re: 2024 Purple Martin Arrivals

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I do, lots of open fields around and always see hawks swooping around.

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Hawks won't stop an established colony, but they will keep new birds from nesting in a new area. You can't stop the hawks, though. So, you have to do what you can elsewhere to influence the Martins to stay.

I've had a hawk problem for the past few years. I've found the best thing I've done is using bird decoys, dove and Martin, to trick the hawks. They'll dive at the decoys, giving the Martins time to escape. I move the decoys every few days because the hawks will figure out they aren't real.

Encouraging other birds helps, too, because there is safety in numbers. Crows are the absolute best when it comes to spotting a raptor in the area. They, or the blue jays almost always alert first. Once that happens everything takes notice.