I have been a landlord for about 10 years and the houses were here when I bought my home. I always have about 15 nesting pair but this year only 2 nesting pair have returned and 1 of that pair is a sub.
I live right in the middle of a small town on a well traveled road. There are really no predators. I never even seen a opossum,coon or a snake of any kind.
Any ideas what could cause the others not to return and will they come back next season? or am I starting over.
I live in central Missouri and we had the horrible drought and crazy high temperatures last summer. Could that have been what caused the shortage this year?
Thanks, Hope
fewer returning this year...why
Hope,
You're not the only one seeing a decline in numbers this season.
I too have seen a decrease at my home colony.
While a lot of folks are seeing normal numbers, or even substantial increases, I have noticed a few folks this season (with established, stable colonies) reporting the numbers of returning Martins being notably down.
One my of concerns, are some sort of extermination ops being performed by business owners, and/or small municipalities in various locations down in Brazil, on what they may consider nasty, nuisance birds - birds that happen to be our beloved Martins.
Even though these would be isolated cases, I would guess it could be enough for certain landlords to see a drop in returning numbers, if it happen to be some of their Martins involved in these possible occurrences.
All that said, I think our Brazilian friends are taking good care of our Martins while they're down there.
These "exterminations ops" I mentioned, may very well be only a figment of my imagination, and nothing more.
Sort of like a Purple Martin conspiracy theory......
You're not the only one seeing a decline in numbers this season.
I too have seen a decrease at my home colony.
While a lot of folks are seeing normal numbers, or even substantial increases, I have noticed a few folks this season (with established, stable colonies) reporting the numbers of returning Martins being notably down.
One my of concerns, are some sort of extermination ops being performed by business owners, and/or small municipalities in various locations down in Brazil, on what they may consider nasty, nuisance birds - birds that happen to be our beloved Martins.
Even though these would be isolated cases, I would guess it could be enough for certain landlords to see a drop in returning numbers, if it happen to be some of their Martins involved in these possible occurrences.
All that said, I think our Brazilian friends are taking good care of our Martins while they're down there.
These "exterminations ops" I mentioned, may very well be only a figment of my imagination, and nothing more.
Sort of like a Purple Martin conspiracy theory......
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Louise Chambers
- Site Admin
- Posts: 6208
- Joined: Tue Nov 04, 2003 1:07 pm
- Location: Corpus Christi, TX
Matt,
One of the happy discoveries associated with the geolocator studies of migrating martins has been learning that while in Brazil, they are for the most part in the northern Amazon rainforest, nowhere near people or cities - so put that fear to rest.
PS I should also mention, birds from a colony site in N America do not hang out together or travel together outside of the nesting season - so an entire colony being decimated or wiped out is not at all likely. The usual reason for declines is something that happened in N America, during nesting season (predation, bad weather, etc), or early in season, when cold weather can impact martins while they traveling north - as we saw this spring in several states. But, again, a colony does not travel together, adult arrivals are spread out, so not all birds will be affected at once outside of when they are at their nesting site.
One of the happy discoveries associated with the geolocator studies of migrating martins has been learning that while in Brazil, they are for the most part in the northern Amazon rainforest, nowhere near people or cities - so put that fear to rest.
PS I should also mention, birds from a colony site in N America do not hang out together or travel together outside of the nesting season - so an entire colony being decimated or wiped out is not at all likely. The usual reason for declines is something that happened in N America, during nesting season (predation, bad weather, etc), or early in season, when cold weather can impact martins while they traveling north - as we saw this spring in several states. But, again, a colony does not travel together, adult arrivals are spread out, so not all birds will be affected at once outside of when they are at their nesting site.
Last edited by Louise Chambers on Sun Jun 16, 2013 8:44 am, edited 3 times in total.
That is GREAT news Louise!Louise Chambers wrote:Matt,
One of the happy discoveries associated with the geolocator studies of migrating martins has been learning that while in Brazil, they are for the most part in the northern Amazon rainforest, no where near people or cities - so put that fear to rest.
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hopeathome
- Posts: 31
- Joined: Tue May 02, 2006 2:25 pm
- Location: Fayette,Missouri
Do you think they will return next season? I sure hope so!
Or will I just have to wait it out till a new colony is established?
There are several Martin houses in this little town of 2,600, I should drive around the neighborhood and see if the homes are full
Or will I just have to wait it out till a new colony is established?
There are several Martin houses in this little town of 2,600, I should drive around the neighborhood and see if the homes are full
Hope,
I re-read your info, and realized you had quite a large drop in numbers - from approx. 15 pairs, down to only 2 ASY pairs this season.
