Impact Of Losing A Mate In Purple Martin Society

[Steve Kroenke]

Impact Of Losing A Mate In Purple Martin Society

Purple martins establish monogamous pair bonds during the breeding season. Most purple martin pairs remain intact for the entire nesting season and successfully breed. However, on occasion, either the male or female martin of a pair will be lost to predators, be killed in accidents, die of disease, starvation or injury or just disappear for unknown reasons. This loss produces different impacts based on what phase in the breeding cycle the martin pair is currently in and which gender is lost. Will the remaining bird be able to find another mate? What will be the effect of the loss of a mate on any eggs or nest bound young?

Gender Roles During The Breeding Season

There are gender roles performed by both the male and female martin during the breeding season and these roles greatly influence the success of a breeding pair. These roles also relate directly to the impact of losing a mate on the remaining partner and any eggs or young. Gender roles are embedded in the genetic code (DNA) of the purple martin, and there is little deviation from the ritualized behavior that has evolved for eons. The male knows his place in the pair unit and so does the female. Lets briefly review these gender roles.

Male Purple Martin Roles

The male martin selects the territory, defends the territory from other males and competitors, mobs predators, protects the female from sexual attacks by other males, shares in nest building, guards but does not incubate the eggs, feeds the nest bound young, serves as the main guardian of recently fledged young from attacks by other male martins, particularly unmated sub adult (SY) males and brings the young back to roost at the colony. The male’s prominent roles are establishment of the territory and defender of the family unit from other male martins. Male martins also tend to be more intense in their mobbing of predatory birds than females.

Female Purple Martin Roles

The female martin actually selects the male and his territory, defends the territory from other females and competitors, mobs predators, chooses the nest site within this territory, often plays the major role in nest building, including constructing mud dams, lays the eggs and develops a brood patch for incubating them, broods the young during the day and at night, feeds the nest bound young, shares in raising and defending the fledged young, and brings the young back to roost at the colony. The female’s key roles are selection of the nest site and caretaker of the eggs and nest bound young.

Other Factors Relating To The Impact Of Losing A Mate

While gender roles critically impact the effect of losing a mate in purple martin society, there are other factors that come into play. This includes number of martin pairs present, existence of unmated adult (ASY) and SY males seeking territory/mates, availability of unmated females, stage in nesting cycle when the loss occurred, time left in the breeding season, and relative martin abundance in the geographical area. Sometimes just one of these factors is sufficient to prevent or greatly minimize the chances that the remaining member of a pair can replace his/her mate. For example, the male or female of a late nesting pair of martins would have a very poor chance of securing another mate should one be lost after most other martins in the area had finished nesting. Factors such as weather conditions, availability of insects, competitors, health/maturation status (ASY or SY) of the remaining pair member or nest parasite population levels can impact the ability of a single parent martin to successfully raise a brood.

Loss Of A Mate During The Four Major Purple Martin Nesting Phases

The following discussion reviews the possible impact of losing a mate during the four major nesting phases of purple martin society: pairing, nest building, incubating the eggs, and raising the nest bound young. This impact relates to both a male or female martin finding a replacement mate during certain breeding phases and to the ability of the remaining partner to successfully complete the nesting season alone. These are my observations of martins and they may or may not be applicable to other situations.

Loss Of A Mate Soon After Pair Bonding

Of all the stages in the purple martin nesting cycle, mate replacement is easiest for the remaining bird if the loss occurs soon after the original pair bonding. This is particularly true early in the nesting season and in larger martin colonies. If a male or female martin loses its mate right after pair bonding, then the remaining bird will usually get another quickly. The male martin will start courting and luring single females to his territory as soon as he realizes his mate is no longer around; this often occurs by the next day. The female martin behaves differently from the male and it may take longer for her to replace her lost mate. She does not establish territory nor tries to attract a male to it. For a short time she may remain in her former mate’s territory, but not for long, unless another male martin moves in. An available female stands out rather sharply in a colony where single males are looking for mates. She is unescorted by a male and that tells other males she is a possibility. These single males will quickly start to court her and it will just be a matter of time before she has another mate, either in her current territory or somewhere else in the colony. In large colonies with an abundance of single SY males, these males are more than ready to step in and take the place of a lost mate.

