Purple Martins are back!

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Site Admin
Posts: 339
Joined: Thu Oct 30, 2003 1:16 pm
Location: Erie, PA

We have the first report of the 2018 martin season! A Purple Martin was spotted at Disney’s Animal Kingdom colony in Lake Buena Vista, Florida by an experienced birder. Visit the PMCA's Scout-Arrival map at https://www.purplemartin.org/research/8 ... val-study/
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Purple Martin Conservation Association - Please consider becoming a member of the PMCA.
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sugarcreek
Posts: 252
Joined: Sun Mar 27, 2016 10:43 am
Location: Sugarcreek, Ohio
Martin Colony History: 2016 First Yr.

Sure makes it exciting, I hope they don't come to early.
16 - 14 Cavities 4 Act. Ne 9 fledged, 2.25 Fl. per Act. Ne
17 - 36 Cavities 18 Act. Ne 65 Fledged, 3.61 Fl. per Act. Ne
18 - 54 Cavities 43 Act. Ne 169 Fledged, 3.93 Fl. per Act. Ne
19 - 108 Cavities 67 Act. Ne 209 Fledged, 3.12 Fl. per Act. Ne
20 - 108 Cavities 72 Act. Ne 243 Fledged, 3.38 Fl. per Act. Ne
21 - 112 Cavities 91 Act. Ne 313 Fledged, 3.44 Fl. per Act. Ne
22 - 114 Cavities 101 Act Ne 355 Fledged, 3.51 Fl. per Act. Ne
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zatn02
Posts: 34
Joined: Wed Aug 03, 2016 7:35 pm
Location: Sand Springs, Oklahoma
Martin Colony History: I live on Keystone Lake which is 25 miles west of Tulsa Oklahoma. For 2020 I will be offering: 1 Gemini rack with 12 Troyer Horizontal and 12 Troyer Vertical gourds, 1 Multi-Purpose pole with 2 Trio M12K houses with expanded compartments and 4 S&K Bo 11 Plus gourds with clinger tunnels, 1 Multi-Purpose pole with 2 Trio Mini-Castles with expanded compartments and 4 Troyer Vertical Gourds underneath, 1 MPP pole with 2 Trio MSS12 houses with expanded compartments, 3 Super gourds and 1 Excluder gourd underneath, 1 Fountain Gourd rack with 12 Troyer Vertical Gourds, 1 AAA16 rack with 8 Troyer Horizontal and 8 Troyer Vertical gourds, 1 rack with 3 S&K Double Gourds, 1 Trendsetter 16 house with 4 Troyer Vertical Gourds underneath and 1 S&K Barn style house with expanded compartments and 2 gourds underneath. This will be a total of 127 nesting cavities offered for 2020. Hopefully this will help to increase my numbers over 2019 which were 60 active pair that fledged 274 babies.

It is still pretty cold there.... hopefully it will warm up soon.
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steve r
Posts: 371
Joined: Sat Mar 20, 2004 8:16 am
Location: Antioch/Plant City Fla

I was at Disney today for work, I sure hope it stayed warm as the weather was terrible raining windy and cold.
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Donnie Hurdt MN
Posts: 1723
Joined: Sun Feb 15, 2004 11:14 pm
Location: North Prairie, MN

That is the good news I needed today that summer is coming considering that it is -4 below 0 here and I have been sick with the flue all week.
PMCA member and Martin fanatic....
2011 A pair of subbies fledged three young but none returned in 2012 :-(
2015 One Pair of subbies came and stayed a few nits but got chased away by Bluebirds and Tree swallows. :-(
2017 0ne pair of subbies nested and fledged 4 young
2018 Tree Swallows AGAIN chased away any martins that wanted to nest :evil:
2019 Same old story................ :-(
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C.C.Martins
Posts: 3368
Joined: Fri Apr 14, 2017 11:15 am
Location: Corpus Christi Tx
Martin Colony History: 2016- Visitors.
2017- 5 pair. 15 fledged
2018- 18 pair. 85 fledged
2019- 17 pair. 81 fledged
2020- 25 pair. 111 fledged
2021- 28 pair. 118 fledged
2022- 33 pair. 151 fledged
2023- 33 pair. 165 fledged
2024- 40 pair. 185 fledged
2025- 40 pair. 181 fledged
HOSP:
Home colony: mix natural, super, Troyer and excluder gourds, enlarged compartment house. All SREH.

