All is well here at my new site. My seven pair have 23 nestlings and two nests have unhatched eggs.
For the past two days, we have had rain and fog. Limited feeding on Monday and no feeding yesterday. Knowing my adult martins would be okay, I did have concerns that the nestlings would not be receiving enough insects from the parents. Yesterday, I started flipping crickets and my martins with nestlings quickly took the crickets to feed to their young. I went through about 400 crickets yesterday. This morning, I thawed out 100 crickets and again started flipping to my martins, With about 20 crickets left in the bucket, I placed them in my feeding tray attached to the bottom of my houses. It only took a couple of minutes for one ASY female to land in the tray and start taking the crickets back to her nestlings. A couple minutes later, another ASY female started removing crickets from the feeding tray and taking them to her nestlings. I now have all my resident martins trained to take flipped crickets and a couple know to obtain crickets from the feeding tray. Hopefully the others will catch on while watching the two "smart" females.
Here is pic of first female to use the feeding tray taking a cricket back to her nestlings. It has been a good morning.
Tim
Last edited by Tim Mangan-Kansas on Wed Jun 11, 2014 10:26 am, edited 1 time in total.
Licensed Bander
2015 - 14 Pair - fledged 68
2014 - Moved to Kansas - 7 Pair, 35 eggs, 28 fledged in first year
2010 Thru 2013 - Moved-Tried to start new colony
2009 - 46 pair, 217 eggs, 178 fledged
That's a wonderful story, Tim!! Your ladies have beauty AND brains!! I was wondering how the heartland martins were faring in the cool wet weather. You probably saved some lives by supplemental feeding! I'm hoping you have a wonderful fledge rate, and that some of your babies make it over to my place next year as SYs! I am counting on all my area landlords to have good numbers!
~Mary B~
Lifelong PM Admirer and Nature Enthusiast.
Ruthless trapper of S&S year round.
2013-2016 Unsuccessful at starting a PM colony. Health problems.
Rehomed all my PM stuff. Good Luck and Best Wishes to All.
Great update Tim.. I'm glad things are going so well.
Had a nest check yesterday and the chicks were hungry. Luckily it cleared late afternoon and the parents were buzzing in with insects. Today should be a good feeding day also.
Martin Colony History: Started trying to attract purple martins in 2012! It's finally happened in 2017! 5 years!!! ASY male and SY female came May 1st, fledged 5 babies!
Yeah Tim thanks for doing that. We need to save all the martins we can. I bought my son a house and pole. He put it up and he has an SY pair making a nest, it took 2 weeks. WOW! He lives about 2 hrs. Away from me. (East of Mt. Vernon) in southern Il. There's a lot of Amish with martins over there. I just knew he had a good chance. I'm very happy for him. I am going to buy my sister one this winter. Every little baby will help!!!
Martin Colony History: 22 year landlord, 14 at current residence..offering 9 racks and a homemade T-8 for 166 total cavities. 160 Pair in 2018 Racks consist of a Deluxe 12, AAA 16, Starburst 16, 2 K-18 Series, Super 24, 2 Gemini, Multi-purpose/two trio’s/4gourds and a T-8..Great hobby to be involved in..
Hope it never comes to that for me Tim..if you fed 400 to 7 pair....I'd go broke trying to feed 112 pair...but good job!!
22 year landlord..9 Rack Systems for 2018 and my home built T-8 for a total of 166 cavities..160 pair in 2018 ..SUPER COLONY!!! Love You Bev... Fan of those St. Louis Cardinals!!!!!
The majority of the crickets went to nestlings. Most times when we talk about supplemental feeding it is in relation to early springtime when bad and prolonged weather sets in preventing the adults from being able to feed. When there are nestlings to feed the time frame for initiating supplemental feeding is reduced by a day or two. If supplemental feeding is not started within a day or two when nestlings are involved, nestlings can start to perish.
I conducted a nest check late yesterday and found one nest with two dead nestlings. This was one of the five nests with nestlings I was concerned about as I did not see the parents taking crickets back to feed their nestlings. No signs of trauma, just underfed.
Unfortunately, rain is forecasted for most of today and it has already started.
Tim
Licensed Bander
2015 - 14 Pair - fledged 68
2014 - Moved to Kansas - 7 Pair, 35 eggs, 28 fledged in first year
2010 Thru 2013 - Moved-Tried to start new colony
2009 - 46 pair, 217 eggs, 178 fledged
Martin Colony History: Started trying to attract purple martins in 2012! It's finally happened in 2017! 5 years!!! ASY male and SY female came May 1st, fledged 5 babies!
Congratulations on getting them to feed, Tim. Your weather must be worse than here....Even in the low 60s, high 50s with fog, etc. they've been feeding here.
"Sometimes", said Pooh, "the smallest things take up the most room in your heart."
2023 - 82 pair
2022 - 80 pair
2021 - 75 pair
2020 - 78 pair
2019 - 80 pair http://kathyfreeze.blogspot.com
The majority of the crickets went to nestlings. Most times when we talk about supplemental feeding it is in relation to early springtime when bad and prolonged weather sets in preventing the adults from being able to feed. When there are nestlings to feed the time frame for initiating supplemental feeding is reduced by a day or two. If supplemental feeding is not started within a day or two when nestlings are involved, nestlings can start to perish.
I conducted a nest check late yesterday and found one nest with two dead nestlings. This was one of the five nests with nestlings I was concerned about as I did not see the parents taking crickets back to feed their nestlings. No signs of trauma, just underfed.
Unfortunately, rain is forecasted for most of today and it has already started.
Tim
I think you will be good Tim.. my birds were out feeding by 7. taking trips back to the nest with food.