At this stage in the nesting season, both male and female martin are much more open to change, as they have not produced eggs or young. Remember: their goal is to produce young, so these martins must still be available to re-partner as soon as possible. There is a very short mourning period for either male or female martin that has lost its mate at this phase. Both are quickly looking around to replace their mates so they can hopefully raise a family.

However, this scenario can be significantly different in very small colonies with a few pairs or a colony with just one pair. With fewer martins around, particularly single males and females, then the remaining pair member will have a much more difficult time finding a new mate. Also, pair formation late in the nesting season would no doubt make it far more difficult for any martin that lost its mate to secure a replacement. In such colonies, the male martin would most likely remain there, continue to defend his territory and try to attract another mate for at least a while. Female martins may be more inclined to desert the site earlier and start looking around nearby larger colonies where there are more available males. For migratory birds like purple martins, time for mating and raising a family is precious. Martins will go where they have a chance of securing mates.

Loss Of A Mate During/After Nest Building

When a pair of martins begins nest building or has finished, they are becoming more bonded to the site. The next stage will be laying eggs. However, mate loss at this stage is somewhat like the loss after pair bonding relative to impact. In a short time the male martin will start looking for another mate, as he will realize his original one is gone. She will not be at the cavity and not be roosting with him. There are several possibilities for the female. If she has already mated, then she will be soon laying eggs. She may finish nest building alone or if the nest was recently completed, she may remain in the territory and start laying eggs. Being alone and unescorted by a male, she may immediately attract the attention of unmated ASY and SY males, which will court her and try to entice her to accept them. Like in the pairing stage, the female may stay in her territory with a new mate or move to another location to accept another partner. She may be more inclined to stay at her original nest site if she is getting ready to lay eggs. The main consideration for both male and female martin at this stage just like during pre nesting pairing is finding another mate. The number of martins in the colony and the amount of time left in the breeding season can greatly impact the chances of the remaining martin in securing a mate replacement during the nest building phase.

Loss Of A Mate After Eggs Are Laid

It is at this stage in the nesting cycle where the loss of a mate has greater consequences than the previous two phases. Only the female martin incubates the eggs as that is her role and she develops a brood patch for such a function. If she is lost, then the eggs are doomed, as the male can’t and will not incubate them. The male will stay around and continue to return to the nest; he may even bring in green leaves. However, within a day or two he will realize she is gone and at this point he may start to recruit a new mate, provided there is enough time left in the breeding cycle. No new female will incubate the old eggs and if he is successful in attracting her, then she may remove the old eggs, cover them with leaves and other nesting material for her eggs or just lay her eggs among them. You may see a nest with eight or more eggs in these cases. If the male’s territory includes multiple cavities, then his new mate may reject the original nest site and select another. Remember: the female is in charge of the nest.

If the male is lost, then the female will continue to incubate the eggs and she will not be looking for another mate as she would if she was just pair bonded or was building a nest. She will usually not abandon her nest and most importantly, her eggs. At this stage in the nesting cycle, she has now laid her eggs and she is bonded to the nest. Her genetic legacy is her eggs/young so her time is now devoted to that goal. However, the loss of her mate can produce disastrous consequences for her eggs. The role of the male during the incubation process is to guard the eggs while the female is away; he does not incubate the eggs. Females leave their nests at intervals during the day to feed and drink and can be absent for over 15 minutes at a time. Though males are sometimes inconsistent in their guarding duties, many do protect the eggs in their mate’s absence. Without the male martin, then the eggs are vulnerable to attacks by starlings, house sparrows, and some unmated SY males when the female is absent. These marauders will readily destroy the unguarded eggs.

