Year three, 6-gourd in East Winnipeg

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atrauzzi
Posts: 14
Joined: Tue May 09, 2023 4:48 pm
Location: Winnipeg

Well, here we are again. It's early 2025 and I've got Purple Martins on my mind!

This my third year thread, continued from last year. Hopefully this doesn't turn into a ten year thread chain of me trying to attract martins in vain. 😅

It's still quite early in the season for my zone right now. Martins aren't expected for another two or so months. But spring seems to be coming in a hurry and I don't want to miss any opportunities. I'm already starting to prepare and I've even got a few minor adjustments for this year to share:
  • I've started my sound player in my garage 24/7 with the dawnsong. I haven't heard anything conclusive on whether this will help or hurt, but if having that going all the time is bad, I'd love to know. Once all the snow is gone and the air is consistently warmer, I'll connect it to my JBL clip and put it up on the pole at max volume in the mornings. I still wonder if this speaker is loud enough?
  • Sparrows are already active and so I've decided to not waste any time. I've put my two trapped gourds up in the hopes of catching and thinning some of that population out before martins have even crossed the 49th parallel.
  • The only other thing is I'm probably going to have to find a local pine straw supplier. I have a tiny bit leftover from last year, but not enough to fill all my gourds.
As always, I'm still a bit concerned about my situation. I have seen worse in Saskatchewan when visiting with family, and that nest is teeming with martins every year, despite the surrounding trees and structures.

(It's the one that got me interested in trying for my own.)

...but I suspect and continue to assure myself that I signed up for an uphill battle trying to set up an urban nest and that the only thing left is to be persistent and consistent.

Words of encouragement and advice always welcome.
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Archer
Posts: 786
Joined: Fri Mar 11, 2011 1:09 pm
Location: Manitoba/Altona
Martin Colony History: six pair in 2014, have grown to 52 pairs in 2017.

Always nice to hear of a new Landlord from Manitoba. I am an hour south of the city (Altona)and have had martins the last 10 years and other stints as well. I used Dawnsong to start my latest colony, I let it play till the first pair started nesting. They never had a problem with it, and by the time it was all said and done I had a attracted 6 pair. It was my third year trying. Cleaning up the local sparrows before the martins arrive is a great plan. You can use other material if you want to prenest. I have used wheat straw and also dried leaves. I saw today that martins have arrived in Minneapolis, so while I am not expecting any till the third week of April, you never know. I'll be watching for reports of your Success. Allan.
2011- first year trying, a few visitors.
2012-One ASY pair, raised two young, lots of subby visitors. So thankfull.
2013-daily subby visits.
2014-Six SY pairs
2015-18 pair, 83 fledglings
2016-36 pair, 147 fledglings
2017-52 pairs, 192 fledglings.
2018-60 pair, 246 fledglings.
2019-59 pair, 238 fledglings.
2020-62 pair.
2021-65 pair.
2022-63 pair.
2023-60 pair
2024-62 pair
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randyM
Posts: 254
Joined: Thu Jun 18, 2015 2:30 pm
Location: Long Lake SD
Martin Colony History: * 2016 - 1 pair (ASYM + SYF) 2/3 eggs hatched 2 young fledged.
* 2017 - 4 pairs, 16/17 eggs hatched, 16 fledged, 16 banded - 2 banded SY returned in 2018 (12.5%)
* 2018 - 10 pairs, 46/52 eggs hatched, 45 fledged, 29 young banded - 3 banded SY returned in 2019 (10.3%)
*2019 - 32 pairs, 145/160 eggs hatched, 139 fledged - 87 young banded - 12 banded SY returned in 2020 (13.8%).
* 2020 - 35 pairs, 180/199 eggs hatched, 178 fledged - 150 young banded & 42 SY returned (28.0%)
* 2021 - 89 pairs, 363/446 eggs hatched, 355 fledged - 150 young banded & 19 SY returned (12.7%)
*2022 - 116 pairs, 495/579 eggs hatched, 471 fledged - 150 young banded & 27 SY returned (18.0%)
*2023 - 160 pairs, 708/828 eggs hatched, 572 fledged - 150 young banded & 38 SY returned (25.3%)
*2024 - 235 pairs, 950/1153 eggs hatched, 865 fledged - 100 young banded & 18 SY returned (18.0%)
*2025 - 200 pairs, 795/953 eggs hatched, 739 fledged - 200 young banded

My colony is about 500km SSW of Winnipeg in South Dakota. It took me nearly 10 years to get my colony started, but I had a very persistent tree swallow issue I did not address that I believe prevented my martin colony from getting started sooner. I played the dawn song CD sunup to sundown from ~May 1 - July 1 each year and finally had a SY male stay at my site for 6 weeks without attracting a mate. He tolerated the pesky tree swallows and didn't seem to mind the constant dawn song being played. The following year I believe he returned as an ASY bird and attracted a SY female. Again, I played the dawn song CD May 1 to July 1 and the pair didn't seem to mind at all and again they put up with their pesky tree swallow neighbors. The next year 4 martin pairs nested at my site and I stopped playing the CD once all nests had eggs. By this time the resident tree swallows just accepted martins as being part of the local avian community and left them alone for the most part. The only time I play a martin CD now (daytime chatter) is during August and early Sept. when migrating martins are passing through the area. I'll occasionally have a few birds stop by for a visit and I hope they remember my site on their flight northward next spring.

Best of luck to you this season!!

Randy
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atrauzzi
Posts: 14
Joined: Tue May 09, 2023 4:48 pm
Location: Winnipeg

Just got hit with around a good foot of snow last night, the last hurrah of winter I suppose. I suspect this will keep the martins away from Winnipeg for another couple weeks.

No sparrows caught as of yet in the trapped gourds. Was thinking of putting some seed inside as a lure.

Next task once this snow is melted again will be to time the removal/blocking of the trapped gourds so I don't accidentally scare any martins.
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