This is our purple martin colony. There are 2 gourd racks and a multipurpose pole in the center with several more gourds hung under the house. Check out our Live streaming Birdcam of our gourd rack.
This tray is full of crushed egg shells.
The female purple martins eat this to replace Calcium lost due to egg laying.
On this rainy day,
female purple martins martins were gathering mud
from the streets for nest building.
A typical Purple Martin nest at my site, composed of pine needles, pine bark and leaves.
Note: The covering of eggs with leaves is common.
Female Purple Martin sitting on her nest. This particular bird would remain on her nest throughout the entire nest check and even when the pole was raised back up. This kind of "close encounter" is what I love about being a Purple Martin landlord.
(some of her eggs are clearly visible underneath her)
At 2 days old it is hard to imagine the change that will occur in as little as 26 days.
From this to free flight. A true miracle!
Another resident at my site, this screech owl has not posed any problems to date.
BUT some Owls are a huge threat to purple martins.
