Snowing In Dixie

[Steve Kroenke]

Hey Tim/Mary/April,

I am sure there are widespread losses of martins throughout parts of the Deep South due to the long cold spell. Today the temperature never got above the high 30s and the wind was icy cold. A friend from Dallas called and said they were having their SECOND snow storm of the week!

I have never seen such prolonged cold nasty weather. The longest we have had bad weather may have been four days and it usually never goes beyond three days. Tomorrow will be a week for this current spell of terrible weather.

Yes, it is the older martins that are being lost. But fortunately we don't have many martins here yet and more martins should be arriving in March which is the main month for the ASYs.

Though tomorrow is supposed to be warmer, I just hope the remaining martins have the strength to feed enough to survive. I believe any losses may be replaced in March by ASYs and in April by SYs.

I have done about all I can do to help them right now. When you have 40+ martins which includes Bob's birds and multiple houses/gourd racks, it can be hard to take care of the situation. If you have just a few martins and they are staying in one house or gourd rack, then it is much easier to place crickets in the cavities. Plus you don't "run out of crickets" as quickly!

Yes, it probably is a good idea to "train your martins to take supplemental food", particularly from a feeding tray. That way, it should be easier to respond quickly to a weather emergency and the martins "know where to go to get food".

I hope all Deep South martin colonies are not too badly impacted by this weather disaster.

Steve

[pmartinlover2]

Hey Steve
I think every Martin lover up north not only feels your pain but all the others in the same situation down south. Hoping your martins can hold on until Sunday.
______
Jody

[~Ray~Gingerich]

Steve, sorry to hear the martins down there are having such horrible weather, I hope it dosn't have a major impact. It's not often we hear of such things from the south.

[loco for purple]

Steve , don't give up trying to feed those martins. All it is takes is one Martin to take a cricket and the others will follow. You have to keep trying . When I first tried to train my martins to take flinging crickets and super worms I became so frustrated that they would not attempt to catch anything , although I knew they were starving at the time. I just kept flinging and then it happened . They've been trained ever since and I don't fear prolong bad weather like we're having right now . I just hate it!!!!! I don't envy you with having over 40 martins back , but I know what an excellent landlord you are and you will save many of your birds, just be persistent !!!!

[Steve Kroenke]

Hey Jody/Ray,

Thanks for the support! We are definitely having a martin disaster down here. It is around 30 this morning with a cold wind blowing. It may get into the low 50s today, but that will probably be later in the afternoon. But little sunshine if any. This is day 7 of the weather disaster.

Steve

Hey Loco for purple,

I will keep trying and flung over a hundred crickets yesterday but NO takers! I did see some of the female eat a few crickets I placed on the porches and I did place crickets inside several of the Trendsetter compartments where martins are communally roosting. Maybe martins are eating those crickets.

From what I read crickets are about 69% moisture, 21% protein, 6% fat and 3% carbohydrates. So crickets have a lot water in them. It will take a LOT of crickets to keep a martin alive for several days during weather disasters like we are having. I believe I read where about 40 crickets a day are suggested per martin. If you have many martins, that is a LOT of crickets. So if you feed martins once or twice a day and each may eat may five or six crickets, I don't know if that will keep them alive over several days. Of course, any food is better than none. I tried to save two ASY males and force fed them around 40 crickets a day. They only lasted two days and died; they never seemed to gain any weight. Of course, they could have been sick or just too weak and that may have killed them.

Thanks for your encouragement and I am so happy that your martins are surviving this weather holocaust.

Steve

[Todd Wright]

We have warmed up to 41 (warmest since last Saturday night) and I went out to put more crickets in the feed pan and was happy to see the martins were all out flying and not in the houses. There are pastures with ponds 1/2 mile south so I am hoping they are at least skimming some ponds and getting fresh water. There was still a little egg left in the pan so I am hoping this is a good sign they are getting plenty to eat. Restocked them with crickets so they will have a meal when they get back. I have had 7 martins here through this weather ordeal and couple of days had 9. Just checked all gourds and houses and found no dead birds so don't know where the extra 2 birds went or if they survived. Have another shipment of crickets and meal worms coming Tuesday and should have plenty of crickets and eggs to get them through until then.

[Steve Kroenke]

Hey Todd,

Today the temperature hit 49 degrees! It was still cool and cloudy. But the martins in both our colonies were able to feed and we watched them catch insects. The insects were small but the martins were able to feed for several hours.

This change in weather definitely helped the surviving martins in our colonies and the weather will be even warmer tomorrow though there is a chance for rain.

