BellaOnline Forums Hobbies and Crafts Birding Purple Martins

Has anyone had any luck attracting Purple Martins? We put up houses early in 2001 and so far all we've had are two spring/summers of bluebird families. Here's a picture of mommy bluebird with a bug for her babies.



I really feel like a brat whining about attracting the bluebird of happiness, (they seem to prefer the housing project to our bluebird houses), but I still would also like some Purple Martins too! (Just call me greedy <img src="/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" /> ) Any suggestions?

I've heard they're really picky about environment so if you're not in the right spot, they just won't come. Maybe you can lure them in, though!

I've been trying to get bluebirds for a few years now, and some did poke around my birdhouses last fall, but no luck yet ...

I was just reading an article about bluebird boxes. The State of NY had hundreds built a few years ago, and you can see them all along the NYS Thruway. But it seems the barn swallows are taking them over and driving off the bluebirds. I saw this myself, when we were at the Lake Ontario Bird Festival a couple weeks ago. Every bluebird house had swallows either on top of them or poking out of the hole. Since the bluebird is the State Bird of NY, I'm sure they're looking for a solution to this, but I can't imagine what it'll be. They both like that same farmland habitat and the swallows are pretty aggressive.

We used to live on a lake and had lots of Purple Martins nesting every year in a couple of big houses on really high poles. Are you near enough to water, Moss, to attract them? I think thats one of the big draws. They'd swoop down and divebomb us when they were nesting....it got pretty dangerous to go swimming for awhile....

Gosh, I guess we should be more grateful that we're making a home for the Bluebirds! Maybe what everyone needs to do is put up Purple Martin houses - it's working for our bluebirds. <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Yes, Bayberry, we have a quarter acre pond on our property and it's very close to the Purple Martin houses. I don't know how the kids are going to like being dive bombed while they're swimming, but I guess they'll get used to it.

In order to have it all - Bluebirds & Purple Martins - it seems as though maybe we need to pay more attention to encouraging the Bluebirds to use their own houses. This would create a vacancy for the Purple Martins. After all, right now, there's no room at the inn. What do you think?

Its funny, isn't it Moss, how "no one" seems to want to nest in the houses intended for them. Kinda like "Equal Opportunity Housing" for the avian world. I put up 2 wren houses late last Fall, hoping for chickadees or titmice to find them this spring. So far, no takers. They say the size and placement of the hole will draw certain birds, but I see starlings in a neighbors yard squeezing themselves into a birdhouse with a hole obviously not intended for their size. I'd be pretty tickled right now to find any nests at all ... <img src="/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" /> ...My yard is a haven for "eating" but I'll be darned if I can spot any nests. Alot of the birds take off into my neighbors huge pine trees and are so well sheltered that they're hard to follow. So I just wait until they bring their babies to teach them how to eat...
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I know what you mean, Bayberry. We also had Carolina Wrens this year who ignored our cute little wren house and built their nest in the garage on a ledge behind the snow shovel. And, like most things, it turned out all for the best. The baby wrens left the nest on a rainy day, so they stayed in the garage. We all had front row seats to watch their flying practice. What a treat! <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

It definitely helps to put up a number of different sized birdhouses, so that birds will find one that suits them. You need to put them somewhere quiet away from the food, which unfortunately means it usually ends up somewhere that's not easy to watch. I have I think 7 or 8 houses up now and have yet to see baby birds in them, but I do see a good number of babies learning to fly by the feeders, so I know their nests are around here somewhere <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

I don't have any birdhouses up since we don't have the space for them. However, I do feed the birds and get what I call "the brown birds" which are either swallows or a common finch, American Gold finches every once in a while, chickadees, titmice, Blue Jays, "the black birds" which I think might be starlings, Purple Finches, and a cardinal maybe once a month. Of course, along with that we've got our regular squirrels and chipmunks to help out with the clean up of the spilled birdseed. Unfortunately, the squirrels are also in the habit of digging up my garden. So I've begun to put bird netting over some of the beds which seems to be deterring them.

I think we have moles - we have all the poisonous bulbs I planted (i.e. daffodils) but somehow all of the "yummy" bulbs (i.e. tulips) have vanished. Very suspicious. I'll have to look for non-tasty bulbs for next year.