Couple of Questions

[John A Green Jr]

Hi everyone.
I am looking for some answers to a couple of questions.

1) I seem to have about 25-30 birds all day, everyday, now building nests(sometimes more than one), fighting, carrying on, you know the routine. And I am very grateful for that. But at the end of the evening only a little more than half stay so far. The next morning they all show up again and it starts all over again. Where do they go and why do they leave and is this the way it's suppose to be?

2) I replaced all my inferior gourds this year with BO-9's except for the gourds that had occupants last year for fear they would return to see that their home was missing and leave. There still are a couple of those old gourds not occupied that were. Is it possible they returned and found better housing with the new gourds and switched gourds or they haven't returned? Thanks in advance and I hope everyone has a great year!

[Emil Pampell-Tx]

) Nobody knows for sure where they are going at night. They may be visitiing and they go back home at night. Sometimes I wonder if these kind go to some sort of communal roost and roost with other martins in trees. They probably leave because they don't consider your place as a comfortable place to stay, but once they pair up and start building nests, then they will stay at night.

2)Not all of your martins return year after year, they get old and die, something happens to some, maybe hawks caught them, etc. Yes, its possible that they found better housing but unlikely, I think that it may be early and they will return later.

Just have patience, things will eventually straighten out.

[jmeyer]

They may still be roosting in groups somewhere nearby waiting until nest building to get serious or they may be coming in right at dark when you are looking and leaving before you check in the morning. Also, how they act at your site this year may be different from how they acted last year or how they will act next year. For instance, due to hawk attacks, mine are not sitting on the houses at all this year. I was afraid they had moved on because I rarely say any but turns out they are flying out quickly in the morning and flying in just as fast at night.

For your second question, it is possible they didn't make it back this year as it is estimated that only 50% make the return flight. It is also possible they have returned and found another gourd more to their liking. With that many birds, unless they are tagged you can't tell for certain which ones have returned to the same nest cavity. The important this is that so many have returned. Good luck this season.

[John A Green Jr]

Thanks Emil and jmeyer for your replies. I value your opinions greatly. Just trying to learn and understand a little more about them and their ways. I was so fortunate last year I guess I just don't know how to act this year, what to expect and such. So I will be patient and continue with S&S control, thanks again.