Our martins have suffered losses and at least 14 have died that I found and probably others perished while flying over pastures and falling to ground or were caught by Accipiter hawks. There are fewer martins in both our colonies and gourd racks/houses which had martins earlier no longer have any. I believe at least half the martins in our colonies have probably perished so we no longer have 40+ martins.

Though I had no luck with flinging crickets and the martins did not feed at my feeding tray, some martins did eat the crickets I placed on two of my Trendsetter porches. But most martins did not and the porches still have crickets on them. However, some martins may have eaten crickets I placed in the Trendsetter compartments.

This evening I watched 15 martins communally roost in a Troyer Horizontal gourd with a cling plate. This is the second night they have done this in the same gourd. These martins may be from both our colonies. That gourd is packed full of martins! A smaller number of martins roosted in the two Trendsetters. And even fewer martins roosted in Bob's colony.

I am glad most your martins survived based on your dedication to provide supplemental food. And your martins readily accepted your food!

Steve

[Ed Pace]

Hi Bob, sorry to hear the bad news about some of your birds but the good news is at least a lot of them look like they're going to be okay and maybe the weather will change just in time.

Thanks for keeping us posted on your dilemma we all care. And one of the good things is your helping a lot of other people as well. Best of luck. or you.
.

[pmartinlover2]

Hey Southern landlords! How is the weather down there and how are your martins? We got between 6-8 inches of snow again last night. Now it's misting! Hope the martins don't come this way for another month at least.
_____
Jody

[Ed Pace]

Hi Steve, sorry about the mess up above I was thinking about your neighbor while I was writing to you .Sorry. Ed

[Steve Kroenke]

Hey Ed,

No problem! It is easy to get names mixed up sometimes and I have done the same thing.

Steve

Hey Jody,

Well, the warm weather we were supposed to get today will not get here today or tomorrow. Our high may be 50 with NO sunshine and light/misty rain. May get as high as the low 70s by Wednesday, March 4 and then
by Thursday March 5 we may get more snow with a high in the upper 30s. And then cooler weather for several days. I have never seen such disastrous weather for martins that has lasted so long.

Our colonies look like a purple martin wasteland: no socialization, no vocalizing, no nothing. The few martins here fly out and head to the nearby ponds to catch whatever they can. Some of the martins do eat the crickets I have placed on the Trendsetter porches, but most martins do not. No martins will feed from the feeding tray placed directly in view of the Trendsetters and no martin will try to capture any cricket in flight. All martins except one that I tried to feed by hand with crickets died. No matter how many crickets I fed them, it did not save these martins. I released one female martin after feeding her just a few crickets and she did fly off but I don't know if she survived. When martins are in a severe weakened state, it may be a lost cause trying to force feed them, but I will still try to help them.

In the past we would probably have close to a hundred martins in our two colonies by now and more would be arriving during the first week of March. But not this year and I hope NO MORE martins arrive until later.

A friend called me from Dallas and he said it was raining with temps in the low 30s. This hideous weather has been going on for a week in the Dallas area. I doubt any martins could survive in that area of Texas unless those martins accepted supplemental food.

Things are NOT GOOD in northwest Louisiana for purple martins right now.

Steve

[pmartinlover2]

Oh dear! I was so in hopes that your martins were basking in the sunshine today. Surely this weather cannot last too much longer in the south. BUT of course we are not in control, are we? Good luck this week!
______
Jody

[ToyinPA]

>>No matter how many crickets I fed them, it did not save these martins. I released one female martin after feeding her just a few crickets and she did fly off but I don't know if she survived. When martins are in a severe weakened state, it may be a lost cause trying to force feed them, but I will still try to help them. <<

Steve[/quote]

Steve:
The reason they didn't survive, even tho they ate crickets, is they were too dehydrated. Once dehydrated they lost their electrolytes. This also leads to problems maintaining body temp. When hand feeding a downed bird you should dip the crickets in Gatorade or Pedialyte. It's not easy bringing them back once they reach this state. NEVER give a bird liquids any other way, as you could drown it.

This has been a brutal winter all across the country. I just hope by the time the Northern Martins arrive our winter up here has ended. We just got another 4-6 inches of snow today & it's still snowing. More on the way Tues/Wed. too....UGHHH!

Hang in there.

Toy in PA

[taxidermy lady]

Steve, You should get some warmer weather soon. We will get close to 50 by the next weekend in southern Illinois. Lots of praying for nicer weather where all our martins are!!!