everything wrong still lots of martins?

go4 · Sun Jun 02, 2013 4:25 pm

I was camped near Wheeler's Point, Rainy River for 4 days last week end. I was fifteen feet from one of twenty or so martin houses scattered around the campground. I talked to the landlord and he said quote: "I don't do anything for the martins except put the houses back up when they fall down." He is around 80 years old and has had 100 or more breeding pairs for over twenty five years. The house had a 10 inch hole in the roof. one pair of nesting Starlings, one pair of nesting House Sparrows and 5 pairs of martins.The orginal house had 20 units each 6x6 inches, ten foot pole,no predator guard, can not be lowered, never has been cleaned in twenty years and near 3 large trees.
The birds ignore each other for the most part. The only fight was once the sparrow looked into the hole in the roof where the starling was nesting. The starling grabbed the sparrow and slamed him to the ground for about 40 seconds.
Why can this landlord do almost every thing wrong and still have 100 breeding pair for 25 years?
I believe the answer is food. Lots and lots of insects emerging from the Rainy river all summer.

pmlover · Sun Jun 02, 2013 5:44 pm

I think your right go4

Louise Chambers · Sun Jun 02, 2013 7:04 pm

I would have to ask, how would the landlord know how many pairs he has? Sounds like he ignores them for the most part, and I would bet he has nowhere near 100 pairs.

DornCounty · Sun Jun 02, 2013 7:20 pm

yeah.. you can have martins without paying attention... but you either have to be in a low HOSP/starling area or extremely lucky. Our town colony probably had 1000 martins at one time. The houses were only cleaned out at the start of the season for about 10 years.. nothing else was done... now we might have 50 pair. I would guess the same trend is occurring at the site you mention also.

starling shooter · Sun Jun 02, 2013 8:38 pm

What is the 'story' on your 'town colony".

1000 birfds was it a lot of Trios at one site?? Curious. Thx in advance.

JL Murray · Mon Jun 03, 2013 8:36 am

I wonder how many "Martin Pairs" that landlord has that have nasty long yellow beaks !

Scully · Mon Jun 03, 2013 9:33 am

The orginal house had 20 units each 6x6 inches, ten foot pole,no predator guard, can not be lowered, never has been cleaned in twenty years and near 3 large trees.
The birds ignore each other for the most part. The only fight was once the sparrow looked into the hole in the roof where the starling was nesting. The starling grabbed the sparrow and slamed him to the ground for about 40 seconds.

What folks persistently fail to recognise is that almost ALL purple martins are breeding under those conditions.

Point of fact I was just out doing our yearly survey of 100 local sites within four miles of campus) this very morning, here's three photos I took today, all of these site having been active for at least the six years I have been looking. All have sparrows, the third pic has at least two pairs of starlings in the mix.

I live in this area, see these sites all year round, and In all that time I have never seen them lowered or cleaned.

It would be a mistake though to think that martins "get along" with S&S. Losses to these causes are heavy, the martins, like all wild birds, making second attempts elsewhere.

For three years we were able to do nest checks on up to five neglected houses to compare with our maintained school colony. Martins at neglected sites DID fledge young, of course, but averaged about one nestling less per nest, fledging on average ten days later than our school site.

What this means around here is that in drought years, of which we have had a number recently, even fewer nestlings fledge, resulting in an even larger decline in population.

Also, down here in the south the nesting season for martins is longer, with more time for renests, I do not believe this is the case up in Minnesota, so I'd guess starlings and sparrows are even more damaging up there.

Mike Scully

pmlover · Mon Jun 03, 2013 9:53 am

The starlings and the hosp's do major damage, and thats why I'm up to 86 dead starlings and 20 sparrows. I have on male sparrow that is teasing me. I wont rest till i get him. However i have my first house(aluminum with 8 compartments still up and never cleaned. Its where my first martins came a few years ago and the first section of pipe broke in a storm. The oldest three pairs come each spring so i dont touch it. I'm afraid because i think it will be the end of the house. or me climbing up the pole.

DornCounty · Mon Jun 03, 2013 10:53 am

starling shooter wrote:What is the 'story' on your 'town colony".

1000 birfds was it a lot of Trios at one site?? Curious. Thx in advance.

Parsons Kansas known as the purple martin capital. The management since about 2000 has been pretty much simply cleaning out the houses in the spring. That coupled with S&S, storm damage, disease, and a lack of funds has lead to a drastic decline in the population.. almost to the point, of losing them. We started a program this season to reverse those trends.

AvianStewardess · Tue Jun 04, 2013 5:14 am

Scully wrote:What folks persistently fail to recognise is that almost ALL purple martins are breeding under those conditions.

I can attest to the conditions of housing in my area. I know of only four places where the martin housing appears to be managed; and there is a martin house at every third property, easily. Me thinks I shall take a drive this week down to the property that has over 25 houses in its yard; I've been curious to know its condition.