Lost my Purple Martins

[Louise Chambers]

Lots of excellent comments in the thread. A photo of the houses would probably be helpful, and maybe a close up of the predator guards. Nest checks and records would be very helpful in trying to determine the cause. To go from many pairs to none is bound to be either predation (owls, hawks, snakes are not as likely in MI, and raccoons should not be with predator guards on the poles), or weather - too cold and wet for feeding the young for 3 or 4 days could be devastating - but nests would have contained dead nestlings in that case.

If disease was the cause, dead adults should have been found in nests and/or on the ground.

Lezah, can you share a few photos?

[taxidermy lady]

Her neighbors are also absent of birds. Has to be area problem not just her site?

[Louise Chambers]

The same info would be helpful from the neighboring colonies - did they do nest checks, & keep records? Control starlings and house sparrows? Use pole guards? And, how many pairs did they have in 2013 at their sites?

So many sites do not have pole guards, do not control house sparrows & starlings, and do not do nest checks - that makes it hard to say what might have happened. But most of the time, it's probably predation, weather, failure to control hosp and starlings, or combination of those, sad to say - because all could be prevented, or managed.

Hopefully Lezah has a few photos, that would be very helpful.

[Matt F.]

Sorry if I touched a nerve about Trio housing.

You're good John - no nerve touched.
Everyone here is always very patient with me, and my fanatical, pro-Trio posts.
If I could just remember that, before I start typing.....

My apologies to Lezah as well, for not staying focused on the loss of her Martins.
Hopefully the root cause is determined, so she can start building her colony back up.

[John Miller]

Lezah

I was looking at the scout arrival map for MI (link on home page) and martins seem to be few in northwest MI each year, but some. Suggest looking at it and maybe trying to contact some people nearby who said their martins returned, and see what they are doing right. Looked at the Michigan martin web site, and it's just got a few recent posts, but from knowledgeable people and may be worth posting questions there.

John

[William A]

Lezah, we are all very concerned about your situation. I would like to ask a question again. Did your birds depart normally last year? By that, I mean did they leave around the normal time they normally leave? Did they leave all at once or just at different times. My birds usually take around a week before all are gone and last year two pairs and some little birds stayed an extra two weeks and finally left on the 16th of July.

Did you check all the nests after they left last year? If so, were there any dead babies or eggs still left?

Looking forward to hear back so we can help.

[LeslieH]

Me too! Had a colony for going on 18 years. 3 boxes that haven't changed. Same amount of sparrows and starlings. No blue jays. I spotted 2 martins earlier that moved on that I suspect were on their way north. River frontage and a pond in the rear (a martin paradise).

As of today . . . .nothing. Hummingbirds are scarce, but we have a few. Bluebirds doing fine. No damn Martins . . .&^%$#

[Conrad Baker]

For 25yrs I have had a very large colony of Martins every year but this year I have none, is something wrong environmentally perhaps with the weather that has changed or did something scare them off? What I can do to get them back? I am very concerned about this. I should also note that I live in the country and my neighbors are also absent of their birds.

Did you take the housing down after last season and clean them out? Is it possible that they were left up, and Sparrows took over and built nests in the houses? Also, check for mites. If you don't do anything (Sevin dust,etc) to control the mites, they will take over the house and nothing will be nesting there.
If you havent checked the housing compartments lately, look closely for either mites (tiny insects that will get all over you in about two seconds) or sparrow nests. If possible, don't leave the housing up all year long. Take it down at the end of the season and clean it out.

[William A]

Conrad, very good advice. I have asked several questions of the OP in an attempt to help figure out what happened but no responses. Maybe one day the OP will respond and we can all help figure this out.

[John Miller]

Mites, sparrows. These risks to martins certainly could cause abandonment over time, but not sudden from one year to the next of as many pairs as described. I continue to suspect it's related to the Great lakes freezing solid for the first time in decades and maybe harsh early spring cold that prevented martins from arriving at all, at least in northwest Michigan. News stories I read says Lake Ontario -- most north -- only thawed last week. Still, should have been some sub adults show up. Recommend contacting Michigan wildlife or conservation professionals to see if they might have more insight.

John