Most females that have lost their mates during the egg incubation phase will repel any attempt by other males to move in and become their new mates. These females are very protective of their eggs and may view other male martins as potential threats. At this stage in the breeding cycle, incubating females would not be actively seeking mates and would devote their energy to the eggs. Also, such females are not as conspicuous because they are coming and going quickly and remain inside their nest to incubate the eggs. These females are not sitting around and socializing like they would be doing earlier in the season. So, single ASY or SY males that may be mate hunting may not notice such an available female. However, on rare occasions I have seen very persistent single ASY or SY males manage to move in and be accepted by the female even though the eggs are not his. The female initially attacked the new male and often forced him out of the nest cavity. But persistence did eventually pay off. In these very few cases I have observed, the new male did not remove the eggs and played his role as surrogate father until the young fledged. It is possible that the male may have still mated with this female though she was incubating the eggs and performed other courtship/mating rituals like chasing her in high-speed flight and following her every time she leaves the nest. This behavior may help the male accept the eggs as his and reinforce the female’s acceptance of him as her new mate.

Loss Of A Mate After Young Have Hatched

Loss of the male or female martin after the young have hatched produces the greatest impact on both the remaining parent and babies. The martin pair has worked hard to get to this point and their young are the adults’ genetic legacy. At this phase, neither male nor female martin will seek or accept a new mate and other martins are viewed as intruders and driven away. All energy of the remaining parent is devoted to raising the nest bound young. There are three major parent martin behaviors at this stage: brooding the young during the day and night, protecting the babies and feeding them. The male martin is active in the latter two and the female performs all. So the female martin plays the most important role of the pair while the young are still nest bound and her loss has greater consequences.

Brooding The Nest Bound Young…Critical Role Of The Female Martin

The female martin develops a brood patch and broods the nest bound young; her loss can be a disaster for the babies, particularly during the first week and into the second week of their physical development when there is little feather coverage for warmth. Newly hatched baby martins are featherless and completely helpless. These young must be kept warm in part through brooding by the female during day and most importantly at night when outside temperatures may drop. This is particularly true in northern locations where nighttime temperatures can be quite low. Should the female martin be lost soon after the young have hatched, then the chances of the young dying due to loss of body heat is a real problem. Short cool spells would expose the young to adverse weather conditions and if the female is not there to brood the babies, then their chances for survival are poor. Again martins nesting in the upper mid-west and northeast may be more adversely impacted due to cooler weather temperatures than those in the Deep South.

The male martin does not develop a brood patch and is not efficient in covering the young like the female though he will insulate his babies the best he can. Plus some male martins may quit roosting with the young once the eggs have hatched and in those cases the babies would have no adult with them during the night and early morning hours if the female had been lost. The loss of the male martin will not adversely impact the brooding capabilities of the female martin and she will be able to fulfill this function alone.

So for a short time after the young have hatched, the female martin plays the crucial role of brooding the babies, particularly at night and during inclement weather and her loss can be a disaster for the family. Recently hatched young in particular have no feathers to insulate them and could perish without the female’s brooding. The male martin is not physically capable of brooding the young like the female and may be unable to sufficiently insulate his babies. After the young have better feather coverage, then the female is no longer brooding the young. These young are much better able to withstand cooler temperatures without brooding by their mother.

Single Female With Small Young…Vulnerable To SY Male Infanticide Behavior

Bachelor SY male martins are always looking for territory and mates in a martin colony. A widowed female martin with recently hatched young is a prime target for these bachelor males because her original mate is gone and she must defend her babies alone.

Bachelor SY male martins will readily attempt to take over the cavity of such a female, claim the female, and remove the small nestlings. He MUST eliminate the martin babies if he will have any chance of establishing territory and mating with the female. She will most likely NOT accept him as her mate as long as her babies are there and she will viciously attack the male martin.

