Heat!

[Guest]

Anyone have any ideas for helping the babies beat the heat? We have lost nearly a dozen already. They hang out of the gourds for some relief from the heat and end up falling. We replace as many as we can, but it's usually too late by the time we find them.

[Guest]

Sorry you are having problems with the heat. In the south the problem is bad. I have read that "misting" the gourds will help. But .... I don't know anything about it. Better study up a bit before you try it. I know you shouldn't get water in the gourds/cavities. Good luck!
Johnny
www.topsailbeachpurplemartins.blogspot.com

[Emil Pampell-Tx]

The heat and drought have been very hard on many martins. Actually, the heat may not be bothering them as much as you suspect, but what probably is bothering them the most is lack of food. They are starving, or it may be combination of the two. Martins usually are fine in a well ventilated gourd up to around 105 degrees, depending upon how healthy they are. Maybe you could try some supplemental feeding.

The real key to having martins in the hot areas is to have excellent ventilation. I ventilate my gourds at the top of the neck, and then cover the hole with a canopy. It seems to work very good

EDIT: the temp I am referring to is the heat index!

[Louise Chambers]

Emil,

Do you mean heat index of 105, or temp of 105? From what Mike Scully has posted, I think temps above 95, and heat index of 105 or higher, are problems.

It's easier to cool nests in a house - by placing a blue ice pack in empty room next to occupied room, or by misting (but be careful, if it's humid to begin with, too much misting can do more harm than good).

Try rigging a shade panel or umbrella to go above occupied gourds. You can get a roll of shade cloth at home depot. Just make sure it's secured so there will be no loose flappy ends, and that it does not creat too much wind resistance for your pole system.

The last post in this thread has photos of a shade aid. http://www.purplemartin.org/forum/viewt ... kelly+heat

[Emil Pampell-Tx]

Definitely the heat index. That is why I don't think that misting is a good idea in all cases, it increases the humidity. This has been proven when misting was tried in poultry houses, so they no longer mist in poultry houses.

[Scott D.- La]

I have a opinion on misting and will say, with this extreme heat and extremely low humidities, reading's as low as 21% humidity, I think misting is a good idea and will drop the temps in those gourds immediately by at least 4 degree's. You will also notice babies coming out with their mouth's wide open trying to get at that water. With the extremely low humidities, I believe dehydration becomes a factor along with diminished feeding opportunities and starvation. I have misted with data logger's in the gourds and have only seen a tiny increase of humidity by just a couple points. Like Emil said, it's very important not to spray water directly into the gourds. I believe when we have high humidities and high temps like we had in 2007, the babies are able to tolerate that condition much better than what we have now and did not see the same insect issues as high humidity usually equates to more rainfall as was the case in 2007, when we had daily rainfall and heat indexes up to 115 degree's.

[TX Rehabber]

Please follow the advice given by Emil & Scott. I received 5 fledgling Martins last year as a result of the nesting cavity getting wet. When the cavity was wet and the fledglings were exercising & flapping their wings, the inside became coated with fecal matter. As this dried and they continued to move about and flap, their wings and tail feathers rubbed against it breaking them off and covering them with fecal matter. As a result, they were unable to migrate and had to be wintered-over until they went thru their molt.
This composite picture shows the results.

[Guest]

Thanks for all the feedback guys!

There are some great ideas for modifying our setup. We will definitely look at those for next year.

We lowered our pole yesterday and found 4 more dead inside the gourds.

Left with few options, as major modification seems impractical until next year, we have decided to carefully mist the outside frequently during the hottest part of the day. We would also like to do some supplemental feeding. What would you recommend for food?

Thanks Again!

[jerleen]

The heat in Texas is at its peak now and we are having July weather in June. I put sun shields over my gourd rack and also on my trio house. I use corrugated plastic and cut in strips and lay these on the top rack of my gourds. I have a Lone Star Gourd rack, leaving about 6 inches between the strips for air flow. I attach them to the cables and the metal arms with zip ties. We also use the corrugated plastic, thinner sheets over the trio house. We put thread rods through the roof and use them as arms to attach the corrugated strip's. This makes a huge difference and the martins learn to sit in the shade. I do believe it has saved many birds for us the last two years. It is fun to watch them land and scoot over to get to the shade. We also have put extra perches on the trio house for them.
We put the wide strips of rough tape that we use on our porches on top of the large strips over the gourds to give the birds some traction when they land up there. We used 1/2 inch corrugated sheets on the gourd rack and about 1/4 inch on the house because of the weight.
Good luck to everyone, we also have new babies and it is so late and too hot at this time for us here in Texas. We just hope the shade will help. I also put a sprinkler out by them and watch as the parents fly through it to cool off. I do not spray the gourds or house because the moisture and the fear of getting water inside.

[Louise Chambers]

That sounds very good! Photos?

[flyin-lowe]

Crickets and mealworms are usually the food source of choice. Usually (but not always) you have to get them to eat them out of the air when you flip them. By nature they feed on the wing. Once they recognize the crickets as a food source some people are able to put them onto a platform feeder or onto a roof and they will take them that way. If you are going to try flipping them into the air you need to be patient. Some people reporting flipping 100 crickets or more (or flipping the same crickets hundreds of times) before they start taking them.

[Guest]

flyin-lowe, great year! congrats and a pat on the back for not giving up.