Well a pair of swallows beat the scout martin to the dozen gourds I have.
They are aggressive little suckers. One of them latched on to the martin and rode him right into the water below, more than once.
Sooooo, do I wait for the other Martins to arrive to help the scout drive out the swallows, or do I take drastic (12 ga.) action to get rid of them?
Its WAR, Adult Scout and a pair of Swallows
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Louise Chambers
- Site Admin
- Posts: 6208
- Joined: Tue Nov 04, 2003 1:07 pm
- Location: Corpus Christi, TX
Mike,
Tree Swallows are a protected, native songbird, the same as martins. The only birds that are fair game, and need lethal control, are starlings and House Sparrows - non-natives that destroy eggs, nestlings and sometimes adult martins, bluebirds and tree swallows.
There is a well-developed protocol for keeping tree swallows in quarters of their own and out of your martin housing - many on the forum have followed it with success:
http://www.drugfreeworkplace.com/~Dan/T ... GENCY.html
Tree Swallows are a protected, native songbird, the same as martins. The only birds that are fair game, and need lethal control, are starlings and House Sparrows - non-natives that destroy eggs, nestlings and sometimes adult martins, bluebirds and tree swallows.
There is a well-developed protocol for keeping tree swallows in quarters of their own and out of your martin housing - many on the forum have followed it with success:
http://www.drugfreeworkplace.com/~Dan/T ... GENCY.html