Purple Martins!  You've probably heard of them at one time or another.  Maybe your father had a house with martins.  Or maybe some other relative or maybe even your neighbor down the road has a colony. For whatever reason, you became interested and now you're searching the internet to find information about them to start your own colony.

If you're interested in purple martins or think you'd like to start a colony, then hopefully you'll find the information to do just that on this web page. Taking time to check out all the information you can before you set up housing for them, will be time well spent.  If you don't know what you're doing, sometimes it can be very exasperating to attract them to a new site. With all the findings that have come forth from new research in recent years, the information on keeping purple martins is literally changing daily.  I've presented my information here for you to get a basic understanding of the hobby however; if you want a different perspective from another landlord, then by all means, visit one or more of the other sites listed on the internet.  Most of the time you will find that everyone agrees on the basics of keeping purple martins, however; you'll also find many things throughout the different pages that are under continuous disagreements and discussions therefore; read all the information presented and educate yourself so you can make your own informed decisions.

On this site you'll find all kinds of information dealing with Purple Martins; information like how to attract them, house them, protect them and how to properly care for them. The intent of this page is to inform and educate therefore; I strive to keep the information in tune with the latest research.  As you'll find out, the old ways of hosting martins has gone by the wayside, so just putting a house up and letting it go is no longer a valid way of hosting purple martins.

Purple martins are a very beautiful and friendly native bird and will need all the help you can give them. On this site, you will read about housing accessibility, why doing nest checks are important, protecting them from predators and defending them from other pest birds and you have to be prepared to deal with all these things.  The explanations to this statement will be found within these pages (and many other pages on the Internet) in much more detail.  Keeping purple martins is much more than just sticking a house on top of a pole and seeing what happens. And may I also add, be prepared to become addicted. They can do that. I'm willing to bet you've never been in contact with another wild bird quite like The Purple Martin.

Please Note:
I am in no way an expert on Purple Martins nor do I proclaim to be. I just happen to have a fairly nice colony of martins and a number of years of experience with them.  My knowledge of the species has been developed over the years from reading, keeping, studying, testing and caring for them.  In doing so I've also learned to develop a love for them, (some would call it an addiction) hence, these web pages.  I attempt to stay abreast of all the new information that is constantly being discovered thru ongoing testing and observations of these birds.  Since purple martins travel well into Canada, we are dealing with different geographical locations and some of the information may vary a little, meaning; what works in one area may be a little different for another and may require a little different approach. A little common sense will go a long way in understanding our objective.

These pages have grown to keep pace with the latest information on purple martins along with the questions or suggestions from other folks that have visited here and in order to either answer some of those questions or to clarify a point, I've added pictures or graphics to many of these pages. I am not a professional photographer, but I hope that most of the pictures are good enough to get my points across.

Please feel free to browse around all of these pages. Print them out if you know of someone who would like the information, but doesn't have a computer themselves. Specifically, I have an overview that attempts to explain the hobby in a somewhat compressed article and hopefully it will give a good base for starting out before one makes the plunge.  All I ask is that the information be used towards the propagation of the Purple Martin as a species and to increase the knowledge, understanding and enjoyment of the hobby of hosting Purple Martins.

Reading about martins is one thing, but experiencing them is totally different.  Please, read and understand so you can make your own decisions as to how to establish and run your site. During your visits to other websites, you might read something different than what I suggest therefore; if it sounds like good information, then by all means, think it thru and then give it a try.  I'm not going to tell you not to try any particular type of housing, or any particular method, because that might be just the one that works for you to attract them. As can be seen by the pictures throughout these pages, I have both wood housing, natural and plastic gourds at my site and martins use all of them. If you like the looks of gourds (natural or manufactured) with their aesthetic appeal then put up gourds. Likewise if you prefer the looks of wood, plastic or aluminum houses, then by all means, put them up. But please remember, if you are just starting out and trying to attract them, then there are some basic rules that have to be followed or else it will become very frustrating for you.  Under the links on the left, hopefully you'll find what you need to, not only get you started, but educated as well at what it takes to host a purple martin colony.  And PLEASE, once you get them, please take care of them.

So, with that said...

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This page created and maintained
by Chuck Abare