SY male martins are relentless in their attempt to mate with widowed female martins with young and will constantly try to enter their nests and court them. If the baby martins are recently hatched or small enough to be carried out in the male’s bill, the first chance he gets he will eliminate the young. I have observed a number of times SY male martins destroy entire broods of small nestling martins with only the female parent present and successfully take the nest cavity. If the young are too big to carry out, the SY male may just peck and harass these babies constantly and still try to mate with the female. The female martin will have a difficult time raising her babies because she will be attacking the SY male and staying in the nest for long periods of time on guard duty. Some or all of the babies may eventually starve or be seriously malnourished.

And yes, in cases where the SY male threw out all the small nestlings, the female martin often finally accepted the “murderer” of her babies as her new mate! She raised a new family with the SY male martin.

The loss of the male martin when the pair’s babies are a week old or less can be disastrous for the female when SY male martins are actively trying to move in and claim the nest cavity. The female will have an almost impossible task of trying to feed and protect her small nestlings at the same time when an aggressive and persistent SY male martin is constantly bothering her and her nest. Every time she leaves to find food, he will often enter the unprotected nest and eventually may succeed in removing all the small young.

Feeding The Nest Bound Young…Both Parents Do It, But The Female May Do It More

Both male and female martin feed their young and the female may feed the babies more frequently and for longer periods during the day. One small study I conducted reflected more feedings by most of the females than the males, but the sample size was much too small to draw any definite conclusions. (See the Forum Archives under Miscellaneous for feeding trip article.) I have noticed that males that don’t roost with their families may leave the nest site for the communal roost while the females are still bringing in food for the babies. Some females will continue to feed their young for nearly half an hour or longer before dark even though their mates have already departed. The female martin seems to play the most active role in feeding the nest bound young, as she is the primary caretaker of the babies. The loss of the female martin may have a more profound impact on the young relative to the number of feedings than the loss of the male. Generally speaking, a nest of young would be better fed with the female martin as the sole provider of food rather than the male.

Number Of Young In Brood…Female Martins May Handle This Better Than The Males

The number of young in the nest directly impacts the ability of the remaining parent to effectively care for them. For a family of five of more babies, both parent martins are working hard to keep these youngsters well fed and healthy. On average, one adult martin can usually do a good job of feeding around three youngsters or less. If one of the parents is lost, then the remaining adult must work even harder to feed a brood of five or more young. This not only places a strain on this adult, but may also result in some of the young becoming malnourished and ultimately deteriorating into runt status. This may encourage the young to fight each other for food at the entrance hole and then jump or be pushed out of the nest. Other youngsters may just weaken and die inside the nest, particularly those that have not feathered out well.

Single female martins may do a good job of successfully raising broods as large as four and I have seen a number of cases where no babies were left behind or prematurely fledged. Larger broods of five or more babies are difficult for even an experienced single female to successfully fledge alone. Remember: the female martin is the primary caretaker of the nest bound young. She broods them and often roosts with her babies for much longer than her mate. These single females were reasonably consistent in their feedings throughout the day and continued reliable feedings until roosting time. In my colonies, female martins usually roost with their young right up until the babies fledged. Since the females were roosting with their young, they could start feeding them early in the mornings and did not have to fly from a communal roost to return to their nests. They also fed their young until almost dark.

Single male martins have not been as successful with broods of four or more babies. These males tended to feed the young less frequently than the females over the course of a day. Some of these males in my colonies stop roosting with their babies when they are older and well feathered. Since these males were roosting away from the colony, they tended to arrive later in the mornings to begin feeding the young. I have seen a number of cases where single males were unable to effectively care for broods of four or more young. Babies died in the nests, prematurely fledged or were left behind when the other young made their maiden flight.

