Lost a female inside an excluder II gourd.

[gr8tnezz]

Hello everyone.

I have a 12 gourd colony and all of them have the excluder II entrance. I did a nest check today to see if any of the 8 or 9 pairs I have had started building in earnest. Inside one of my gourds I discovered a female that had been pecked to death. I haven't seen any starlings trying to access the gourds in awhile but I did see some sparrows raising a ruckus. I wanted to see if anyone on here ever lost a Martin inside an excluder II entrance or to sparrows. I have lost bluebirds to sparrows before buying the sparrow resistant entrance and the signs on the Martin looked very similar to the handiwork the sparrows imposed on the bluebird. I had heard sparrows were a threat to eggs but I haven't heard of them killing an adult Martin. It's very disappointing to lose a Martin to an aggressive bird. I guess the silver lining is she hadn't laid eggs yet. I had the porches set at 1/4" from the bottom of the entrance. I guess I need to move them up to help keep sparrows out but it seems like the Martins struggle to enter if it's too flush. Any comments are welcome.

[John Miller]

it's sometimes difficult to look at a dead martin in a housing unit and determine what happened. But I don't think the entrance type was particularly involved, and raising it won't help block house sparrows.

Male house sparrows will viscously attack adult martins if you pull the sparrow's nest with eggs, and especially with sparrow babies. They have powerful beaks and can pull out plugs of feathers. I don't know if they can actually kill a martin, but they can do a lot of damage.

Martins themselves get pretty aggressive in fighting to claim cavities. Sometimes the best we can do is a regular nest check as you are doing. Always also check for bands on deceased birds..it's sort of a last rite I do.

John M

[gr8tnezz]

Thanks John,

I didn't even think about another Martin being the culprit. I guessed pecking death because she had a small patch of exposed bald skin that had been picked at on the back of her skull. Having a full colony of pairing Martins may have created the fierce competition for the gourd. I'm happy to have a full house, but I didn't want them killing each other over it. Not much I can do there.

[Okie]

Where are you in Oklahoma?

[Courtney-NC]

I have had the same problem at the public colony site I manage. One bird with that same injury last year. This year, I have found 3 dead martins, all with the same bald patch of skin on the back of their heads. I use crescents (correctly sized) and the porches are flush or very nearly flush. I have never seen any starlings on or in the housing and never found any starling nests. (Also have fortunately never had a HOSP problem.) I never would have thought they could kill each other fighting over gourds, but one time I went out there and saw two fighting in a gourd; one of them was trying to get out but the other one had it by the head. Same injury; bald spot on the back of the head. I separated them and they flew away, but I didn't' see 'baldie' again; I am guessing it might not have survived the injury. I would be interested to know how frequently this sort of thing really happens, especially at full sites, and perhaps landlords just don't like to talk about it, when it does happen.

[gr8tnezz]

Where are you in Oklahoma?

I'm in Piedmont. Just Northwest of downtown OKC.

[Okie]

Sorry I was off the forum last year after my pair abandoned my site and I got discouraged. Hoping to attract some SY this year. I'm in Verdigris just south of Claremore and north of Tulsa. I see this year you posted on the Watch and already have PM Congratulations. Hope you have a great & productive year.

[Dave Reynolds]

Sorry I was off the forum last year after my pair abandoned my site and I got discouraged. Hoping to attract some SY this year. I'm in Verdigris just south of Claremore and north of Tulsa. I see this year you posted on the Watch and already have PM Congratulations. Hope you have a great & productive year.

Glad to see you back on the Forum Okie.. Good luck this year...

Dave

[Doug Martin - PA]

Unfortunately I lose a Martin or two each season due to fighting for cavities and or migrants coming in at dark into an occupied cavity. The migrant problem is really bad after eggs are laid and the pair goes in for the night. Then in goes a traveler at dusk and the gourd starts shaking and the fighting goes on for an hour sometimes if they can not get out.

I try to break up fights during the day but at night I can not lower the housing after dark or all will be gone into the night.

I still have gourds lined with blood from fights. It is a problem that comes with competition at full sites. There is a hierarchy in a colony for the top spots and mates. These are often fought for to death. This includes females. Sometimes a male pairs up with a different female that arrives earlier than the prior year's mate. Then the other female shows up to reclaim her mate and prior year's nest. The victor wins. It can be life or death if one does not back down. Girls are just as tough.

A walk around at dusk after they go in is helpful to determine the migrant problem. You can hear them fighting at this time especially. I can hear mine right from my porch.

Perhaps a round hole is easier for a beaten Martin to flee from than an excluder but I still think this is an excellent SREH.

Doug

[Okie]

Sorry I was off the forum last year after my pair abandoned my site and I got discouraged. Hoping to attract some SY this year. I'm in Verdigris just south of Claremore and north of Tulsa. I see this year you posted on the Watch and already have PM Congratulations. Hope you have a great & productive year.

Glad to see you back on the Forum Okie.. Good luck this year...

Dave

Thanks Dave I'm putting up the gourds tomorrow since locals are posting ASYs are back in my area. Plan on setting up the traps since the sparrows are having some interest in the Trio. Hope they will not be as much of a problem as they have been in the past. I'm single handedly reducing the HOSP population in my area so it will probably take years. I don't think there is anyone else trapping or shooting. Good luck to you.

[Evan337]

Sorry to hear you lost a female martin. I tend to find a couple of dead birds every year early in the season. Some are outside on the ground some will be in cavities. I think it is possible that some of the older birds die after they return to their "home" so to speak from exhaustion/old age and the stress of migration. Maybe this bird died in the gourd from those causes and what looked like trauma may have been inflicted postmortem. Possibly another martin trying to remove the dead bird from the gourd? Just a thought. As has been mentioned there is plenty of fighting and competition among martins for nesting cavities. My colony went from no birds two weeks ago to 40 in residence as of last night. Already seeing lots of fights with birds going to the ground.