There is no way to deny that Autumn is upon us. Some stores even are putting up Christmas decorations. Though we are in the midst of our yearly purple martin drought, I will artificially slake my thirst for purple martins. “How”, you may ask? The only way I know how…paint. I have been hard at work painting some new pieces. I hope you enjoy the first. Please pardon some of the color rendering, the scan does not do justice to the blue sky of the original..it ends up looking white. Many watercolors can not be accurately captured and duplicated on the internet.

"Purple Martin Fledge Day"

I have been looking around the internet and found a great little nature blog called “Journals of an Amateur Naturalist” with plenty about the authors well managed purple martin colony. Check it out if you get a chance.

Sunset Inn vs The Safe Haven vs WatersEdge Suites

Sunset Inn

When you decide that an Aluminum Purple Martin Bird House is what you want and your wallet is the deciding factor, the Sunset Inn is hard to beat. Clean lines, large compartments and insulated roof make this house a great place for purple martins to raise a family.

Though the quality craftsmanship is apparent, you would not think this house is made by the Amish. I suppose, due to my own ignorance, I always thought of the Amish as wood workers not so much Aluminum manufacturers. Made by the Amish it is and the attention to detail is outstanding.

Am I partial to the Sunset Inn? Of course! I own one. But aside from my partiality, the Sunset Inn is a great little house for the money.

Similar in design to the WatersEdge Suites houses ( by Coates) and the Safe Haven by Creative Universe Enterprises the Sunset Inn also features the larger sized compartments that most other aluminum houses lack. Most aluminum houses have tiny 6×6 inch compartments that are way to small for a 7 1/2 to 8 inch bird. Even the Purple Martin Conservation Association recommends the larger sizes even though most manufacturers have yet to adopt it as a standard. Most aluminum houses out there require making changes to and cutting aluminum to modify those tiny compartments. If you want a house designed for safety and increased survival rates “out of the box”, I suggest looking seriously at the Sunset Inn, Safe Haven or Watersedge Suites houses.

The Sunset Inn can be purchased as a stand alone house to be mounted on a mounting plate on a pole or bought as a complete system which includes a pulley system to raise and lower the house. Though the 2 options look similar they are actually 2 different houses. Let me explain.

The Sunset Inn System is wider from front to back to allow a central pole to come through the center portion of the house to the pulley assembly at the top of the pole. The stand alone Sunset Inn house is built without this space and the center wall is shared by the compartments on the front and back of the house. Depending on your budget and how you want to raise and lower the house you choose one option over the other.

The Good:

Their are several features that I really like about this little house.

1. The 2 ventilation holes in the compartments are easily opened and a great size. In the hot Florida climate I keep both of these open and the cross ventilation helps with the heat.
2. The fronts of each compartment have a gap at the top to allow great ventilation. This has its drawbacks also though. (see The Bad)
3. The porch has a strong aluminum bar on either side to give stability to the house but is also great to attach hardware cloth for added protection.
4. Light weight the stand alone house weighs less than some plastic houses out there. This makes it super easy to raise and lower the house on your telescopic pole.
5. A great price for an aluminum house it makes a good alternative for the budget conscience who would rather not go with a plastic house.

The Bad:

Nothing is perfect in life and there are a few minor issues that we have come across. Though not deal breakers, you should be aware of these.

1. The same great ventilation on the fronts of the compartments can allow driving rains to enter. This makes using the elevated subfloors an absolute must.
2. The same great support rods that add stability to the house may also get in the way when removing nest trays, if you use them. FYI: The door panels must be slid to the side to remove.
3. Though not nearly as bad as the Watersedge Suites Aluminum houses, the Starling Resistant Entrance Holes (SREH) are a tad higher than they should be. This can allow the occasional small starling to breech the entrance and enter the compartment.

Though this house is great out of the box, there are some easy DIY modifications that I would suggest, to make it even better.

• Adding 2″x4″hardware cloth is something I recommend for almost all houses. It adds a measure of safety for the martins exiting the house during an Owl raid. Owls are known to flush out the martins and catch them as they flee their housing.

• Use the subfloors or create your own with very fine 1/8 inch hardware cloth is paramount to allow the nests to dry out quicker.

• Add perches. That also goes for every house.

(above) WatersEdge

Product Comparison:

The Sunset Inn was compared to the only other similar houses on the market. The WatersEdge Suite and the Safe Haven. The WatersEdge Suites are manufactured by the company formerly known as Coates. Their aluminum houses are readily available on many internet sites and are mass produced. The Safe Haven is produced by hand in limited quantity by a Creative Universe Enterprises who also manufacturers a well respected line of gourd racks.

