Any purple martin aficionados out there..

[ShezaGirlie]

We haven't attracted any purple martins this year....yet. They fly up from Mexico to raise a family and it's already late for them this year, so don't know if we'll get lucky or not.

I did get a pic this morning of what I thought was a purple martin. That's a decoy on the bottom floor and the live bird on the top just above the decoy. Sure looked like a martin, but don't know for sure. It did make a really pretty sound...and there were two of them. Maybe mom and pop..??

 

[Cooker]

We see a few but not nearly enough ..... need to move out of town ... Like DW will go for that

 

[Mary]

Yes, we love purple martins, but they deserted our happy home about 5 years ago and have yet to return.

In the past, mom and pop raised a brood, and then returned the following year with the kids to settle in at the old homestead. Extra brothers and sisters were forced to find their own digs.Our purple martins use to show up on April 15, tax day, year after year. A series of late winter frosts killed their food source (primarily flying insects)and so our area has seen fewer and fewer Martins each Spring. Same thing has happened with the hummingbird population.

Janie, if you end up having a house full, I want you to capture a pair and fly them up here in your carry on bag. No one will notice, unless they start their characteristic chatter once they get airborne!

 

[Ross]

We haven't had any around here for years.

 

[bvdr]

We used to have 4 purple martin houses that were filled to capacity when we lived on a freshwater lake. We watched them come home each evening and were amazed at the flying skills. I spent a lot of time on a purple martin website and then joined a research study out of (If I remember correctly) Edinborough University which was a branch of the University of Pennsylvania. I think we had a total of 72 apartments for the birds and most were occupied.

They took a lot of work but it was really enjoyable. I would lower the houses each week and check each apartment and remove broken eggs, dead young, or if the nest was wet then make them a new one with pine straw. They had to be protected from owls, raccoons, crows, seagulls, and snakes. We also had to remove nests of sparrows or starlings that were built in the martin houses. Being a martin landlord keeps one busy during the nesting season. I would keep records on each next and know how many eggs were in each nest and on what date to expect them to hatch. I would have to chart how many survived to fledge and then on what date they left the area. It would always be so quiet when they all left for the season and usually would hear their call only from a mockingbird that hung around.

We were in an ideal location for purple martins as we were on a narrow peninsula that jutted into a fresh water lake. My next door neighbor also put up a martin house and was very successful. We moved from the lake just a few weeks before I had MVR. We were very concerned about who would take care of our colony. My wonderful next door neighbor volunteered for the job and he moved our houses from our seawall to his. The same martins come back year after year but their young actually return to the area but not to the house they had left.

Janie, google The Purple Martin Society and you should get great information. The purple martin houses we liked the best were the Lone star houses out of San Antonio. I wish you the very best of luck. I sure miss my little birds.

 

[RobThatsMe]

Hi,

We have many purple martins at the lake we boat at in TN, and they fly all around the marina.
They are great to watch, and they also do a fantastic job of keeping the bugs down, espeically those pesky mosquitos.


Who was that masked man?

Rob

 

[ShezaGirlie]

Yippeeeeeeee..!

Yippeeeeeeee..!

Thanks so much Betty for all your good tips. First thing we did was to take out the sparrow nest.. Hated to do that though and the sparrow pair has shown up this morning. There weren't any sparrow eggs in there, but they're looking for a home too...!

The really good news.....there are about SIX purple martins sitting/flying around the house this morning....yippeeeee..! Yesterday was the first day we saw any and I'm guessing because it's been so dry here and not a lot of bugs about. We had 2.5 inches of rain last week and the bugs/mosquitos are flying.....ah hah, food..! Just hope the 3 pair build their nests. Should we help by putting out straw?? There's loads of dry grass nearby in the field..

I've found www.purplemartin.org and am 'hooked'..!

Hey "Fabio"...you the masked man now?? Just where is that old pic anyway..

