Attack of the Western KingBird !!

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Anthony Neira
Posts: 1319
Joined: Wed Jan 15, 2014 1:12 pm
Location: San Antonio /Texas
Martin Colony History: Started in 1992 From neighbors old 1950-60's colonies. Have 8 Trio 6 Room Houses, 4 MPP Poles, 1 Heath Deluxe Gourd with Troyer Porch, 8 NatureLine Gourds with Troyer Porches, 5 Troyer Horizontals ,& 2 S&K 11" WITH Troyer Porches ready for 2019 Season !

Man ! Just when I thought I've seen it all with PMs, earlier this season I noticed , several times, my PMs being attacked , as in Diving down on & acting like it's trying to Kill !, by this beautiful all Gray on top with a Bright yellow Belly bird , SCREACHING at & DIVING at my PMs ! At first I thought it was a small Hawk, But I remember seeing this bird in a book being identified as a "Western KingBird" ! Anyone else had this happened to them ? In the end my PMs just "OUTFLEW" it & went inside their houses/Gourds, as the KingBird perched up in the trees, acting like it was waiting for another attack !
PMCA Member, 8 Trio 6 Room Houses, 1 Heath Deluxe Gourd with Troyer Porch, 8 NatureLine Gourds with Troyer Porches, 5 Troyer Horizontals + Tunnels, & 2 S&K Bo 11"s WITH Troyer Porches ! 4 MPPs, For 2019 Season !! :grin: Started in 1992 from Older '50-'60s Colonies.
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C.C.Martins
Posts: 2879
Joined: Fri Apr 14, 2017 11:15 am
Location: Corpus Christi Tx
Martin Colony History: 2016- Visitors.
2017- 5 pair. 15 fledged
2018- 18 pair. 85 fledged
2019- 17 pair. 81 fledged
2020- 25 pair. 111 fledged
2021- 28 pair. 118 fledged
2022- 33 pair. 151 fledged
2023- 33 pair. 165 fledged
2024- 40 pair.
HOSP: 52 Starlings: 29
Home colony: mix natural, super, Troyer and excluder gourds, enlarged compartment house. All SREH.
Satellite colony: Oso Bay Preserve: 36 PMCA excluder gourds, 6 room trio mini castle with troyer tunnels and enlarged compartments.
2019: Visitors
2020: 3 pair, 11 fledged
2021: 10 pair, 30 fledged
2022: 11 pair, 35 fledged
2023: 18 pair, 101 fledged
2024: 39 pair,
PMCA member

Anthony, sounds like your Kingbird has claimed some territory near the martins...also he may just be pestering the martins for the food they are brining in for the chicks. Hoping they drop something so it can get scarffed up. There are a pair of mocking birds that have learned to wait on the fences for missed food, not much goes to waste. There were even a few sea gulls following the martins yesterday, right over the house tops to the gourds hot on the tail of a martin, hoping to steal something.
Watch close and see what its up to!
Tom
A good house sparrow is a dead house sparrow.
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Spiderman
Posts: 987
Joined: Thu Jan 31, 2008 9:19 am
Location: Gladewater, Texas

Saw this 2 days ago. Purple Martins are going up in the tops of near by trees to pick green leaves to put in their nests. Kingbird has a nest in one of them. Came out and forced an ASY male into the the water on the lake twice before easing up the attack.

But the Kingbird is worth his weight in gold when the Cooper's Hawk appears. Kingbird will attack him head on with no regard for his own safety. All this while the Martins are making a hasty retreat &gaining altitude.
Colony started in 2002

Offering 82 Troyer Horizontal Gourds

2018 - 45 PAIR - FLEDGED 203 MARTINS
2019 - 68 PAIR - FLEDGED 268 MARTINS
2020 - 82 PAIR - FLEDGED 392 MARTINS
2021 - 78 PAIR - FLEDGED 349 MARTINS
2022 - 76 PAIR - FLEDGED 373 MARTINS
2023 - 68 PAIR - FLEDGED 355 MARTINS

*2023 Added 2”X4” wire cages to all three Troyer Gemini Gourd Racks to deal with Great Horned Owl predation on Colony.
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FarmerHarv
Posts: 74
Joined: Fri Jul 06, 2018 1:18 pm
Location: West Central Saskatchewan
Martin Colony History: 2018 - First house up in late June, lots of visitors brought over by “Percy”, a very enthusiastic SY male.
2019 - 10 nests, 51 eggs, 41 hatched, 40 fledged.

