One made a nest up under my deck this year (Which made a big muddy mess all over the place)... 1st time I have ever really seen any around here... Seems like there are a lot of them around... That's OK with me - as I have plenty of bugs for them to eat... Anyway - they may have just a made a more eastern migration route this year... I have heard of such things - apparently their nests in wild places get full of mites and such... It may just be that abandoning them for several years takes care of the problem... Thanks

Terrene, The ancient martins of the past once nested in hollow tree snags,old woodpecker holes,etc and some including myself think they mave have used rocky outcroppings,cliffsides,and river banks very similar to how the Rough Winged Swallow,Barn,and the Cliff Swallow nests today. To me this would explain their use of mud in their nests. There would be no need for mud in a deep woodpecker cavity or tree hollow but maybe the ancient martins used mud to seal off a rock crevice or something similar?? All fun questions to think about and wonder. The native American Indians of the south first started attracting martins by using gourds. Most likely it happened by accident as the Indians hung the gourds to dry. Well maybe the mice(that love to eat gourd seeds)got into them as they hung there in the winter drying. They ate a hole in the gourd and in the spring the martins took them. After the Indians noticed this they liked the martins and then started purposely hanging the gourds for them? Again fun questions to think about. When the white man settled in this country they began to build wooden houses for martins along with adopting the Indians practice of hanging gourds and then the stage was set for making the Purple Martin so dependant on man for housing as they are today. I think that in ancient days of this country when the great forests once dominated that the martins were not as common as they are today with the increased open area and that is most likely true. However the greatest threat to martins now is their need for man made housing and of course their number one enemies the Starlings and the House Sparrows. When these two birds came on the scene they slowly began to push out the martins wherever they became common. Gone were the days of simply putting up a martin house with 2 inch round holes in it and forgetting about it. Same with the Bluebirds and if it were not for the 1 and 1\2 inch entrance hole in BB Boxes the Eastern Bluebird would not be near as common as they are now. The 1 and 1\2 hole stopped the starlings and then they only had the House Sparrows to deal with. Fortunately for the Purple Martin there are now SREH(Starling Resistent Entrance Holes)and they have helped martins everywhere now not have to deal with starlings and wherever this is happening the martins are doing great. My site is nearly 100% clinger SREH now and it is such a sitisfying feeling knowing the martins are protected from those nest stealing,murdering starlings. Martins can deal with the sparrows to a point but not starlings and having the SREH is the only way to go these days if you seek a martin colony. I have been a martin landlord since I was 11 years old Terrene and all. I never tire of watching them and they are such a great part of summertime in this country. They are as American as baseball,apple pie,your Grandma's country biscuits,etc..smile..Thanks to all people who now use the SREH and trap and control the House Sparrows at their martin colonies. It simply helps the martins bigtime and so many other native songbirds continue to exist and live free and un harrassed in their own country. Man has in a way changed the nesting habits of the martins and this one question is always in my mind when I watch them. What would happen if all of a sudden man stopped supplying them housing?? Would their ancient instincts kick back in and send them back to cliffs,riverbanks,hollows,etc??? That is a lot to ponder right there I know that...Mike

What a treat! Thanks for sharing. I read such a discouraging article in the Chicago Tribune last week. It was about a bird tagging location near the Illinois/Wisconsin border that has been functioning for forty years. At first I thought the article said the number of birds had declined by ten to twenty percent, then...no, the number has declined TO ten to twenty percent of the migrating birds. They blame pollution and the declining habitat along migration routes. One of the tiny birds photographed had been recorded on migration from Northern Canada to South America. Our bird population has never come back more than a few percent from the die-off during avian flu a few years ago. I almost never see a crow or blue jay -- who thought I'd miss *them*?

Socks, I'll also refer you to the link I posted earlier. There's so much information at the PMCA site that you may enjoy reading. Purple Martins have the unusual distinction of relying upon man made housing for safety while breeding. If there's not enough housing in one colony, they'll search for another place. If my housing were to be destroyed and not replaced, they would search for another but would come back here first to see if housing was available. If they didn't have housing, they would find shelter in trees but would not breed. Once breeding is over and the young ones have fledged, they will start to gather in large groups called "roosts" and prepare for migration. The smaller roosts will meet up with larger groups to form "super roosts" and these are visible from radar! The roosts are generally in trees and they gather for the night. As far as the same birds returning year to year, I can't prove it with my little colony but I do recognize certain birds from year to year. The only way to really prove that is by banding, but you have to be certified to band birds. There are couples that prefer certain housing units over another. We proved that this year by only opening the newer housing first. They kept on checking out the older ones and the minute we opened them, they swooped in and made themselves at home. The young birds (SY) will come back to where they hatched. If they find housing, they will settle in. If not, they'll search nearby. Here's a picture of my current 108 unit set up. Pay no attention to that leaning pole....it's been up for a while!