 

[Tbone]

No they are MIA in these parts

 

[Mary]

Thanks so much Betty for all your good tips. First thing we did was to take out the sparrow nest.. Hated to do that though and the sparrow pair are there this morning. There weren't any sparrow eggs in there, but they're looking for a home too...!

The really good news.....there are about SIX purple martins sitting/flying around the house this morning....yippeeeee..! Yesterday was the first day we saw any and I'm guessing because it's been so dry here and not a lot of bugs about. We had 2.5 inches of rain last week and the bugs/mosquitos are flying.....ah hah, food..! Just hope the 3 pair build a nest. Should we help by pitting out straw?? There's loads of dry grass nearby in the field..

I've found www.purplemartin.org and am 'hooked'..!

Hey "Fabio"...you the masked man now?? Jusyt where is that old pic anyway..

The martins build their nests using mud and green leaves from trees. If you watch them, I bet you'll see them landing in the tree tops and breaking small twigs and leaves off to use in their "apartment".

 

[bvdr]

Janie, I'm so happy you are having some success. Purple Martins are not so picky about what they build their next with. They use what is available. Don't worry about them picking up your scent and scaring them off. It isn't true. They have no sense of smell. I've held dozens and dozens of the baby martins and once the martins get used to seeing you they just take it all in stride.

Enjoy your little feathered friends....they are amazing.

 

[Marguerite53]

I do not know my birds. I was hoping to see a photo of one of your purple martins. I've googled them for our area, and we do get them in April, apparently. We have a greenspace with a creek behind us so I would think they might come through. What we used to get at our old house was finches. Bright red, orange and yellow... no idea where they came from.... chattering around for a few days and then, poof! gone.

Here's a photo I took yesterday (gloomy day, thus the silhouette type look of it). I've been trying to capture this gorgeous blue heron who keeps flying (gliding, actually) past our window. He hangs out with some cows (my cousins ) at the end of our suburban street (hold-out farm) and in the sunshine, he is so white-headed and amazing. He can always sense that I'm trying to take his picture and he ducks in his head. Here is the more dramatic one of his flying away overhead (after, of course, I had turned off the camera. Luckily I popped it back on in time.

Please can we have some Purple Martin photos??

Marguerite

 

[Marguerite53]

More heron. I didn't put my little telephoto on, nor did I have my digital zoom ready (battery was dying and it wouldn't engage). So I've had to blow up these photos and crop them, so they're not very clear.

Anyway, here is is just hangin' out with one of the cows (bulls....whatever.... I don't know my animal nomenclature!!!)

More bird photos!! anyone! everyone!

Marguerite

 

[BDMc]

I should get a house for my mother's property on the water. They are wonderful, and a help with mosquito control. We used to have a lot of bats, but they are dying off during the winter. Nobody knows why yet, but it's scary to lose creatures at such great rates. It makes me happy to hear so many of my friends here are Martin fans. At least that in encouraging! Brian

 

[ShezaGirlie]

Anyway, here is is just hangin' out with one of the cows (bulls....whatever.... I don't know my animal nomenclature!!!) Marguerite

It's a bird, it's a plane.....NO, it's a cow.. Down here the cattle egrets love to get a free ride on the back of a cow. Your blue heron is GORGEOUS..!!

Betty - muchas gracias por su ayuda and hope y'all had fun in Cancun again.

Ok, here's a pic for y'all. My camera is cheap and old...what can I say, but our sky is clear blue today.. This shows a female purple martin on the top floor - don't know where the male is, but he's there with her most all the time. He's gorgeous - very dark purple. I'll get a pic of him soon. We only ended up with one pair...., but that's OK for the first season. And they do have a huge nest in there. Oh, that's a decoy on the bottom floor...guess it worked.

 

[Bina]

Martins and Swallows.........natural insect control. Good for you!
My Barn Swallows aren't back yet. But I did see my Phoebe on Saturday.
The Great Blue Heron is around somewhere, our river is still a bit high and it's over run with Canada Geese. Hundreds.

 

[Bina]

Here is a sample of our Geese. Hubby takes these pics, hiding in bushes for an hour.