Over at my neighbor Bob’s house, we had hung two gourds under the roof of an open porch. These gourds have been here for over five years and we were just experimenting to see if any martins would nest in them.
One of the gourds is a Super Gourd and it faces the west; the other gourd faces east and is one of my naturals that I had in Florida; it must be over 15 years old.
For all those years except this one, no martins ever even visited those gourds and on occasion an Eastern bluebird pair would nest in one and more than often red wasps did. We almost forget about the gourds.
The location is semi-open but shrubs are growing nearby and the natural gourd faces Bob’s martin colony.
Well this year I noticed an ASY male martin flying around the natural gourd back in April and he even started roosting in it. Then in a short time he had an ASY female with him and she apparently approved of the gourd and location and they paired and started roosting together.
Before long the female started carrying mainly leaves into the natural gourd as it had an old bluebird nest foundation inside.
The female laid five eggs and they hatched in late May and the young are now over ten days old. Both parents are feeding their babies and the nest is well protected from heavy rains.
Now why did this ASY male choose such an unconventional nest site when there are plenty of gourds and houses located about 50 feet away? Well maybe he tried but was unable to fight his way into the colony. Maybe he just preferred being away from the “crowd” and any female he attracted would possibly not be sexually attacked at the nest site by other males. And he might just have liked the seclusion and privacy provided by this natural gourd that is isolated from the main colony. And the female liked it, too!
The other gourd is a Super Gourd and guess what is nesting in it right now? Yes, a pair of Eastern bluebirds and they are about ten feet away from the martins’ gourd. The bluebirds’ gourd faces west and the martins’ gourd faces east so there is really little contact between them. The bluebirds are feeding babies, too.
We are wondering if this pair of martins is successful in raising their babies and they survive migration, will one or both return next year and go back to this gourd? Or will they do what the other martins do and try to find a cavity in the main martin colony?
Bob may hang another gourd or two under this porch and see if more martins will nest in them next season.
Here are some photos of the gourd.
This photo shows the general location. You can see two martins flying around and I believe they are the pair that is nesting in the gourd. Bob placed a perch near the porch and attached it to a fence. The male martin often perched here when his mate was incubating. The bluebirds’ gourd can be seen, too.
This photo shows the female martin’s back end as she is entering the gourd to feed the nestlings.
This photo shows some of the babies’ heads at the gourd entrance as they wait for food.
Steve