Price/Affordability: Though the price of the WatersEdge is slightly lower, there are several differences that make the Sunset Inn a superior house for the extra $25 or so dollars. The Safe Haven is far more expensive but has features that are superior to both the WatersEdge Suites and the Sunset Inn.

Ventilation: The WatersEdge Suite does not have the adjustable ventilation holes that the Sunset Inn has nor does it have any insulation that both the Safe Haven and the Sunset Inn have. The Safe Haven has rain canopies on the exterior ventilation holes that make it virtually impossible for driving rains to enter and thicker foam insulation in the attic.  The Sunset Inn has those great adjustable interior vent holes that are a great feature and some attic insulation.

Water Intrusion: The Safe Haven, with its nest trays and rain guards make it extremely dry inside. The Sunset Inn and WatersEdge do have some water intrusion issues that make subfloors mandatory. Standard with the WatersEdge they are offered as an option with the Sunset Inn, which makes it an additional expense.

Ease of Nest Checks: The Safe Haven again surpasses in the ease of nest checks with its optional nest trays that slide out completely and easily and doors that hinge downward. The Sunset Inn, due to the aluminum stability rods on the corners of the unit, make for some awkward moments in removing nest trays but the open inner area lets all the nestlings have plenty of room and the doors remove completely for great visibility. The WatersEdge with its inner entrance hole is in essence 2 compartments so no nest trays are commercially available. The WatersEdge further falls behind with its hinged doors that flip up which makes it further difficult to see in the nest when the door is lifted open.

SREH: The WatersEdge fails miserably with its only option of crescent SREH that are located much higher than is recommended to prevent starlings from breaching the entrance holes. SREH should be as flush as possible to the bottom for maximum effectiveness. The Safe Haven easily out performs its competitors with its interchangeable entrance plates so that entrances can be changed in seconds and its traction grip that has a near flush access to the crescent openings. The Sunset Inn can be ordered with either crescent SREH or round openings.

Design: The Safe Haven has tons of thought in its near flawless design and implementation. The Sunset Inn is far superior in details to the WatersEdge that comes in last, even though the WatersEdge can be purchased as a 4  or 8 compartment house.

Quality/Durability: The Safe Haven is new to the purple martin market but seems like it is top notch in quality and durability. The Sunset Inn has a proven record and feels sturdy and strong for its small size. The WatersEdge feels slightly flimsy and easily comes in third.

(above) Safe Haven

Raising/Lowering: Though all 3 come as stand alone houses, only the Sunset Inn is available as a Pulley System with its own pole and pulley system. For the beginner who wants a modern house that is easy to lift, it is hard to find fault with this great little house. The WatersEdge is only meant for a telescopic pole though all 3 can be mounted onto a multipurpose pole if easy lifting is desired.

Over all, the Safe Haven is the winner if you have the financial resources and a multipurpose pole. A serious purple martin landlord such as myself views this house as the “creme de la creme” of martin houses. If money is a concern the Sunset Inn is a perfect choice for either mounting on a telescopic or multipurpose pole or if you are going to purchase this house as a system. The Sunset Inn System can accommodate 4 gourds underneath with the optional gourd brackets but still go up easy with its pulley. The WatersEdge comes across as a mass produced purple martin house. As with many things, mass production profit margins often win out over small details that make all the difference.

Coming Soon in Product Review- Economy Purple Martin Gourd Rack

Purple Martins are North America’s largest swallow and have been “helped” by man in their reproductive success longer than any other bird. Yet there is a lot of false information on the web designed to separate you from your hard earned dollar. Getting purple martins to nest in your backyard is often no easy feat but being an informed customer can increase your chances as well as save you money. Purple martin houses can be found in some super stores, home improvement stores and on-line; but do you even know what to look for? Doing some research now can save you time and money and save your new backyard neighbors lives. First remove the the wheat from the chaff. There are many websites that sell any number of purple martin houses but an on-line store does not an expert make. Many backyard bird supply stores are repeating decades old myths specifically designed to make them money.

Fiction

>>Purple martins eat mosquitoes. Nothing is more untrue. Purple martins do not eat mosquitoes. This myth was made up by a very successful purple martin house manufacturer to do nothing except sell houses. So if you are wanting to get purple martins in your backyard, don’t do it thinking that your mosquito problem will vanish. You would be much better off draining any sources of standing water than buying a bird house. According to the Purple Martin Conservation Association, studies have shown that in stomach content analysis, mosquitoes comprise less than 3% of a purple martins diet. One study showed no mosquitoes at all. The myth persist despite real scientific data for two reason, salesmen swear it is true and some purple martin housing manufacturers still place this information on the packaging of their products. Why? Because it sells product.

