Purple Martin Update…March 25, 2011

[Steve Kroenke]

Purple Martin Update…March 25, 2011

March is almost over and the majority of our surviving purple martins from 2010 have now probably arrived. In 2010 I attracted 337 pairs of martins and my neighbor Bob had around 150 pairs; so we had nearly 500 pairs. A good portion of those martins, mainly SYs, arrived during April. However, ASY martins will continue to arrive through March and into April. The later April ASYs are possibly martins that have lost their current nest sites due competitors, predators, or disrepair and now these martins are looking for new territory.

A few SY male martins are now at our colonies and I have at least one that has fought his way into my Gemini gourd rack and secured a nest. The dominant ASY males that are controlling multiple cavities do NOT give up their territory readily and any new martin must fight and fight hard to secure a nest site. Nest domination behavior is rampant in my colony at this time in the breeding cycle when males are establishing territory, looking for mates, pair bonding, and nest building is just beginning. In northwest Louisiana, most SY martins return in April and continue through much of May.

As of March 25, 2011, we probably have around 500 martins in residence though it is impossible to count them! I probably have over 150 pairs of ASY martins right now and Bob may have close to a hundred. There are still ASY males that are looking for mates.

Martins are selecting house compartments and gourds at about the same level and I am really not seeing much preference. Initially the martins were occupying Troyer Horizontal gourds at greater numbers than the other cavity types. Now all gourd types and houses are being colonized with little indication that one is more attractive than the other to the martins.

At this point, I have no idea if 2011 will be as productive as the great 2010 season. We still have all of March, April and well into May to attract more martins.

I am continuing to worry about our lack of rainfall. We are in drought conditions and if this continues when the martins are feeding young, then there may be a severe shortage of dragonflies and other large insect prey. In 2008 and 2009, droughts adversely impacted martins all over northwest Louisiana and some nestlings/fledglings perished due to lack of food.

Nest building has begun and the martins, particularly the males are eagerly collecting dry oaks leaves that I placed near our colonies. I have constructed pre-nests of pine needles in our housing and these nests make pretty good foundations. Many of the martins only add leaves to the nest bowl. However, the female martins will often build up that foundation of pine needles with twigs, grass stems, sticks, grass roots, and in some cases mud.

The martins are staying around their nests well up into the day because the residents guard their territory from newly arriving martins. Both male and female martins protect their territory which could include multiple cavities. Often there are some martins in our colonies basically ALL day long!

We are having hawk trouble from mainly one female Cooper’s hawk which regularly attacks my colony late in the evening just before roosting time. She comes from the southwest and tries to sneak in when there are only a few late martin stragglers still flying around the colony and looking for a place to roost. These martins are highly vulnerable to ambush attacks. So far, I have intercepted her EVERY time and managed to scare her out of my colony. Last evening, she waited till almost dark but my faithful male bluebird let out his high pitch Accipiter hawk alarm vocalization at her approach and I yelled at her when she began to accelerate toward my colony. That worked and she left the area. Fortunately she did not attack this evening. She has not caught any martins at our colony sites that I have seen. If I was not here in the evenings, she would no doubt be successful. I am hoping she is a wintering migrant and will be gone soon.

Most of our migrant Accipiter hawk and merlin predation activity occurs in April when large numbers of these raptors fly over our colonies. We apparently live on a major migratory flyway for raptors. These raptors are heading north to their breeding territories.

Our huge martin numbers are irresistible targets to the merlins in particular and they often make a single blistering attack and then continue on. Nearly all merlin attacks fail as the martins usually see the merlins coming and escape with incredible aerial banking, diving and climbing actions. A merlin is a match for a martin in flight speed but the martin tends to be more agile. If the martin KNOWS the merlin is after him/her, the martin usually escapes with spectacular turns, dives and climbs. A merlin brings out the “very best” in flying skills from a martin and martins generally know what to do to escape from these super fast small falcons.

