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.
So, with that
said...
If you have any comments or questions or just want to say "Hi", please click on my mail box to e-mail me.
This
page created and maintained
by Chuck Abare