Ooooh, nothing like a garden in spring for bringing in the migrating birds! Sounds lovely, Gary. I really think purple martins are beautiful. That shiny purple-black coloration is remarkable, and they have the prettiest little heart shaped faces. Of course, you kind of have to see them close up to appreciate that, but still, they are sweet looking. You are right...they prefer their nests to have a long open "run way" leading up to it, and not be enclosed by a lot of trees. An open backyard or field with a pond or lake nearby is ideal for them. But still, to have them stop by your house is fun, I'm sure. The goldfinches I had during the cold snap (along with the fantastic summer tanager) have moved on. I have seen one or two single ones this past week, but they didn't stick around. The lone yellow-rumped warbler who fed every day with the summer tanager is still here, and still eating seed. (I swear, the birds don't read the books!!!) My white-winged doves have made one or two appearances at the feeder, but mostly, they are laying low again. They probably won't be very active for another few weeks, yet. The Carolina wren is very active and very vocal right now, and the cardinals are busy, but I haven't seen any cedar waxwings yet this year. And the great-crested flycatchers haven't arrived. I'm waiting to hear the first loud THREEEEP from them. I envy your painted buntings. Hope I get some this year, too. Marcia

Glenda, It is not cheating! I would hope Ozarkers would always be welcome on the neighboring Oklahoma Forum, and vice versa. We have been here 10 years now and have had Purple Martins 8 of those 10 years. I just love them. We have two houses and I'd like to put up a third. Most years we have 10-20 adult and sub-adult martins and then, later in the year, their babies. We are "amateurs" compared to a friend of ours here who has had purple martin houses for about 20-25 years now. He has a very large TV antenna (looks kinda like a 30' or 40' tall mini oil-derrick) that the birds adore. Around the TV antenna, he has 4 or 5 purple martin houses and some purple martin gourds as well, and I'd guess he has 80 to 120 sub-adult and adult birds annually, and too many babies to count. Our barn has a cupola on top of it and there is a weather vane on top of the cupola. The weather vane is a favorite roosting spot for the martins and they fight for the right to sit on it. It is fun to watch them. Sometimes, in the spring and summer evenings after we eat dinner, we sit outside on the barn patio and watch the Martins (and the bats) fly around and around and around in the sky, searching for and eating their dinner. It is cheap entertainment and I'd rather watch the birds outside than watch the TV inside. Dawn

Terrene, The ancient martins of the past once nested in hollow tree snags,old woodpecker holes,etc and some including myself think they mave have used rocky outcroppings,cliffsides,and river banks very similar to how the Rough Winged Swallow,Barn,and the Cliff Swallow nests today. To me this would explain their use of mud in their nests. There would be no need for mud in a deep woodpecker cavity or tree hollow but maybe the ancient martins used mud to seal off a rock crevice or something similar?? All fun questions to think about and wonder. The native American Indians of the south first started attracting martins by using gourds. Most likely it happened by accident as the Indians hung the gourds to dry. Well maybe the mice(that love to eat gourd seeds)got into them as they hung there in the winter drying. They ate a hole in the gourd and in the spring the martins took them. After the Indians noticed this they liked the martins and then started purposely hanging the gourds for them? Again fun questions to think about. When the white man settled in this country they began to build wooden houses for martins along with adopting the Indians practice of hanging gourds and then the stage was set for making the Purple Martin so dependant on man for housing as they are today. I think that in ancient days of this country when the great forests once dominated that the martins were not as common as they are today with the increased open area and that is most likely true. However the greatest threat to martins now is their need for man made housing and of course their number one enemies the Starlings and the House Sparrows. When these two birds came on the scene they slowly began to push out the martins wherever they became common. Gone were the days of simply putting up a martin house with 2 inch round holes in it and forgetting about it. Same with the Bluebirds and if it were not for the 1 and 1\2 inch entrance hole in BB Boxes the Eastern Bluebird would not be near as common as they are now. The 1 and 1\2 hole stopped the starlings and then they only had the House Sparrows to deal with. Fortunately for the Purple Martin there are now SREH(Starling Resistent Entrance Holes)and they have helped martins everywhere now not have to deal with starlings and wherever this is happening the martins are doing great. My site is nearly 100% clinger SREH now and it is such a sitisfying feeling knowing the martins are protected from those nest stealing,murdering starlings. Martins can deal with the sparrows to a point but not starlings and having the SREH is the only way to go these days if you seek a martin colony. I have been a martin landlord since I was 11 years old Terrene and all. I never tire of watching them and they are such a great part of summertime in this country. They are as American as baseball,apple pie,your Grandma's country biscuits,etc..smile..Thanks to all people who now use the SREH and trap and control the House Sparrows at their martin colonies. It simply helps the martins bigtime and so many other native songbirds continue to exist and live free and un harrassed in their own country. Man has in a way changed the nesting habits of the martins and this one question is always in my mind when I watch them. What would happen if all of a sudden man stopped supplying them housing?? Would their ancient instincts kick back in and send them back to cliffs,riverbanks,hollows,etc??? That is a lot to ponder right there I know that...Mike

Wow! I didn't watch the whole thing, but I'm wondering......where is his placement of these? Is it by a field or a pond? Does having that many of one kind of bird in that area have an effect on other birds?