Satellite colony: Oso Bay Preserve: 49 PMCA excluder gourds; 16 room Lonestar Goliad with Modified Excluder entrances.
2019: Visitors
2020: 3 pair, 11 fledged
2021: 10 pair, 30 fledged
2022: 11 pair, 35 fledged
2023: 18 pair, 101 fledged
2024: 39 pair, 181 fledged
2025: 51 pair, 216 fledged
PMCA member

Man, I hope he stays south for a while. terrible weather!
A good house sparrow is a dead house sparrow.
HOSP: 17. Starlings: 23
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kim w.
Posts: 92
Joined: Mon May 05, 2014 6:43 pm
Location: IN/Goshen

Is it unusual to have only one report in Florida? Last year there were like 25 by 1-07
Kim W.
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steve r
Posts: 371
Joined: Sat Mar 20, 2004 8:16 am
Location: Antioch/Plant City Fla

With no other reports coming in, it kinda has me wondering about the first report.
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mjfog
Posts: 446
Joined: Sat Dec 30, 2017 3:40 pm
Location: Palm City, FL
Martin Colony History: 2018 will be my first try. 6 S&K B09s. 29 eggs - 8 fledged
2019 - 12 Troyer Horizontals with tunnels, 6 S&K B09s and 12 B011s all with tunnels. 43 eggs - 36 fledged
2020 - Rack 1 - 6 B011s, Rack 2 - 24 B011s, and Rack 3 - 24 Troyer Horizontals. All gourds have tunnels, porches and crescent/Conley 11 entrances; racks have predator guards. 161 eggs - 88 fledged.
2021 - 54 gourds-214 eggs, 184 hatched, 168 fledged.
2022 - 3 racks of 24 gourds. 363 eggs, 294 hatched, 278 fledged.
2023 - 3 racks of 24 gourds. 321 eggs, 276 hatched, 246 fledged.
2024 - 3 racks of 24 gourds. 330 eggs, 283 hatched, 250 fledged.
2025 - 3 racks of 24 gourds. 347 eggs, 281 hatched, 266 fledged.

Steve - Me too on that single up in Orlando, especially considering the concurrent weather conditions. Since that report I've been "eyes on the skies." Social critters like martins are it's hard for me to figure a "single." So be it. Today at my place, more tree swallows, one circling red-tail, couple of wood storks mixed in with the ubiquitous black and turkey vultures and, a special friend of mine, a crested cara-cara. Warming up tomorrow; I'll keep eyes up! Mike
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marcus
Posts: 314
Joined: Tue May 10, 2016 10:21 pm
Location: Fairland OK
Martin Colony History: Mom n Dad had a plastic 12 unit martin house with some martins as long as I can remember. In 2013 they had 1 pair. I don't think they fledged any. I then started learning how to take care of martins and in 2014 we took that house down and put up a Troyer 18 gourd rack. We had 7 pair with 28 fledged.That summer I built a T-14 (I was only 12). I was also given 4 natural gourds that I hung beneath the T-14. In 2015, we had 23 pair although only 22 pair fledged young. They fledged 88 young. In 2016, we had 36 pair, 210 eggs, 163 hatched, 149 fledge!! One pair fledged 2 broods. In 2017, I had 36 pair with 35 fledging young. They laid 204 eggs, hatched 155, and fledged 152.

Although there is only one report, there could be multiple birds at that colony by now. However, they won't be reporting any additional birds since they are only supposed to report the first one. Also, its not unlikely that there are other arrivals who haven't been reported. Also, there is one new report in southern Florida. I expect the original report was accurate.
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BioJoe
Posts: 188
Joined: Tue Mar 03, 2015 12:18 pm
Location: PA/Erie

We followup on all of the first reports to verify their accuracy. The system holds them until we approve the report.

