Lost colony

Badger · Sat May 06, 2023 7:32 am

I have lost my colony. Last year I had 40+ birds and this year 0. This is my 7th year and every year I pick up a few more birds than the year before. I never suspected that the birds were under duress last year. I sit with and watch them twice a day, every morning and evening and everything seemed normal. They left for the season on time so I dont know what happened, I have a eagle nest about 300 yards from my house. Maybe they spooked them. On the bright side I do have 1 pair and a few others staying around. So I can only hope they will be the start of a new colony. Only time will tell.

randyM · Sat May 06, 2023 9:45 am

Did you monitor your nests last year to see if most of the nests fledged their young? If something catastrophic happed (predator, weather, severe parasite infestation, etc) the unsuccessful nesting pairs likely won't return the next year. Eagles are not a primary predator of martins and a nearby eagle nest likely would not cause martins to abandon a site. I have a red-tailed hawk nest about 350 yards from my colony and the martins at my site have learned to ignore the hawks unless they circle directly above the colony. I've never seen a buteo type hawk (any large broad-tailed hawk) chase martins or other such small birds. Merlins, falcons, cooper's hawks and sharp-shinned hawks are the main raptors that typically target martins and perhaps could cause a colony to be abandoned.
Randy

Martintown33 · Sat May 06, 2023 6:58 pm

Agree with Randy.. the eagles nest is probably not the reason. The fact that they left on time last season, doesn’t indicate that something forced them to abandon the site, early… but the fact that you were finding more and more dead birds on the ground, indicates something was obviously killing them, (predator or disease ), and possibly forced them to not return. But 7 years, obviously, is a well established colony. Did the dead martins you were finding on the ground look damaged in any way? I.e. blood, any markings, etc?
Rob

flyin-lowe · Sat May 06, 2023 10:08 pm

I think when Badger said he picks up a few more birds, he means the colony is growing, not that he is picking up dead birds. I have never heard of a colony of 20 plus pair up and leaving with out some type of major predator issue at the end of last season.

Badger · Sun May 07, 2023 6:05 am

I did not find dead birds on the ground. The dead babies in the gourds seemed normal. I always have a few dead right up until fledgling. Most fledged . My colony always increased by a few birds every year. I start the season with clean gourds and I pre nest with wheat straw as I done every year. I use predator guards on my poles. I have 1 tree about 80 feet from the poles and other than that it is wide open fields and its on the high ground and I have a river maybe a 100 yards from them. We do have red tail hawks but I never seen them come close to the martins. Like I say I am so happy to have 1 pair and a few others around. Im hoping they will be the start of a new colony. What ever happen I hope it does not happen again with my new birds.

SoIndyDon · Sun May 07, 2023 1:01 pm

I worried last week that I had lost most of my colony of 21 years. Weather has been massively up and down,and a male was taken by a hawk. That's when the colony went nearly silent. No sitting on porches, only rapid entry exits by the 6 or 7 pair I could count. I did a nest check yesterday and found 24 nest of 32 cavities. Not bad and only 6-7 off from the last 2 years.
So, you might have hope if your season is a week behind mine here just north of Louisville, KY.