Accipiters attack also and some make spectacular falcon like stoops on our colonies or just execute low level sprints through the area and try to catch a martin off guard. Accipiters tend to be better at catching martins than merlins because these hawks tend to use stealth and agility rather than pure speed; they usually get close and may be on the martins before the martins even know it many times. Martins don’t accelerate quickly or maneuver well under surprise attack conditions and the Accipiters have the advantage. A Cooper’s hawk or sharpie has a blistering acceleration rate and can twist and turn with the maneuverability of a flycatcher, often matching every banking action of a fleeing martin. The Accipiter’s long tail acts like a rudder as the hawk maneuvers. Accipiters don’t chase martins for long distances but try to catch them quickly, often right at the colony site. Once a martin is fully accelerated in the open the martin can usually distance any Accipiter.

I actively stay around our colony sites and try to present an animated visibility to the raptors. I am always there in the early mornings just at dawn and always “put my martins to bed” each evening. These are often two of the prime hunting times for those sneaky Accipiter hawks. If Accipiters or merlins clearly see me, most will not dive down or fly into the colonies. I have even broken up some successful catches by rushing forward and yelling at a merlin/Accipiter that had taken a martin to the ground; the raptor immediately left and the martin got away apparently unhurt.

I will continue to post purple martin updates on my colony and hope other folks will do the same with their colonies.

I hope everyone has a great martin season and 2011 will be as productive as 2010.

Steve

[Larry D]

Thanks sooo much for this post. It's the kind of information we "newbies" (or at least this one) need to hear from time to time to remind us why we work so hard to try to get that first PM to stay. These are truly magnificent birds and I commend ALL the landlords out there, but especially those like you who have cultivated such great colonies. I hope other landlords respond with their stories. I do so enjoy hearing these experiences.

[eyeamtheman]

Too bad you don't get paid for your "full time job" right? I think the hardest is watching those fledglings get picked off from a distance, but even as athletic as you are, you couldn't sprint over there in time to break it up. As you know, I have decided to expand with the other T14, and should have the project completed in a few days. Got the pole, and will get the pulley, and cable tomorrow. Already have a winch, and the house is finished other than painting, which won't take long. You told me to just go for it, so, against my better judgement, I will probably add another gourd rack for next season. My mixed feelings are such, that with many more martins, there comes more predator trouble possibly. And here I am with a full time PAYING job, and can't protect them like you can. But as most of us know, and for the ones that don't.....this is my experience with hawks. If it is successful in the morning, it WILL come back that evening, or vice versa. Unless of course you're lucky and it is just migrating through, but don't count on that. Just be ready with whatever means you have available to try and thwart the attack, whether its screaming like a madman, complete with war paint on, like Steve, or slamming two 2x4's together like Emil does....(face paint is optional with that tactic). Regardless, I believe being vigilant is the only way to deter these predators. And they get bold, and relentless, which makes it more difficult to deal with. ANYWAY, back to MY growing colony, i continue to see a few more birds every few days, and fighting and guarding territory is happening throughout the day as well. No subadults yet, but I expect to see some within a week or so. With the addition, I will be offering 60 cavities, and if a gourd rack is added next year, that'll be 84. I will be gladly accepting October birthday, and Christmas artificial gourds for the new rack. 8 Supergourds, 8 Excluder, and will introduce 8 Troyer horizontal gourds, something the birds in this area have never seen. Thank you all in advance....

[Guest]

I'm very thankful that I don't have that problem yet. (Knock on wood, and keeping my fingers crossed) I live in Miami and there are hawks around I see them and I have seem them flying through the yards, but there are so many ring-necked doves and they are so easy to get that my PM's are left alone.

Right now I have 14 out of 16 gourds full and today I'll pull them down and do a egg check, I've been watching them bring nesting material in for the past week.

I will post my finds.......

It's great to wake up to them singing their little hearts out, I love it.

[DakotaLady]

Great information everyone! Thank you all for sharing.

Steve, I think of you and your large colony quite often. I always wonder how far your birds need to travel just to feed with that many birds in a colony. I would venture to say quite a distance.

I have a hawk that spends a lot of time in my back yard watching for my birds at the feeder. I'm fortunate that the company I work for sent most of its staff home to work. I was leery at how I would manage people from home but it is working. Therefore, when I see the hawk waiting for feeder birds I do chase him/her away. But I would never be able to get out of the house quickly enough to save my martins. I'm dreading the day I have a large enough colony that might fall prey to hawks.