Both Single Male and Female Martins Do Better With Broods Of Older Young

On occasion, the male or female martin of a pair will be lost when the young are very close to fledging. In these cases, the number of young is not as much an issue for the remaining parent. This is probably the best situation for the single adult in this phase of the nesting cycle and even large broods of five or more can be successfully fledged. At this stage, the young for the most part are well developed and could fly if they had to. Parent martins tend to reduce the frequency of feedings as their babies approach the fledging date. So a single male or female martin would not be under the stress of providing continuous feedings like he/she would be if the babies were much younger and requiring more nourishment.

Other Factors Relating To Losing A Mate After The Young Have Hatched

There are a number of other factors that impact the success or failure of a single male or female martin of raising their young. The maturation status of the remaining parent may play a role though I have not seen enough differences in success or failure rates between ASY and SY single adults to say one way or the other. In most cases, the females, either ASY or SY did a better job than the males of providing for the young. However, ASY martins are experienced breeders and most have successfully raised young. This no doubt gives ASY birds an edge in raising young over SY martins that are breeding for the first time.

Other factors like weather conditions, insect availability, inter and intra-specific competition conflicts, health of the parent, and nest parasite levels certainly impact the ability of a single male or female to efficiently feed the young.

Conclusions

Purple martins sometimes lose their mates for various reasons during the breeding season. The impact of such a loss is directly related to the gender roles performed by the male and female martin, the breeding phase when the loss occurred, and other factors such as size of colony, time left in the nesting season, maturation status and health of the martins, weather conditions, and competitors.

Both male and female martins that have lost their mates at the beginning of the nesting season during pair formation or nest building will readily accept new partners if they are available. At these stages in the breeding cycle, no eggs or young have been produced so the male and female martins have not fulfilled their nesting mission.

Losing a mate after the eggs are laid is more complicated and produces different results based on which gender is lost. If the female is lost, then the eggs are doomed, as the male does not perform incubation duties. He will try to recruit a new mate if time permits. If the male is lost, the female will not abandon her eggs and will continue to incubate them. However, her eggs will be vulnerable to attacks by house sparrows, starlings and some bachelor SY males because the male martin is not there to guard them in her absence. A female that is incubating eggs will usually not accept a new mate at this time.

The greatest impact occurs if a mate is lost after the young have hatched. It is the loss of the female martin that may produce the most adverse consequences for the young. The female martin develops a brood patch on her abdomen and broods the young during their early development when they are featherless; the male does not do this. The female martin may also tend to feed the young more often and reliably than the male. The loss of the female may place featherless young in danger of dying of exposure to the elements, as the male may not be able to provide enough body insulation to protect them from cool/cold temperatures and wet conditions, particular in northern regions. Some males may quit roosting with their families after the young have hatched, so young without a mother, may not have an adult sleeping with them at night. Additionally, broods of four or more young may not be fed as much by a single male, placing some of the babies in jeopardy of becoming malnourished and ultimately dying in the nest or prematurely fledging. A single female may do a better job of feeding such a brood and have a better chance of fledging most or all of them. Bachelor SY male martins will readily attempt to take over a cavity of a single female with young and mate with her to father his own babies. If the female’s nestlings are recently hatched, the SY male can usually remove them in short order when the female leaves to find food.

Steve Kroenke

[Steve Kroenke]

Since the martin season is underway, I am re-activating an older posting of mine discussing the impact of losing a mate in purple martin society. Every season I always have situations where a male or female of a mated pair is lost. I am sure other folks see this happen in their colonies. This posting provides some of my insights into this situation.

Steve

[floridasunshinegoddess]

Steve, I'm glad you reactivated this. Some awfully good information!

[Steve Kroenke]

Since the martin season is in full swing in many areas, there will be situations where a member of a martin pair will disappear for various reasons. This season I have seen several of my ASY males simply disappear and they probably were caught away from the colony by merlins or Accipiters. In every case, SY males took their place and bonded with their mates. I am sure before the season is over other male and female martins will disappear and leave behind a single parent to take care of the young. I am re-activating an older article of mine dealing with the losing a mate. Perhaps other folks have experienced similar situations.

