Females not allowed to land

[ShawnK]

Good Morning all,

My name is Shawn and I am posting for the first time. I put up my first house near the end of May 2013. I had one looker that buzzed the tower (so to speak) a few times and that was it. This year I put up an aluminum house and 12 gourds each on their own poles. On May 31st 2014 an adult male stopped by and came and went about five times throughout the day. The next day he brought a female. They came and went a few times for a couple of days. Then after that no came until on June 6th he brought four with him that looked like two young males and two females.

The weird thing is, the young males would not let the females land. Has anyone seen this? Every time they tried they were cut off in flight by the young male. The adult male was calling the whole time this was going on for them to land.

I haven't seen much activity since then. I believe they have all started nesting somewhere else.

My real question is, now that everyone seems to have a home somewhere, do I keep doing what I have been doing to keep them all thinking I am here for them next year? I do not know what I can do next now that I am impatiently waiting for next year.

Any thoughts or comment would be appreciated.

Shawn

[John Miller]

Shawn

Welcome.

I'd leave the housing up at least through July. We can't say whether getting "visits" in summer helps get returning birds to come and stay the following year, but it can't hurt, particularly if an unmated male already has the housing on his list of options for next season. If you take the housing down, he might go online to his spreadsheet or something and delete it.

Wondering if some of the "females" were actually sub adult males. It's not easy to positively ID sub adults as male or female when flying, or, and I'm really speculating, the sub adult male not letting them land needed some lessons in courting. Just hard to say.

John Miller

[ShawnK]

Thanks John

You're right about not knowing which were which in flight. I was assuming that they were jealous males protecting their mates but didn't really know.

Thanks again, Shawn

[taxidermy lady]

Yeah Shawn this happened 2 times ( that I seen) to my ASY male trying to find a mate. Another ASY male came in with my ASY male and a female and he would not let her land. They scuffled for a good while. Then she gives up and flys away. She had probably been at other house and the ASY had claimed her already. It is an aggressive task for those birds! oh well just keep trying!

[ShawnK]

taxidermy lady,

Thanks for the reply. Just wondering if anyone else had seen this. I figured someone had.

[Trishy]

I would keep the housing up until late summer. My first martin was a lone sy male that stayed here a couple of months by himself. The next year he brought a female, and my colony was started. He also lured in a sy pair that successfully fledged 5 young. You just never know.

[ShawnK]

Thanks Trish - That's encouraging news.
I haven't had any activity for about a week now. I bet everyone one is nesting and busy with that. I have seen some around feeding above the nearby fields but not coming in close. I still keep playing my dawn song in the mornings and some late evenings just in case someone new to the area happens by.

Shawn