The most attractive thing to purple martins about a potential colony. Here are two CDs that will help give the impression that your birdhouses already host a thriving colony.
Play the distinctive dawnsong of the adult males near your martine housing at 3 or 4 A.M. The young males flying high overhead in predawn darkness hear the songs and come down to investigate.
Then if they like what they find, they may stay and found your purple martin colony.
Some people play another CD during the day. It's the Daytime Chatter CD, and it sounds like a busy purple martin colony.
I was amazed when I first played this song. Before that, I had never seen purple martins at my gourds. When I put on the martin songs, young purple martins were there within an hour, sitting on top of the housing and joining in with their own songs.
Copyright 2008 Diane Porter