[Steve Kroenke]

Hey Larry,

I am glad this information has been helpful and inspirational to you! I hope you have many martins this season and they bring you great joy! Once you get your martin colony going you can expand if you like and often you will be amazed at how fast it will grow.

Good luck and please let us know how things work out this season for you.

Steve

Hey Johnny,

Well I am glad you are finally listening to what I have been telling you to do! You've got a great location for martins with wide open spaces. You know many colonies near you are not taken care of that well so there is a good chance these martins may decide to leave and head to your place.

I will be looking forward to seeing a photo of that new T-14 and I don't want to see those "yellow beak martins" all over it! I know you are getting older now and your eyes don't see that well!

I guess I will need to start saving my extra change for a donation to the Johnny Gourd Fund so you will have that new gourd rack/gourds for next season.

I know you will have a great martin season this year.

Steve

Hey Dr. Orwick,

Thanks for sharing the good news about your martin colony this season! You still have time to completely fill up that gourd rack.

We will be looking forward to reading your status report on your colony after you complete your nest check.

I hope you have a wonderful martin season.

Steve

Hey DakotaLady,

The adult martins seem to find plenty of insects in the surrounding area as we have many cow pastures and cows. The cows attract all kinds of flies and the martins catch them. I often see many martins flying over the nearby cow pastures or high up over our colonies as the martins feed.

The big issue is that prolonged droughts can adversely impact the large insect prey that the parent martins need to feed their young. Dragonflies need water to breed in and droughts often dry up local ponds and this hurts the dragonfly population.

The hawk is probably a Cooper's or sharp-shinned hawk and they often stake out bird feeding stations. In fact, these hawks are thriving in many areas due to bird feeding stations. The hawks find a relatively easy "meal ticket" and can survive cold winters because the hawks can hunt the birds at the feeders.

I used to feed birds at my previous home in north Florida but the Accipiter hawks constantly attacked the birds. I did have my feeders near some thickets and the birds would flee deep inside when the hawks attacked.

It seems that Accipiter hawks and martins have become "inseparable"! The vocalizations and behavior of the martins around the colony become noticeable to these bird eating hawks and the hawks only do what they are designed to do: hunt birds.

It is frustrating for many martin landlords, including me to deal with Accipiter hawk predation. Having an open colony site, maintaining a vigilance around the colony at those "dangerous" times in the evening and early morning, using martin decoys, and actively trying to chase the hawk away when it enters the colony can help to minimize Accipiter hawk success in catching martins.

I hope you have a great martin season and no hawks bother your colony.

Steve

[Carolyn C]

Wow Steve! I can't imagina so many martins. You must have a large piece of property for all your PM housing. I have a small yard and my HOA would not even think of my adding another house-much less gourds. I'm happy to have my 6 pair. They keep me entertained!! We checked today and nests are being built. I have a pair of sparrows who think that one of them is theirs. I keep looking and if I see their eggs, they will disappear quickly!! Just as their eggs in my blue bird house did. My traps have caught 14 already. I had to release 3 house finches this afternoon.

[Steve Kroenke]

Hey Carolyn,

Fortunately we live WAY out in the country and don't have many neighbors! So there is NO HOA to worry about!

I am real happy you have a martin colony and you are enjoying them. It really makes no difference if you have a huge colony or a small one, the martins will bring you much joy and keep you entertained. And a small colony is easier to manage and you get to "know" those martins a little more personally! You will be amazed at how martins seem to have their own personalities and each martin may behave just a little different from another one.

We have almost no house sparrow issues at our personal colonies but I am very familiar with these pest birds. They can damage martin and bluebird nests. So I applaud you for trapping sparrows and removing them from your martin and bluebird housing.

Thanks for sharing some information about your martin colony and hope your martins flourish this season and bring you much joy.

Steve

[Fredmyyster]

Wow ! Those numbers are staggering ! Im stoked to have 6 pair

[Steve Kroenke]

Hey Fredmyyster,

I know you enjoy your six pairs of martins and there is a good chance your colony will grow and prosper if you take good care of the martins and expand your housing as necessary. Control starlings and sparrows, protect the housing from rat snakes with guards, and keep the area around the colony as open as possible.

I hope you have a great martin season and raise many babies!

Steve