PURPLE MARTINS

TAKEN WITH PANASONIC PV-GS3
Green Cay Wildlife Preserve
West Palm Beach, FL

Category:

Pets & Animals

Tags:

• purple
• martin
• birds

[mrmoneymaker05]

Will other birds take to Purple Martin houses if you live in an area where there are no purple martins during this time of the year?! i have one of these houses (12 units) and am hoping sparrows move in. maybe some chickadees as well.

[captphill]

I know House Sparrows, Carolina Wren's and Swallows will. Sometimes Woodpeckers too.

Phill

[velocikat]

WONDERFUL martin colony you have there! Just the way it should be. So glad to hear you haven't had starling trouble! I FINALLY convinced my neighbor to take her house down because she let it turn into a Starling/House sparrow slum.

[captphill]

This was filmed in Green Cay Wildlife Preserve

West Palm Beach, FL where the park rangers take good care of the Martin houses.

[haney8106]

Nice house, do starlings give much trouble?

[captphill]

Not so far

[acasanova27]

Your doing a disservice to the purple martin as well as every other native cavity nester by breeding sparrows.

[midge717]

Hello! There are many native species of sparrows, none of which nest in cavities. Then there is the English House Sparrow, which is not a native species, and has done a lot of damage to our native birds. Most landlords consider them to be no better than flying rats, and treat them as such. Anyone wanting to learn more about martins, I urge you to join a martin forum. Just google it. :o)

[B4siren]

So... do you think they're purple martins? Or are they Purple Martins? Cause I think they're purple Martins...

[enricoI]

I see stupid people around who have unattended Purple Martin gourds and houses in their backyard. They're just breeding grounds for sparrows.

[casagrandecats]

shoot them all. they never should have been brought here and they are not a protected species. wipe them out! they are a danger to every living songbird.

[purplemartinsrus]

There are easy ways to keep snakes from climbing your poles. A predator guard can be bought or even just Bird Netting. You buy that at Lowes or Home Depot for about 4 bucks and basically wrap it around close to the bottom of the pole.

[velocikat]

AMEN to that!!!!!!!!!!!!

[hankwheels]

I have a 12-unit house and I the only birds I can attract are house sparrows, but I don't mind because the town I live in doesn't have any other birds anyway! I think house sparrows are fun to watch, especially watching the male guard the birdhouse 24/7. And plus, you don't have to worry about house sparrows abandoning you in the winter because they DON'T migrate like all the other nest box birds!!

[mrmoneymaker05]

What's wrong with providing a nice habitat for sparrows?!