>>If you build it, they will come. This is not necessarily the case. Purple martins are pretty picky about certain things so hanging a purple martin gourd under a tree won’t attract any martins. Purple martin housing placement is key. Several ground rules must be followed when it comes to putting up a house or gourds. Follow the rules and you have a chance. Don’t follow the rules and you have no chance at all. So if you have a heavily treed lot but the salesman wants to sell you a purple martin house, just say no.

>>It’s OK to let sparrows or starlings nest in your purple martin house, since there are no purple martins in it this year. FALSE! Nothing can be more detrimental to your chances of ever getting purple martins to nest in your gourds or house than this. Purple martins are out-beaked by the invasive English House Sparrow and the European Starling which will pierce eggs, kill nestlings and even kill the adult purple martins. Many people get discouraged by not being able to attract purple martins immediately and allow the housing to be claimed by sparrows and starlings. Once this happens any investigating purple martins will be run off. Even if the purple martins are able to build a nest and lay eggs, the resident sparrows and starlings will enter the compartment and kill nestlings, toss out eggs or just poke holes in the eggs. This is how these birds operate. To decrease nest site competition they destroy other nests.

>>The more compartments a house has, the better. Once again, NOT true. Though purple martin are colonial nesting birds (they like to be with other purple martins) a house that is poorly designed with lots of rooms, is still poorly designed. Once again a myth perpetrated by those pesky manufacturers, a purple martin house with 12 tiny rooms is not a better deal than a house with less rooms. The important factor is the size of the rooms. Both parents sleep in the nest at night along with an average of 5 nestlings. Purple martins are about 7 1/2 inches long. Now cram 7 birds into a tiny 6 inch compartment. Though purple martins will use substandard housing they only do so because there is no alternative. Birds sleeping in a tiny 6×6 inch nest are easy pickings for Owls and other opportunistic predators that will frequent your purple martins home. The new trend is 6×12 inch compartments that allow the purple martins room to grow and allow them to nest out of owls reach.

>>If you touch a baby bird it will die. So untrue. Purple martins thrive with our care. Studies have shown that purple martins are 50% more successful in raising young in colonies where the landlords (you and I) are active and perform such tasks as weekly nest checks. The parents will observe and though they may make a fuss, they will return to caring for their eggs and nestlings as soon as you leave. With nest checks, problems can be discovered before they become tragedies.

>>Purple martin scouts are going to come back with friends. Purple martin scouts are not scouts at all. Competition for nesting spots is fierce and the early bird does get the worm, or in this case, the nest. Early spring arrivers are on a mission to return home and an occasional stop to check out your house is not out of the ordinary. But don’t think that these birds are going to fly back to tell their friends of your location. The most important things you can do to attract your own pair is make sure your housing is in the best location and don’t let any other birds nest in your purple martin housing.

Now that you know the fact and fiction lets touch on some key points. What information can you take away to increase your chances of hosting these wonderful birds into your backyard?

1. Don’t choose your purple martin house based on what a superstore carries. Among purple martin landlords, most of the housing that you can purchase at one of these stores is considered a waste of money. Made of plastic that will eventually degrade and tiny compartments, these houses will last a few seasons. They are designed with profit margins NOT purple martins in mind. The thin poles that are sold for these houses are also substandard and if a stiff wind blows and your pole bends, you will be unable to lower the house. Of course, I recommend getting your purple martin bird houses or gourds from a store such as PurpleMartins-R-Us.com, that has a vested interest in purple martins and their conservation. (shame-less plug)

2. Purple martin houses and gourds should be placed in the most open are of your yard as far from trees as possible. Trees should be trimmed yearly away from the housing.

3. No other birds should be allowed to nest in your purple martin house no matter how lonesome you think your housing is. Be patient. Investigate if there are ways to better your location. Play purple martin dawnsong to attract them to your site. You can always Contact Us for advice on selecting the best location for purple martins in your yard.

4. Don’t set it and forget it. Good purple martin houses are designed for weekly nest checks and you can increase your purple martins reproductive success by being a hands on landlord.

5. Size does matter. The bigger the compartment, the better for your birds. Purple martins lay more eggs and raise more young in bigger compartments.

6. You get what you pay for. The cheaper plastic houses are no match for a well made wood house with large compartments. Well designed aluminum houses, such as Trendsetters or Sunset Inn houses, though a bit more pricey are made with purple martins in mind, are also a great choice.

