Another Tulsa Roost Location Found

Dick Sherry · Tue Jul 12, 2005 3:23 pm

Saturday evening when we checked the river roost there were a lot of martins, but not as many as two weeks before. So last night I watched the river near the island roost and saw that a lot of the birds were flying to the northeast towards downtown. I followed them and found thousands of martins in the air and on wires along Archer St. east of Denver Ave. to Cincinnati Ave. (5 blocks). This is just north of the main downtown area and the Burlington Northern railroad tracks. Archer has quite a few Bradford pear trees on both sides of the street, and that is where most of the martins were going. As it got darker, the birds seemed to be packing into trees that are in the blocks just east and west of Main Street.

This location provides a lot of trees, but their presence will probably make some property owners unhappy. This is an older part of the downtown area that is in transition to convert some older structures into lofts and add restaurants and other businesses. It is also just a few blocks from the autobank that was used as a roost for thirteen years before the bank removed all the trees.

Last summer, the martins kept moving their roost location every 2 or 3 weeks, and several times were using multiple roosts. So we will keep watching and see what they do for the remainder of this summer.

Laverne · Tue Jul 12, 2005 3:49 pm

Stupid autobank

If that was my bank I'd pull all five of my dollars out of there!!

Hello Dick.

I sure hope the good people of Tulsa will allow the Purple Martins to roost in peace. The Houston Roost moves around a lot, too. I know about 6 or 7 years ago one roost was at the power plant near Brazos Bend State Park. Last time I went there, we saw only a handful of Purple Martins. There was an article in the newspaper at that time and they proclaimed they would do nothing to discourage the roost. I think that was baloney. Then, we found one roost at the hospital on I-10 @ Gessner - it was there for one year. Now, we have found one roost at the Sharpstown Mall and it is in its second year.

I wonder what the history of the Houston Roost has been? Is there more than one?

Robert McCallum · Tue Jul 12, 2005 9:08 pm

Dick,
Thanks again for keeping us posted. I plan to look at the Archer roost tomorrow night.

Bob MCc

Robert McCallum · Thu Jul 14, 2005 9:11 pm

Pictures of a roost are basically impossible but here is a trymade tonight, Wed. 14 July, 2004. Thousands of birds on power lines along Archer and Brady Streets.

Robert McCallum · Thu Jul 14, 2005 9:21 pm

OK, so I don't know how to post a picture.

Robert McCallum · Sat Jul 16, 2005 7:50 pm

Here's a small part of the Tulsa roost on Archer near the old Tribune building.

Dick Sherry · Mon Jul 18, 2005 11:29 am

Bob, I am glad you got to see that. I hope to get down there in the next few evenings, and also check to see if some martins are still using the island roost. My wife and I went to a concert south of the island roost last Tuesday evening, and there were thousands of martins on the wires near the island, and a constant stream of martins flying low overhead toward the island. So, they are using both locations. It is impossible to catch the magnitude of their numbers on a camera.

Laverne · Mon Jul 18, 2005 1:39 pm

Hi Bob and Dick.

Bob, that is a great picture of a premigratory roost. You can see the swirling Purple Martins as they gather in the sky before moving into the roost. Did these birds drop into a small cluster of trees? I know they don't usually stay on the power lines after dark.

Have either of you been to check out the Muskogee Roost on record with PMCA from last season? I wonder if it is still active this year?

If you haven't already done so, please report the Tulsa Roost to the PMCA. Thank you.