Steve

[Guest]

Thank you for the info and all that you do.
I have much to learn and wll probably search the archives for other entries you have authored.
Liz O

[Steve Kroenke]

Hey Liz,

I appreciate your comments and I am glad the posting was helpful. The PMCA Forum Archives have many great articles from many landlords on a variety of subjects. You will learn a lot about martin biology and behavior.

From time to time, I re-activate older postings of mine about a variety of facets of purple martin biology and behavior. Sometimes I update these articles with new observations and insights.

Hope you have a great purple martin season.

Steve

[Steve Kroenke]

The purple martin season is well underway and during this time martins are killed or they disappear after establishing pair bonds. The loss of a mate produces different impacts depending on when the loss occurred during the breeding season. I am re-posting an older article dealing with this subject. I am sure many landlords have observed pair bonds that have been broken due to the loss of a mate.

Steve

[Guest]

Thanks. Excellent info for those of us to learn as we go

[ToyinPA]

I had a pair one year where the female ended up with a broken leg. She'd fly in crash/slide land on the balcony, wiggle in, feed her 3 chicks, rest & take off. The chicks were a couple weeks old, but not near ready to fly yet. One day she didn't return. The male (ASY) continued to feed the chicks for the next couple weeks & fledged them. At that time I had no idea how to catch the female to get her medical care. I now know how to do this & if it ever happens again I'll do my best to prevent another death from injury.

[Steve Kroenke]

Hey Roykite,

I am glad this information was helpful to you. I occasionally re-post old articles of mine about various aspects of martin biology/behavior. Often other folks will share some of their similar observations.

Steve

Hey Toy,

Thanks for sharing that observation about the injured female martin and how her mate finally took care of all the young. I am sure such situations happen from time to time in many martin colonies. Your male martin was a great Dad to fledge all his babies!

Steve

[ljd-kc]

Steve,

I had an asy female that lost her asy mate when it got hit by a car. The next day she found another mate. At the time she was in the middle of nest building. 2 days ago she lost the second mate, not sure what happened to him. She now has 3 eggs as of yesterday and am really concerned about her. I had 1 pair last year and over 30 martins on sight so far this year. I don't see her all morning, she then waits till the rest of the birds leave then she comes out, I guess to feed. I hope it works out for her. She was actually my first female at my sight this year. Thank you for the info. it gives me some insight on what's in store for her and her young.

Jack.

[Gary W]

Hi Steve,

Last year I had two ASY males disappear right before their eggs hatched. One nest had 4 eggs the other 6. After the babies hatched, I transferred two young from each nest to other nests that only had 3 young. I was wanting to take pressure off the surviving females. Everything was working out fine, until a bachelor ASY showed up killed the the 4 remaining nestlings in the gourd that originally had 6 babies. That female then abandoned my site. I do not know if she paired up with the ASY male that did all the damaged. A couple of days after losing the 4, an ASY male appeared again, (I don't know if it was the same one), and entered the gourd that had the two young. This time I ran outside with a broomstick and banged on that Supergourd. That ASY male promptly left, and never returned. The single female was able to raise her young successfully--thank God!

Gary

[Joe Zorn]

Steve,

Well, this explains a lot about what happened to my first nest of youngsters this year.

Before hatching, I had decided at one point that the eggs had been abandoned, only to find the mother inside incubating them. She would not leave the nest when I opened it for nest checks. But no sign of the male hanging around, as usual. I noticed she came and went alone.

The eggs hatched successfully. All four.

At the last nest check, 4 hatchlings were about two or three days old, looking healthy and hungry. The next time, two days later, three were gone, and the fourth was dead. I removed it. Members of the forum here agreed that it was probably SY's that did them in. I could not understand the process.

