![]() Before we left he had given us a detailed background of them as well as some info on house placement etc. Jack and his son Jeremy quickly became fascinated by the birds’ unique behavior and beauty. At the time the client had 3 martin houses in their back yard. The Duncans‘ journey as landlords began 5 years ago, while doing some construction work for a client. f you’re interested in learning more about hosting Purple Martins or increasing the size of your existing Purple Martin colony, please feel free to contact Kathy at She offers an excellent monthly newsletter during the Martin season that provides lots of ideas for starting or growing your own Purple Martin colony. Kathy keeps extensive records every year, recording ages of the nesting martins, dates of eggs laid, number of eggs, number of hatchlings and finally, the numbers of actual nestlings that fledge. She conducts weekly nest checks (every 3-7 days, depending on the weather and circumstances) and protect the colony from predators (raccoons, snakes, owls, etc.) and nest-site competitors (English House Sparrow and European Starling). As of 2011, Kathy offers 60 nesting cavities, consisting of a 12-room house and 48 gourds. Since then, her colony has grown to 50 pair in 2011 with over 200 young fledged. Kathy Freeze‘s colony was started in May 2007 by a pioneering sub-adult male who eventually fledged 3 young with his sub-adult mate. ![]() He hopes to construct another T-14 before spring 2012. He purchased plan for the T-14 from PMCA, constructed it and put it up in 2005. After a lot of time looking and reading, Randy decided to build his own martin house. ![]() His wife Sandy encouraged him to buy one, but being a do-it-yourselfer Randy decided to check the web for housing information and found the PMCA. At the Orsheln store in Marshall, Randy saw that there were Purple Martin houses for sale. He always wanted Purple Martins but knew nothing about how to attract them. Randy Harlin knew an old man in Malta Bend, MO that had martins and was always impressed with them. Miller edited the Purple Martin brochure that is available from the Missouri Department of Conservation and conducts field day events each year. John, a native of Kentucky, learned about martins from his grandfather and has had a life-long interest. Louis’s Forest Park and the Missouri Botanical Garden, and has helped establish and revive colonies at Cahokia Mounds Historic Site in Illinois, the riverfront park in Clarksville, MO, and at Hidden Valley Ski Area, Wildwood, MO. Louis, has been an important contributor to Purple Martin conservation in Missouri for almost a decade. John Miller, a public relations professional in St. Dave and Anita have a 5-acre pond next to the housing and that might be a big reason they have such a nice colony today…Martins really like the water, and the bugs! Our Landlords 2011-2012 Now, in 2012, the colony has grown to 55 pair producing young. Dave contributes most of his success from learning through the PMCA Forum. He also has plastic gourds under all 5 houses. And from that house, today he has four other houses: two homemade, a T-14 and a Northstar, and two more metal houses, a Trio Castle and a Trendsetter. In early 2003 he bought the first metal house that started the colony – a Trio Minicastle. Then, in 2000, Dave and his wife Anita moved to the country.ĭave had also found the PMCA website and was learning more and more about Purple Martins and what they need. He became a member of the PMCA and began learning about everything on the Purple Martin Forum. He never did have Martins in the homemade house, but it was the beginning of learning more about them. He didn’t know much about them, really didn’t even know what they looked like! Occasionally a squawking bird would show up and look over the house Dave was pretty sure it was a Martin, but the bird never stayed. Dave built it, put it in his back yard and waited for the birds to show up. The MDC produced a booklet that had different types of housing for different types of birds… including a plan for a Purple Martin house. One of the most enjoyable things for him was to see wild birds using his homemade boxes! Dave found a lot of plans from the Missouri Department of Conservation. He made a lot of extra Bluebird and Wren houses, and gave them out as Christmas presents. Dave Hartwig always enjoyed doing wood working projects, especially making bird boxes.
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