There are a oodles of false reports (starlings, tree swallows, barn swallows) all season long! We have measures in place to help to filter out the noise.
PMCA Pres/CEO
Erie, PA
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Don Troha
Posts: 367
Joined: Fri Jul 08, 2011 2:14 pm
Location: Texas/Houston

Any plans to resurrect the animated scout maps? Apparently those disappeared when the website was overhauled a while back.
2025 - 15 pair, 56 fledged
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tlragsdale
Posts: 218
Joined: Wed Jul 24, 2013 12:22 pm
Location: Wisconsin/New Richmond

I hope the souther landlords know how exciting it is to read of the arrivals of the first martins back each spring. I look daily at the increasing number of "dots" on the arrival map….it helps make the northern winters a bit more bearable.

Hope everyone has a banner year!!!
Terry & Michelle
New Richmond, WI

2005 - 2014 Hard luck stories
2015 - 2 pair, 12 eggs/12 fledglings
2016 - 6 pair, 35 eggs/35 fledged
2017 - 18 pair, 88 eggs / 85 fledged.
2018 - 23 pair, 119 eggs/115 fledged.
2019 - 31 pair, 137 eggs/133 fledged
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Dave Reynolds
Posts: 2442
Joined: Mon Jan 31, 2011 4:35 pm
Location: Little Hocking, Oh.
Martin Colony History: Satellite Site “Oxbow Golf Course”..
2018 - 15 Pair, 36 Fledged
2019 - 26 Pair, 97 Fledged
2020 - 30 Pair, 137 Fledged
2021 - 30 Pair, 144 Fledged
2022 - 27 Pair, 125 Fledged
2023 - 31 Pair, 130 Fledged
2024 - 41 Pair, 198 Fledged
2025 - 44 Pair, 168 Fledged

Home Site "Little Hocking, Ohio".
2019 - 1 Pair, 5 Fledged
2020 - 1 Pair, 4 Fledged
2021 - 8 Pair, 36 Fledged
2022 - 13 Pair, 46 Fledged
2023 - 16 Pair, 84 Fledged
2024 - 22 Pair, 104 Fledged
2025 - 28 Pair, 83 Fledged

Hello Everyone ..... Amazing in just 12 days we have went from 1 report to 14 reports, in Florida.. WoW so hard to believe another season has started... It’s still freezing here in Southeastern, Ohio.. We have another 60 some days before our season gets into full swing...

Dave
PMCA Member
Little Hocking, Ohio
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BillieJR
Posts: 766
Joined: Tue Apr 11, 2017 11:39 am
Location: Monroe, WI

How exciting - I didn't realize Animal Kingdom had a colony. I wonder where it's at so I can keep my eyes open for it next time I'm there.
Billie from southern Wisconsin
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Whippy
Posts: 1023
Joined: Thu Jan 19, 2017 11:15 pm
Location: Plano, Texas
Martin Colony History: See Signature

I've noticed yesterday and today that the purple dots are not on the map. You probably knew that but thought I'd mention it just in case it slipped past ya.

Or something went wrong on my end.

Coolwhips
2016 - many visitors
2017 - 1 pair, 3 fledged
2018- 2 pair, 12 fledged
2019 - 4 pair, 21 fledged
2020 - 15 pair, 67 fledged
2021 - 29 pair, 117 fledged
2022 - 35 pair, 130 fledged
2023 - 43 pair, 196 fledged
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William Bagwell
Posts: 24
Joined: Wed Oct 19, 2016 1:23 pm
Location: North Central Georgia USA
Martin Colony History: Long interested in Purple Martins, pole up 2017 retired 2024 and trying harder this year!

BillieJR, the Martin gourd racks at Animal Kingdom are not accessible by the public. My brother worked there as a photo-pass photographer for five years and never got to see them. A few racks at Epcot are in public view.
Pole up 2017, retired (and trying harder!) 2024, Purple Martins since ???
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