The purple martins took off for South America yesterday. It was sooner than I expected. I'm a little sad. Every year, I get used to seeing them when I come home. I always take some time to watch them. It is so relaxing to take a few minutes to sit on the bench to watch them soar around the sky and talk to each other. It is great to invite friends over to sit under the tree, have a glass of ice tea and watch the martins. That last set of babies fledged and boy, the colony didn't waste any time at all. I saw them late yesterday morning and had a sense that they were getting ready to go. Their fluttering around the house wasn't quite their normal behavior. By noon there wasn't a purple martin in sight. None came into the birdhouse at dusk last night and this morning, the house was still empty. So I took the house down this afternoon and cleaned it out. Got it ready to put into the attic until Christmas/January. I sure do miss them already! Carol

Hi Lisa, Yes, I would think that they would have their houses up already. My friend who lives in North Dakota has just had her Martins arrive, so it is time. It is absolutely NOT too late to get nesting Martins. It is VERY important to place the house in the very best location possible. Martins need large open flyways from all directions. They do not want to nest next to large trees, but they do not like to be too far away from people either. Location is EVERYTHING to them. Proximity to the Bluebird housing should not be too much of a problem for them. I wouldn't put them side by side intentionally, but many Martin landlords have BB's nesting in close proximity to their sites. What you absolutely cannot do is to allow any other cavity nester to nest inside the Martin house. It must be monitored very closely. If you see another species of bird is interested in the housing, then it needs to be closed up until you see Martins on it or around it. YES, there are many websites where Martin landlords come to discuss their colonies and are very willing to answer questions and offer advice to those who are newbies and trying to learn and establish colonies. Here are some Purple Martin sites: http://www.purplemartin.org/ http://www.pmclubhouse.com/isapi.dll?c=h&htx=page http://www.michiganmartins.com/ http://purplemartin.org/mentorprogram/index.php?loc=MI http://www.chuckspurplemartinpage.com/ Hope that helps you!! Keep me posted on your progress?~~Angie

What a treat! Thanks for sharing. I read such a discouraging article in the Chicago Tribune last week. It was about a bird tagging location near the Illinois/Wisconsin border that has been functioning for forty years. At first I thought the article said the number of birds had declined by ten to twenty percent, then...no, the number has declined TO ten to twenty percent of the migrating birds. They blame pollution and the declining habitat along migration routes. One of the tiny birds photographed had been recorded on migration from Northern Canada to South America. Our bird population has never come back more than a few percent from the die-off during avian flu a few years ago. I almost never see a crow or blue jay -- who thought I'd miss *them*?

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!