Removing old nest

[brent]

Hi everyone,

I will do a nest check today and I know that several of the nests are empty since the young have fledged. They do come back in the evening to roost but I wanted to know if it would be ok to remove the old nest now to give them more room to roost and to keep the compartments clean. What do you think?

Brent

[ToyinPA]

Hi everyone,

I will do a nest check today and I know that several of the nests are empty since the young have fledged. They do come back in the evening to roost but I wanted to know if it would be ok to remove the old nest now to give them more room to roost and to keep the compartments clean. What do you think?

Brent

It'd be best if you change the dirty nest out or let it be.

Toy in PA

[brent]

What if I just remove the nest entirely and not replace it. Would that be ok to do?

[Spiderman]

As long as you replace the nesting material it should be ok.

Some Martins can be real picky about entering a Gourd that doesn't look familiar though.

[ToyinPA]

What if I just remove the nest entirely and not replace it. Would that be ok to do?

It'd be best if you added some nesting material. A good handful would be enough. They are still returning to their "nest". If their nest is empty they may think a predator was in it & not return.

Toy in PA

[flyin-lowe]

Unless there is a problem with it like being wet and moldy/stinky or infested I would just leave it until they migrate back south. Shouldn't be to much longer if there have fledged young already.

[brent]

Thanks everyone. I just completed the nest check and left the nest alone. This forum is so useful. I thought, at first, it would be beneficial to clean out the nest never thinking that it is what they are familiar with and it's their home until they leave. Thanks again.

Brent

[Conrad Baker]

I don't remove any nesting until after the season. It seems the Martins have a second brooding, and I think they would feel more comfortable and likely to re use the nest if nothing has changed. I suppose the same Martins use the same nest for their second brooding. I may add a little more pine needles after the first brooding, and add more Sevin dust, but not much else is done (of course removing egg shells or other undesirable contents). I usually take the housing down around mid-July after all the Martins have left and clean them out then.

[flyin-lowe]

For the most part martins won't have a second set of eggs unless something went wrong very early on in the season with the first set of eggs. If it was later in the season and the babies were killed more then likely they wouldn't lay more eggs at that point.

[-=DKC=-]

If the nest is very dirty and beat down, and if I see fledglings returning nightly to sleep in it I usually replace the nest. Otherwise I just clean them all out at the end of the season.

[Conrad Baker]

For the most part martins won't have a second set of eggs unless something went wrong very early on in the season with the first set of eggs. If it was later in the season and the babies were killed more then likely they wouldn't lay more eggs at that point.

Is it possible the first set on Martins have moved on, and a second set move in to raise a family? I'm sure that I have two different laying sessions going on, the first around April, the second inJune. I was thinking this was the same Martins raising a second brood, but it is possible it is a different group that move in to raise some babies. Maybe something to do with the Gulf South area (on a migration route), that birds are moving through my area going both ways (at different times of the Season of course) raising families? No way for me to know for sure if it is the same Adult Martins in April and June raising the broods.

[brent]

Interesting. I'm going to keep an eye on this posts because I don't know the answer to that. Most of my birds have fledged with the exception of one nest that will not fledged until next week. Every day I see fewer and fewer martins staying over night and I suspect that gradually all will be gone, migrating back. Last year, I did not have martins lay a second clutch nor did I have a second family move in but who knows.