7. Though not a mosquito eater, purple martins do consume thousands of flies, wasps, beetles and other flying insects everyday.

In summary, it is always important to remember that the more information you have, the better choice you can make and the more money you can save in the long haul.

——————–

PurpleMartins-R-Us.com is owned and operated by an active purple martin landlord. Many of the items we sell we actually use in our own colony. We love our purple martins and if we don’t think the product is safe for the birds-we won’t sell it!

©2009 S.Halpin / PurpleMartinArt.com

Well, only half a year till purple martin season. I am already looking forward to it.

For those of you that are not familiar with this blog, I stay pretty active on the blog by writing about purple martin and birding related topics. This year I also will be doing some product reviews. I will be pointing out some of the finer details of some of the purple martin bird houses, gourd racks and other items. Hopefully some of these reviews may help you decide what kind of purple martin house you will be getting.

If anyone has any product review requests please email them to me and I will put them on the top of the list.

Whatever you do, just because our martins have migrated don’t forget to check up on us every week or so for updates and great info. Since the purple martins are gone, things are slower and we will be adding more items to our online store PurpleMartins-R-Us.com. So stay in touch!

Call me a collector but I seem to be collecting quite a number of free purple martin house plans. Thanks to dedicated purple martin landlords such as John Balga and Bob n Jo, and thanks to the Pennsylvania Game Commission, I have put together a small collection of houses that the DIY can build. I even have plans for a gourd rack!

Of course, I am not the handy type so I have NOT made these houses myself. I guess that is why I started PurpleMartins-R-Us. If you are like me and can’t build a birdhouse yourself, check out this large selection of houses and supplies that utilize the latest in purple martin research and innovation. Believe it or not, I did NOT start this business to get rich. I did it so that I can do what I love. If I get rich that is nice but looking at my books, that won’t happen anytime in my lifetime.

So where can you get these plans? Go to the Free plans page HERE and enjoy!

If you know of any other FREE house plans for purple martin houses, please let me know. And please let me know how the house you build turns out. I would love to see it.

P.S. Tonight is the first night that all the fledglings have not returned at night to sleep in the Nestcam! Only one in there tonight. My season is winding down.

The Broward edition of the Miami Herald ran the story on the Davie roost today. You can read the article HERE.

We drove down to the roost and did not see any martins but we were a tad early so it is hard to say if the roost has, in fact disbanded. It is just about time for the birds to move out but I can not say for sure. My 2 kids were quite tired and I could not bare to have them sit in the car for another 30 minutes to see if the martins would show up. I will have to depend on any of you that may life closer to update me and the blog as to the roosts status.

The story was very nice and a special thank you to the journalist, Julie Levin, who was so patient waiting to see “my” purple martins. Remember, there are photos of the roost at my photo gallery and there is also a video of the roost that is quite nice.

The babies on the nestcam have officially all fledged and the gourd was empty for most of the day. They are sleeping in the gourd tonight though. Looking so big and grown up. Thankfully all the babies appear nice, fat and healthy. Unlike some issues that seem to be going on up North our temperatures, though hot are not too bad and the rain is enough to cool things down plus keep the bugs abundant.

Purple Martin Emergencies-New ONLINE info source!

Many northern landlords are having serious issues with very abnormal low temps and landlords are reporting nest failures and dead babies by the dozens. Early jumpers due to the extreme heat in Texas has been reported and supplemental feedings can save lives. For those with babies that need care, our parent site, www.PurpleMartins-R-Us.com has a page dedicated to Emergencies INCLUDING how to give food and fluids to purple martins, contact info for Wildlife Rehabilitators and more. Feel free to check this information out.

©2009 PurpleMartinArt.com

Just wanted to give you all a heads up on a Newspaper story due to come out on Sundays edition of the Miami Herald -broward edition (fingers crossed!) I will of course put links to the online version of the story.
At the colony another nest (gourd C) is fledging. Yes, this is the one on the nest cam and I believe at least one of these babies was out today, despite the light rain that has been falling almost all day. Thankfully they seem well after a SY male was in the gourd a few days ago beating them senseless. It serves as a reminder that I wanted to post about SY terrors! Look for that post coming soon!

Good news on the HY purple martin! In yesterdays post I wrote about the injured martin I found laying upsidedown at the base of a tree at the purple martin roost. Last night I fed him some scrambled eggs and this morning I fed him some more eggs and about a dozen large flies I caught. Yes, can you imagine me catching flies to feed a bird? What purple martin landlords will do for these birds. The martin seemed in good condition but just didn’t want to fly so I had decided to bring him to Folke Peterson Wildlife Center.

