Purple Martin Arrives In Dallas Area

[Steve Kroenke]

My good friend Troy Galloway from the Dallas, Texas area called me and said a purple martin arrived late this afternoon, January 24 just after he had raised one of his martin houses! The martin came in fast and quickly entered a compartment for the night. Troy said this is the earliest he has ever had a martin arrive at his martin colony and he usually sees the first one around the first or second week in February.

Steve

[M.Stephens]

Steve, how long has Troy had his colony and how many martins has Troy had at his site? That is unbelievable for Dallas!

[Steve Kroenke]

Malcolm,

Troy's martin colony is probably over 20 years old I guess. He is downsizing this season and I think he said he will have around 50 cavities. He usually has 50+ martin pairs each season. He takes real good care of his martins and provides supplemental food during bad weather: crickets and mealworms. He even has "heaters" in his aluminum houses when the temperatures get in the 20s! He pre-nests all compartments with pine straw and oak leaves.

Accipiter hawks are his main problem and they attack frequently. He uses decoys which helps deflect the raptors, but the hawks do create a lot of problems for his martins.

Steve

[M.Stephens]

Thanks for your reply Steve! I'll be finishing up my site this weekend awaiting my first return. My first martin usually arrives anywhere between Feb 1st and the 15th......

[Whippy]

That is great news.

I live in West Plano and have been keeping my eyes to the sky. I am expecting to see them any day now. We have a slight cold snap coming in for the net 4 or 5 days so hopefully that won't slow them down.

I now have 16 gourds up and pre nested with pine needles. I put up 8 of them last April as soon as I got them and kept them up until now. Prior to them leaving, I had several adults and many fledglings playing in and around them so maybe they'll remember my hospitality.

I'll be sure to post as soon as I see them.

Thanks for the report.

Whippy

[Whippy]

Here is the photo from Last June, 25, 2016 of the Martins playing in, on and around my gourds. They did this for two or 3 weeks prior to leaving town. In addition to the Martins you see perched on the gourd entrances and the perches, there are two Martins inside two of the gourds where you see Martins on the porches.

Like I said, I hope they remember the fine accommodations provided.

Coolwhips