Craig hit on some key things in his previous post.
That is a significant enough of a drop, that you may want to do a double check on a couple of things.
A few causes for significant losses to a colony, maybe due to predation, housing damage/loss due to bad weather, or a site becoming less appealing due to tree encroachment.
We can probably rule out the weather related housing loss issue, as it sounds like last season your housing stayed upright and intact.
This brings us to what Craig mentioned - unsuccessful nesting attempts (possibly from a predatory attack), or, tree encroachment making your site less appealing to returning Martins.
As for the predation, make sure to double up on predator guards - using both a stovepipe style guard, and, snake netting.
Aerial predators are something to consider as well. Owls can, and have, wreak havoc on a colony.
Owl guards for houses/gourds are another prudent safety measure.
For the tree encroachment, the further away you keep trees/tree branches from your Martin housing, the better.
Even though Martins do exhibit a fairly strong site fidelity, I've seen first hand ASY Martins that had successfully raised young at a tree encroached colony, not come back to nest the following season, no doubt in favor of a more open, and attractive site nearby.
Keep in mind - house sparrow pressure (by not controlling them and allowing them to nest side-by-side with the Martins) can most definitely also make a site much less attractive to returning Martins.
Also starlings. Make sure to use some sort of starling resistant entrances. Marauding starlings can also be very damaging to colonies.
Even though your numbers are way down, the fact that you still have a few pairs nesting is a HUGE bonus.
Building up your numbers again from a few returning pairs, to many pairs, is much easier than if you were having to start completely over, with zero returnees.
I re-read your info, and realized you had quite a large drop in numbers - from approx. 15 pairs, down to only 2 ASY pairs this season.
Craig hit on some key things in his previous post.
That is a significant enough of a drop, that you may want to do a double check on a couple of things.
A few causes for significant losses to a colony, maybe due to predation, housing damage/loss due to bad weather, or a site becoming less appealing due to tree encroachment.
We can probably rule out the weather related housing loss issue, as it sounds like last season your housing stayed upright and intact.
This brings us to what Craig mentioned - unsuccessful nesting attempts (possibly from a predatory attack), or, tree encroachment making your site less appealing to returning Martins.
As for the predation, make sure to double up on predator guards - using both a stovepipe style guard, and, snake netting.
Aerial predators are something to consider as well. Owls can, and have, wreak havoc on a colony.
Owl guards for houses/gourds are another prudent safety measure.
For the tree encroachment, the further away you keep trees/tree branches from your Martin housing, the better.
Even though Martins do exhibit a fairly strong site fidelity, I've seen first hand ASY Martins that had successfully raised young at a tree encroached colony, not come back to nest the following season, no doubt in favor of a more open, and attractive site nearby.
Keep in mind - house sparrow pressure (by not controlling them and allowing them to nest side-by-side with the Martins) can most definitely also make a site much less attractive to returning Martins.
Also starlings. Make sure to use some sort of starling resistant entrances. Marauding starlings can also be very damaging to colonies.
Even though your numbers are way down, the fact that you still have a few pairs nesting is a HUGE bonus.
Building up your numbers again from a few returning pairs, to many pairs, is much easier than if you were having to start completely over, with zero returnees.
Hope,
We live in the country outside of Fayette and have seen a big increase from past years. I think this is due to supplemental feeding when it got so cold, better housing-new T14's and bigger gourds, and HOSP control. Our nest check today: 55 hatchlings and 72 eggs.
We do have the housing in a wide open pasture near the house. A couple of years ago I moved the housing closer so we could see them on our deck....the martins did not like it as there were too many trees near by. We put it back in the open pasture and the martins stayed, numbers increased.
So sorry to hear about the reduction of your colony, that is sad to hear. Please let me know if I can help so next year your colony grows!
We live in the country outside of Fayette and have seen a big increase from past years. I think this is due to supplemental feeding when it got so cold, better housing-new T14's and bigger gourds, and HOSP control. Our nest check today: 55 hatchlings and 72 eggs.
We do have the housing in a wide open pasture near the house. A couple of years ago I moved the housing closer so we could see them on our deck....the martins did not like it as there were too many trees near by. We put it back in the open pasture and the martins stayed, numbers increased.
So sorry to hear about the reduction of your colony, that is sad to hear. Please let me know if I can help so next year your colony grows!
PMCA Member
2012: 6 pair nested, 16 fledged
2008: first year hosting martins
2012: 6 pair nested, 16 fledged
2008: first year hosting martins