Later in the day I called and Vered, the Certified Veterinary Technician at FPWC, told me that she also suspected head collision trauma. The bird had received some medication to decrease any swelling in the brain and if all goes well he may make it to Brazil yet! Hopefully he won’t get to close to that raccoon at the roost before he flies south. The question is now begging to be asked, What is head collision trauma and what should you know about it?

We called this type of injury “deceleration trauma” in my nursing days. This little purple martin probably flew into the tree at the roost or perhaps even another bird in flight, nothing could have prevented this accident. Fatal head trauma happens all the time, and most of it is completely preventable. Did you know that window collisions are the number 1 human related cause of death in birds. We are talking about estimates of 100 to 900 MILLION dead birds per year from flying into glass windows.  www.Flap.org has a great list of the top 13 human related causes of bird deaths and the info on this site is sobering. Check it out HERE. But what should one do when you find a victim of a window collision? Read this article by FLAP called Enhancing Recovery: Helping Bird Rescuers Help Birds .

Though there was no way to prevent this young martins collision, most of the human related collisions can be prevented. How can you protect birds from window collisions? Window Screens break up the reflection of the glass. Hanging any number of objects in front of window like old CD’s, ribbon, suncatchers, stickers or decals such as WindowAlert are a great help also.

I will keep you up to date on the little guy.

Davie FLORIDA Premigratory Roost

Today has to be one of the highlights in my short yet thrilling experiences as a Purple Martin Landlord. Tonight at 7pm my husband and 2 young boys took me to the RaceTrac gas station on Davie Road in Davie, Fl. It was the most spectacular thing I have ever seen. And to think that this roost is SMALL!!! Photos can not do it justice. I tried taking photos and I felt like I was trying to photograph the Grand Canyon with a Polaroid. I can only wonder the splendor of a large roost like those in Texas, Louisiana or Pennsylvania. My husband took a guess and says somewhere around 5,000 birds or so. In a photo I took I counted 200 martins in that small area alone. And the sky was covered with them. I highly encourage any local birders to check out this most amazing show.

On a sad note, as I walked about before the martins came in force I noticed the ground under the trees that the martins are roosting in, was littered with dead martins in various stages of consumption. Piles of feathers, martins with heads chewed off, wings and other bits and pieces covered the grass. I was aghast and at first I assumed that Owls were arriving at night to feast on the martins. That may well be the case but then my husband pointed out the real culprit. A large raccoon scampered across the parking lot and climbed the first tree. It became quite apparent that the raccoons are having a nightly banquet of bird. Of course they don’t have the decency to finish one birds before killing another. I walked from bird corpse to bird corpse wondering what I could do…trust me, I had some crazy thoughts.

As I walked about taking photos I noticed one of the “corpses” was looking back at me. Laying on its back with his head turned so he could see me, a fledgling Purple Martin lay moving his short feet in a bicycle riding fashion. I approached slowly and thought it would right itself in time to fly off, but it did not. I picked him up and gave him a look over. A perfectly alert little HY purple martin. His eyes are sharp and his temper was quick but when I tested his wings he did not seem to even want to flap them. Weak or injured he is now resting comfortably in a dark box with a crop full of mealworms and scrambled eggs. I will take him to Folke Peterson Wildlife Center in the AM to be checked out. If all looks good I hope to return him to the roost to join the other martins.

It is late and my heart is happy so off to sleep. I will post more pictures of the roost in an upcoming blog entry. So check back soon!

The fledglings are clambering all over the gourd racks and the house causing a ruckus all day long. The rain has been falling on and off for the last 2 days and they seem to be enjoying the it. All it takes is me stepping on to the back patio and I set them off in a slurry of purple. The flock moves en Mass except for the remaining parents that are still feeding nestlings. More than half of the nests have fledged and my season will be starting to wind down shortly.

The Red Shouldered hawk is persistently attacking the colony and I can only assume that it has been successful, though thankfully I have yet to witness a successful attack. Yesterday I witnessed 3 such attempts that set the purple martin off in an alarming cacophony. I am sure that now having said that, I have jinxed myself and come tomorrow morning I will see the blasted hawk plucking a martin right before my eyes. Please knock on wood!

I have had so many “firsts” this year. First snake attack. First dead nestling on the ground. First pair to actually nest in the gourd hanging on the 5 foot shepherds hook. First nest check with my son. First time broadcasting the webcams. Never mind all the milestones and “firsts” with the website and blog. I already am missing my birds and can’t wait to show them again next year what a wonderful place this is to call home.

©2009 S.Halpin/PurpleMartinArt.com