Within a few days, there was signs of renesting, and within 10 days, two new eggs in the nest again. But I'm betting against their hatching. Each nest check since, I've found the eggs deep in the leaf pile. No way the female could be incubating them. Not that deep. She's really surprise me if she does hatch them. I keep resurfacing the eggs to the top of the leaf pile, only to find them deep again two days later.

Explains a lot.

[Steve Kroenke]

Hey Jack,

I hope your female martin makes it OK. Females can successfully incubate a clutch of eggs and fledge a brood in many cases without a mate. The main problems for her will be lack of protection for the eggs when she leaves to feed and possible interference from single SY and possibly ASY males once the eggs hatch.

Good luck.

Steve

Hey Gary,

Single ASY males will commit infanticide just like SYs. It is mainly SYs because some arrive later when many martins have eggs/young. ASY males that have lost their nests and are attempting to re-nest at a different colony are potential problems for single females with small young. Also some females after losing their young to a rogue male may abandon a colony rather than re-nest with the male. Most of the situations I have seen resulted in the female staying at her nest and accepting the male.

I have also moved babies from single females/males to other nests to reduce the pressure on the single parent. It has worked well.

Thanks for sharing your observation.

Steve

Hey Joe,

Thanks for sharing your observations about the case of a female martin that lost her babies and is re-nesting. Probably a single SY male was the culprit.

I have seen similar nests where the martin eggs were buried deep in oak leaves. I have noticed that some of these nests may have poorly developed foundations of pine needles or other material and too many leaves. Leaves do not provide a good underlying structure to keep the eggs from disappearing deeper in the nest. I build pre-nests of pine needles in all my cavities and try to build a solid thick foundation. The martins usually add only leaves and no foundation type material.

Steve

[Joe Zorn]

Steve, that sounds very feasable. Not a strong enough foundation under the leaves. I will rebuild the nests myself with pine needles, then replace a lesser amount of the leaves then put the eggs back in....if's it's not too late.

[Matt F.]

This is an awesome article Steve. I would love to see this one added to Archives section (where you already have some other, really great articles - some even dating back to when you were a Floridian! )

[Steve Kroenke]

During the breeding season, a male or female of a pair of martins will disappear for various reasons. The impact of this loss varies with the stage of the breeding cycle that the martins are in.

I am re-posting this older article dealing with this subject. I am sure many martin landlords have had this happen in their colonies.

Steve

[Davlyn]

Thanks for re-posting this article , one of my ASY females lost her mate a few days ago and she has been feeding her young as if nothing has happened . I believe all my SY males have found mates so maybe her young will be safe !

[Greg]

I have a small, 3 year old colony, and each year I have experienced loss of a parent martin. The first year, it was a female who disappeared after young had hatched. The ASY male father successfully fed, and fledged the three babies on his own. Last year, it was the father that disappeared. This ASY female successfully fed and fledged 6 babies!!!!

This year, I have a nest of 5 eggs and the ASY male father was found dead in the nest. I am unsure if the mother is incubating and I am unsure of what to do with the eggs...

Should I leave them? Or should I dispose of the eggs and open this gourd for another pair. I am totally full this year, and have lots of SY birds looking for territory.

[Steve Kroenke]

Hey Greg,

A female martin can still incubate her eggs if her mate disappears. She can also successfully raise the young on her own as you have observed in a previous case.

If you are positive the female is no longer around or is not incubating the eggs, then you could remove the eggs. However, I would wait and observe the cavity closely and see what is happening. I would look for the female to be coming and going as she incubates and then leaves to feed/drink.

Even if you leave the eggs in the nest, another pair of martins can still occupy that cavity. The new martins may add some more nesting material to cover the old eggs, remove them, or just lay new ones with the old.

To be safe, it is probably best to leave the eggs alone unless you are absolutely sure the female is gone or is not incubating the eggs. That female may even get a new mate and she may continue the incubation.

Thank you for sharing your experiences with martins that have lost a mate and how the remaining parent was able to raise the young alone!

Steve