some adult males hanging around. I'd like someone in this area to just keep in touch with to answer any questions I will have. Thanks!
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DOUG HIGH
- Naples, FL
- We have a house which we bought from the PMCA, the one with 12 gourds that can be raised and lowered. I have nothing in the gourds and wonder what I should put in them, I live in Naples, FL and would like a mentor. This is our first effort. I also wonder when the birds should arrive (if they do).
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BILL & JO ELLEN SCHRODE
- Kendall (Miami), FL
- I'm anxiously awaiting a purple martin house for Christmas. Both my husband and I are very interested in finding a mentor who will give us some advice in both getting a good house and getting the right location. Looking forward to being good landlords.
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RICHARD A. MEEK
- Wildwood, FL
- I started in 1999 with a rack I made from 6 inch plastic sewer pipe instead of gourds. A new friend in Wildwood who lives in Oxford told me about the PMCA and I realized my houses were too small, but I did get one pair of martins that nested. My friend grows his own gourds and he gave me 4 to try out for the 2000 season. Three pair nested and seemed to attract visitors as well. On July 10,2000 I counted 20 martins perched and flying around my rack! That was the last day I saw PMs until February 7, 2001 when 1 very scruffy looking adult male showed up. Feb. 10 and there were three, one adult male, one adult female, and one I wasn't sure which. Last fall I replaced all my sewer pipes with natural gourds, which I painted white and installed inspection ports. On Feb. 15 I found a great horned owl sitting on top of my rack at daybreak and I haven't seen a PM since.
- 50 Seminole Path
Wildwood, FL
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- 352-748-7709
AMBER LOLLIE
- Hosford, FL
- Hi. I live in NW Florida and have had a martin house up for 3 years. No martins have come. I have to get the starlings out though. My house is yellow, is that the problem? It is not too high, does not have obstructions in flight path, water and food and nesting material is available, but NO martins! What am I doing wrong? the house was built supposedly to the martin's standards. I also have problems with keeping out the Mexican Mockingbirds.
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CHARLOTTE
- Weston, FL
- Hi all, I REALLY goofed up. I took my house down to check it and CRASH, the house fell to the ground and all the eggs in the only nest had broke. Not knowing what to do, I scooped up the contents of the eggs and threw it away. I continue to have 2 females at my site, however no more nest building. NOW WHAT DO I DO?
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JOE SENART
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