Hi marti, This is a subject with which I am well familiar as this will be my 4th season trying to establish a Purple Martin colony. Many of the older ASY (After second year) birds are back to their nesting colony sites now, and the older males are soon beginning to "dawnsing" in order to attract in the younger Subadult (SY) birds to their sites. In the Purple Martin migration, the older birds arrive home first and the younger ones come 4-6 weeks later. So, playing the Dawnsong CD calls them in! It really does work. Now, there is another CD available called the "Daytime Chatter" CD. It is just a compilation of typical colony sounds and can be played all throughout the day. I have linked the PMCA site with info on that CD. I am in zone 7a, and the subadults are not back up this way yet, but they would be coming into your zone. Oh, I do hope that you get some to stay!! Because I erected a Purple Martin site, I now have nesting Tree Swallows and Great Crested Flycatchers returning to my yard each year. They were attracted in by the Purple Martin housing and sounds. I originally offered a Purple Martin house and some gourds, but have now gone to offering gourds only, as the house seemed to attract the House Sparrows more. I know lots of serious Purple Martin landlords and will be happy to direct you to some of their good info and advice. Just shoot me a private e-mail if you are interested.~~Angie Here is a link that might be useful: Purple Martin CD

I was afraid that might be the case, they all look around the same size (martins) and info I found today said that the martins usually start to arrive here in February and look for nesting spots. In addition to All the other potential dangers/problems with the house/location where these martins are possibly planning to nest and raise babies, same neighbors also have a HAMM RADIO tower in their back yard and every year around late spring/ summer a great horned owl perches up there on and off and and hoots, I've heard him and seen him up there several nights in a row before. Is there anything I can do at this point, like put up a safe Martin house, or will they stay there now regardless? I'm hoping that if I talk to neighbors and explain the situation, they will do something about it. I feel sick at the thought of the martins going through whole process and end up losing babies or being harmed themselves. If I thought there was a possibility that they would relocate this late in the game, I'd gladly put up a safe place for them to nest and make sure it stays that wAy, although I'd be learning as I go, ughh, whole situation makes me nervous. I'm going to post the pics of the house and the birds tonight, I'm pretty sure the house is not the ideal layout either, it has little porches with metal railings on both floors and another railing across top and from what I've read so far, that makes it easy for owls to get to them. Thanks

How exciting, caroline! When I'm lucky enough to see the actual fledging of baby bluebirds here, I'm sure angels are singing. Everything has been later than usual here this season. It stayed cool much later than usual and the summer hasn't been as hot as it usually is. Suits me, though, I'm not complaining!

They are perfectly safe. I love my babies and would never endanger them. By checking the nests, changing out dirty or vermin-infested nests, and constantly "monitoring" the colony, a "landlord" will actually have a greater percentage of the eggs hatch and the chicks fledge. I check my birds every single day, (at least when I can creep out there) until they are 18-20 days old. After that, you don't want to risk them fledging before they can truly fly and hunt. Purple Martins "imprinted" on humans before the time of Columbus. Native Americans along the east coast encouraged flocks of them to nest near their villages and encampments by hanging gourds on long forked sticks. PMs will only nest near humans and in man-made housing. Lack of housing, and predation by non-native English House Sparrows, nearly drove them (and the native bluebirds) to extinction. Since the 1960s there's been a concerted effort to restore their numbers by encouraging good management, proper housing, and HOSP control. My gourds are saturated with my scent even before the martins arrive in early spring. I put in the pre-nests of wood shavings. I add Sevin dust, and "mess" with them every day so the adults are very comfortable with me before they even lay eggs. I have females that won't move off their eggs when I do the checks. That's always cute. I have to very gently move her with a finger to see the state of the eggs under her. Bluebirds and Tree Swallows, also cavity nesters and endangered by the English House Sparrow (although the TS numbers are strong now) tolerate quiet and careful nest checks and have more successful fledge rates because of them. Sorry, to go on and on, but I do love my birds. All birds, of course, but especially my Purple Martins ...and my Woodpeckers, Nuthatches (red- and white-breasted) Chickadees, Goldfinches, House Finches, Purple Finches, Robins, nasty ole Blue Jays, Pine Siskins, Hummingbirds, Orioles, Rose-Breasted Gross Beaks, and any other bird that zooms into my yard! LOL (Execept the Cooper's Hawk)