Transplanting Martins from one colony to a new one

[ryan_thomas]

Howdy!
I wanted to know if anyone has ever tried moving a SY pair of birds from one colony to a new site. My grandmother doesn’t have any birds and we have 12+ pairs. She has decoys and plays the dawn song religiously but there aren’t any colonies near her. Our birds don’t have eggs yet but are beginning nest building. Any information is appreciated!

[C.C.Martins]

Howdy, in short dont try it. Martins will be back to their original home before you make it back. Give it time.

[Spiderman]

Yeah, bad idea!

[Dave Duit]

Ditto. It will just take time for her to get her own martins started at her location. It seems like a good idea and quick fix, but it is not good for the SY martins to be transplanted in a new place.

[SSMartin]

Capture a pair of martins and release them at another site. They’ll fly up and never be seen there again. If you’re luckily they’ll return to where you captured them.

[phldave]

There has been documented cases where mated pairs with young were captured in gourds and transplanted to another location and the adult pair even leave when they have young, So even the parental responsibility is not strong enough to make them stay. Federal law also prohibits this practice. I too have been trying for ten years to no avail, all we can do is keep struggling.

[SSMartin]

There has been documented cases where mated pairs with young were captured in gourds and transplanted to another location and the adult pair even leave when they have young, So even the parental responsibility is not strong enough to make them stay. Federal law also prohibits this practice. I too have been trying for ten years to no avail, all we can do is keep struggling.

I hope this year is your year!

[avesrun]

Technically it's questionable whether even performing nest checks is legal; please dismiss/ let alone the idea of transporting martins. But I'm with you, I waited 7 yrs at my home and every thought crosses one's mind.
TimG