We've had 2 pair of western and one of eastern kingbirds here for years, and they don't seem to mind the new martins in the neighbourhood at all. They'll all even sit on the flagpole perch together in the mornings, which really surprised me. And like Spiderman says they will go after a hawk with no fear whatsoever.
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Matt F.
Posts: 3957
Joined: Mon Feb 28, 2005 9:48 am
Location: Houston, TX

Anthony,
I sounds like you might have an abnormally ill-tempered Kingbird in your midst.
I would suggest getting a lawn chair, and an ice-cold Big Red, and having a serious one-on-one chat with it.
Image
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GFB
Posts: 66
Joined: Sun Dec 23, 2018 5:05 pm
Location: Ontario NY
Martin Colony History: I Started my first colony with my father in the late 1960's. Started building custom vinyl Martin houses last year 2018 and was successful with 10 birds fledged and it looks like several dozen birds are hanging around. Time to expand.
2018: 1 T-14 and 6 gourds. Fledged 10
2019: 2 T-14's and 6 gourds. Fledged 70
2020: 2 T-14's and 6 gourds. Fledged 111
2021: 2 T-14's and 18 gourds Fledged 186
2022: 2 T-14's and 18 gourds Fledged 208

I'm having the same problem, the king bird is attacking the martins on the houses over and over while they are trying to bring nesting material into their compartments.
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Anthony Neira
Posts: 1319
Joined: Wed Jan 15, 2014 1:12 pm
Location: San Antonio /Texas
Martin Colony History: Started in 1992 From neighbors old 1950-60's colonies. Have 8 Trio 6 Room Houses, 4 MPP Poles, 1 Heath Deluxe Gourd with Troyer Porch, 8 NatureLine Gourds with Troyer Porches, 5 Troyer Horizontals ,& 2 S&K 11" WITH Troyer Porches ready for 2019 Season !

THANK YOU ! EVERYONE, Matt, that sounds good !Yup, I saw them sharing a line also ! :grin: , & I'm glad to have yet another Hawk Defender around ! Thanks again, for the replies & info. it all really helps understand this beautiful,Little, Pain in the .... :grin:
PMCA Member, 8 Trio 6 Room Houses, 1 Heath Deluxe Gourd with Troyer Porch, 8 NatureLine Gourds with Troyer Porches, 5 Troyer Horizontals + Tunnels, & 2 S&K Bo 11"s WITH Troyer Porches ! 4 MPPs, For 2019 Season !! :grin: Started in 1992 from Older '50-'60s Colonies.
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bootjack farm
Posts: 106
Joined: Thu Jun 02, 2016 9:30 am
Location: Russell, Pa
Martin Colony History: 9 years of trying hard...finally in 2017 I had 3 pair w/ 11 babies. T-14 +4 w/ 4 Troyer horiz. gourds. Troyer Super System 24. Fast forward to 2020... 64 fledged.

anthony, looks like your thread has run. i thought i'd ad my experience which might be helpful. king birds are very aggressive near their nest sites. i had one returning to the same patch of elderberry to nest. it was w/in 75 feet of my not yet occupied pm housing. any bird that came close was attacked ferociously. my solution was to eliminate the elderberry. now the king bird often hangs out on my now occupied housing w/ no apparent bad blood.
Northwest PA
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mjfog
Posts: 373
Joined: Sat Dec 30, 2017 3:40 pm
Location: Palm City, FL
Martin Colony History: 2018 will be my first try. 6 S&K B09s. 29 eggs - 8 fledged
2019 - 12 Troyer Horizontals with tunnels, 6 S&K B09s and 12 B011s all with tunnels. 43 eggs - 36 fledged
2020 - Rack 1 - 6 B011s, Rack 2 - 24 B011s, and Rack 3 - 24 Troyer Horizontals. All gourds have tunnels, porches and crescent/Conley 11 entrances; racks have predator guards. 161 eggs - 88 fledged.
2021 - 54 gourds-214 eggs, 184 hatched, 168 fledged.
2022 - 3 racks of 24 gourds. 363 eggs, 294 hatched, 278 fledged.
2023 - 3 racks of 24 gourds. 321 eggs, 276 hatched, 246 fledged.

I have had similar aggression shown by a crested flycatcher toward martins at my colony. Actual fisticuffs on the wing but nobody gets hurt and the birds just shrug it off. Seen the flycatcher buzz a red-bellied woodpecker also. Pugnacious little buggers!
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