Kendra, Do you have the house away from tall trees? Martins are nor like helicopters smile..They like to zoom in and zoom out. The best way I like to tell people is imagine they are the fighter jets and your house is the aircraft carrier or the airport. Nothing can block the flight path to the runways and consider the open areas near your colony the runways. It is the martin's nature not to want to slow down when entering or exiting the colony site. This puts them at greater risks of getting caught by the Cooper's or Sharp Shinned Hawk. If the martins do not have these open flyzones to and from they will not colonize a new site. Give them everything they seek Kendra is my point. You may also want to try hanging about 4 well natural gourds under the T-14. Martins love gourds but make sure these gourds are also starling resistent like your house is. That is very good that you have taken the steps to protect the martins from those no good murdering starlings and that is a huge step at getting a martin colony started. Anyway I just thought I would give you some tips and if you try and envision your martin setup like it is the airport and the martins are like F-16's you will see what I mean. You acnnot attract a nest seeking woodpecker to an open field Kendra and you cannot attract a martin to a woods or in the midst of tall trees or even buildings that may block the flyzones. Now at the same time make sure the martin house in within at least 120 feet of your house without blocking the flyzones. Martins like nesting near man because they have learned that the threat of hawks is not as great. Glad you love the martins Kendra..I know I do. Just keep on trying and make sure you do not allow the Hosue Sparrows to nest in the house either. They are just as bad for American birds as the starlings and there are traps for dealing with them...Mike

Socks, I'll also refer you to the link I posted earlier. There's so much information at the PMCA site that you may enjoy reading. Purple Martins have the unusual distinction of relying upon man made housing for safety while breeding. If there's not enough housing in one colony, they'll search for another place. If my housing were to be destroyed and not replaced, they would search for another but would come back here first to see if housing was available. If they didn't have housing, they would find shelter in trees but would not breed. Once breeding is over and the young ones have fledged, they will start to gather in large groups called "roosts" and prepare for migration. The smaller roosts will meet up with larger groups to form "super roosts" and these are visible from radar! The roosts are generally in trees and they gather for the night. As far as the same birds returning year to year, I can't prove it with my little colony but I do recognize certain birds from year to year. The only way to really prove that is by banding, but you have to be certified to band birds. There are couples that prefer certain housing units over another. We proved that this year by only opening the newer housing first. They kept on checking out the older ones and the minute we opened them, they swooped in and made themselves at home. The young birds (SY) will come back to where they hatched. If they find housing, they will settle in. If not, they'll search nearby. Here's a picture of my current 108 unit set up. Pay no attention to that leaning pole....it's been up for a while!

Connie, maybe their hiding out in the gourds. I've never done it, but a guy told me how to feed them. I buy mealworms for my bluebirds, but you can also buy crickets, for Purple Martins. Then fling them up in the air with a long plastic spoon. But, maybe you have a dish to hoist up in the air near their roost? Leslie (who's still waiting for her PM's)

Thanks, everyone, for the nice comments. I do look forward to the Purple Martins return from their winter vacation in Brazil. Socks...When the PM eggs hatch, the chicks are called "hatchlings" or "chicks" until they leave the nest at about 28-32 days old. At that time they will be as big as the adults and are called "fledglings" or "HYs"...birds in their Hatching Year. In late summer all the PMs, HYs included, migrate to Brazil where they spend the winter eating, growing, relaxing, molting new feathers, and building up strength for the return migration to their nesting areas all over eastern North America. When this year's chicks/HYs, return next spring, they will not be the solid dark color of the adults. They are then considered "Second Years", or SYs. The males will have at least one, but usually several black feathers on his chest and belly area. The SY females are much lighter versions of the adult females. SYs will sometime breed, but most don't. Normally, SY females will mate with an adult (ASY) male more often than a SY male will mate with an ASY female. And, just to mix things up, you'll sometimes see a pair of SYs matched up. Now the seasons change and they again migrate to Brazil. After they arrive, the SYs will molt into their final color phase and be considered ASY (After Second Years.) Once they've reached this stage you won't be able to tell if a PM is three years old, or 10. I'll post photos that show the age/sex differences later, or check out the Research Links and Download Center of the PMCA. It has a wealth of PM information. Here is a link that might be useful: Purple Martin Conservation Association