BoB Tail Martin

[Gene Deshors]

Keep your eyes open for BoB.

[Steve Kroenke]

Hey Gene,

I have seen a few "bob tail" martins in our colonies and these are lucky birds! What most likely has happened is an Accipiter hawk such as a sharp-shinned or Cooper's hawk or a merlin which is a small falcon grabbed the martin from behind and pulled out all the tail feathers. This allowed the martin to break free and escape. I once saw a Cooper's hawk grab a female martin by her tail feathers and she got away minus her tail! In parts of Canada, merlins are relatively common and martins and other swallows are frequently attacked. Accipiter hawks also nest in Canada.

The tail feathers will grow back in time. I have had several martins in my colony lose all their tail feathers and then over time grow them back. The tailess martins were able to attract mates. They looked a little strange flying around until all their feathers grew back! But these martins had no difficulty flying, catching insects and landing at their nest sites.

Thanks for sharing the photo!

Steve

[Linda Reynolds]

Gene, in 2003 or 2004, we had an ASY male visiting our colony in the early spring. He did not live here, but visited each day, and took advantage of the supplemental feeding that we offered.

This male had only one tail feather, and we named him One Feather. He visited and fed daily. We even tossed crickets to him at a much lower height than the others that had arrived that early spring. He quickly learned to accept our offerings that were tossed much lower than the rest.

We do not know what ever happened to him because one day he simply stopped visiting. A friend told me that if his feathers were pulled out, they would grow back quickly, but if they were broken off, he would probably have to wait for the molting season to get a new tail.

We like to think he survived, and hope the little help we offered helped.