Purple Martins - I'm ready for them - 5 pics

14 years ago

I try to have the Purple Martin gourds prepped and hung by April 15. They arrived on May 10 last year; April 23 the year before.

Wes reworked the pole for me. He added a winch to replace the old pulley-and-rope system. We also got a two-tiered hub that can hold 8 or 16 gourds. He got everything installed, secured, and in working order Thursday (April 15). He did all this with a minimum of grumbling and very little blood-shed! LOL I'm so proud of him.

Meanwhile, I made pre-nests in the gourds and wired them to the arms. I sealed off five of the eight gourds to keep them starling and house-sparrow safe until I actually see Purple Martins. I'll seal off these three if I see any of the vermin checking them out.

Wes installing the new winch. Notice...he even used the instructions!

Hamming it up. The man absolutely hates heights/ladders. Small step-stools give him "problems" and it seems I'm always needing "get the tall ladder" help.

He's putting "self-tapping screws" into the winch straps so they won't turn slip around or slid up the pole.

I have the oriole/hummer feeder filled. It's still getting down to 30 at night, but I don't want to miss the hummers when they return.

Last year I didn't set out the sugar water until April 30 when I saw the orioles. Within an hour I had hummingbirds everywhere. That told me I needed to set it out earlier. After the first few hummers appear, I don't color any more of the sugar water.

The neighbor across the street runs a Day Care for pre-school kids. She seems to love the PMs as much as I do!

I let her grand daughter "help" me do nest checks.

I'm hope to "recruit" a dedicated, involved PM landlord even if I have to start with one still using a sippy cup! LOL

I have to finish adding tunnel entries to some natural gourds before I set out the lower level of eight gourds.

Since I don't really expect to go from four pairs last year to 16 pairs this year, I probably won't need the second level for a while.

The pole is about 15 feet high. The three "birds" are PM decoys to catch the attention of any early migrants passing through.

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Comments (8)

lydia1959
14 years ago
I find this all very interesting Caroline! Thanks so much for sharing with us. Looking forward to updates and photos in the coming months.
kathleenca
14 years ago
We don't have purple martins in southern California, Caroline, so I'm finding this really interesting. Thanks so much for all the photos. Your husband is sure great about getting "bird stuff" ready, isn't he!
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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!
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Congratulations on your "grandbaby BBs," Lisa. Are the adults renesting? Yes, I make pre-nests in the gourds before I hang them in April. They are filled level to the bottom of the opening with wood shavings, pine needles, or chopped straw. The PMs don't care which. I add a scant teaspoon of Sevin dust and mix it into the top of the nesting material. When the adults arrive back from Brazil, tired, hungry, ragged, and often covered in mites, they go in their gourds, get comfy, and in a day or two the mites are gone. They also have more time to concentrate on feeding and building up to prime reproductive condition rather than trying to start nest building immediately. They will add sticks and mud dams to the nests, or not, to suit themselves. Some make elaborate nests, some barely add a leaf before laying eggs. They start adding green leaves right before laying eggs and continue to add them, at different rates, depending on each pair. When I do the nest change at 10-12 days after hatching I replace the nesting material, but don't add leaves. Some adults will add more leaves, some don't. Again! Congratulations on your blue birds. I'm having great success (thank the Lord!) with my Purple Martins but I can't seem to attract a bluebird for love or money. I have boxes up; I've read the blue bird association's, and others, info until I think I can recite it backwards, and I've seen blue birds the past two years...but still no takers. Someday! Here is a link that might be useful: Purple Martin Conservation Association
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Comments (7)
I think two or three of the nestlings fledged about 8:30 p.m.! I still see a couple heads peeking out of the gourd, but Ma and Pa Martin were flying circles about the size of our city block and calling extra loud and often. They were very excited. There were two or three other PMs with them, too high up for me to see markings. These other martins were flapping their wings a lot (PMs mostly soar) and seemed to be having a bit of problem navigating. I think they were the babies. I'll know more tomorrow after I sit outside with my binoculars for a while. Yes, the neighbors are very entertained by me and my birds.
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glenda_al
14 years ago
Great pictures!

Now for the babies :o)
phyllis__mn
14 years ago
Thanks....I've been waiting for your pics!
caroline94535
Original Author
14 years ago
Now Glenda, you know...

"First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes Purple Martins with baby-egg carriage!"

I guess I have to wait until "First comes the first arrivals" which may not happen until the first week in May.
mariend
14 years ago
Wondered when those nest would be going up. Thanks for sharing.
Marie from ND
socks
14 years ago
How wonderful!! Your DH is just a peach to be so helpful.

Where are the PM's coming from? Do many people in your area have the nests for them? I have never seen anything like this in my life!

Caroline, don't forget to roll out the red carpet! Do keep us posted, and I hope you have great success this year.
caroline94535
Original Author
14 years ago
Kathleen CA - I'm checking with some of the PMCA members to get all of the facts correct, but there are small numbers of Purple Martins in California. They nest differently though; where the martins in the eastern half of the country are human-imprinted and colony nesters, the ones that have moved to the west coast tend to nest in smaller, or solitary, groups and not near people.

I know there were several larger colonies forming around Sacramento. The birds have discovered the drain pipes built in to some of the larger highway overpasses were excellent places to nest. They also nest in pilings and piers along the coast.

I'll get back with you when I get more info. I don't know how far south they go.

Socks/Kathleen CA - Yes; Wes has been a great help with the my Purple Martin hobby/obsession. When we moved from the base to the new/old house in Larimore in 2007, one of the very first things he did was to dig the 36" deep, 12" wide hole and set the ground stake in cement so it could cure and hold the pole before winter. The pole slips down 30" into the stake. This is the same set up I had on the base.

We had a nearly-impossible-to-budge rope-and-pulley system until now. I don't know why it never worked correctly, but the manufacturer replaced the entire hub system with a new and improved one! Since it can hold two layers of eight gourds each, we bought a boat winch to "power" it.

The system was easy to install on the old pole and it works beautifully.

It would have taken me weeks to put together and install the winch, pulley and hub if I had to do it on my own. It would have involved blood, bruises, pain, and probably broken fingers. Wes had it all together in an hour or so. "I think I'll keep him!"

There have been four Purple Martin "scout" sightings in North Dakota since April 11. Two in Mandan, and one each in Devils Lake and Coleharbor. I have three "martineering" friends in Grand Forks and Bismarck. They have not seen birds yet.

Purple Martins are native American birds that migrate to and from Brazil each fall. They return in the spring to nest from Florida to north of Winnipeg. At one time they were in danger of extinction because of lack of properly monitored housing (the vast majority of the birds only nest in man-made housing) and predation by non-native European starlings and English house sparrows.

Here is a link that might be useful: Purple Martin Conservation Association

Purple Martins - I'm ready for them - 5 pics

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lydia1959

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Purple Martins - I'm ready for them - 5 pics

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lydia1959

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