My colony is not in my backyard but at an assisted living center several miles away. Our little town is in the path of the eclipse coming on April 8th. We are expecting over 4 minutes of darkness. I will not be leaving my own home due to the predicted crowds that will be visiting. I have asked the assisted living center to give me a report on how the martins react to the darkness. All the patio chairs are already placed next to the gourd poles for resident viewing of the eclipse so they should have an excellent place to see the colony.
My guess is that the martins will return to the gourds as if it is dusk. Has anyone observed their colony behavior during a prior eclipse?
Martins and the eclipse
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C.C.Martins
- Posts: 3368
- 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. 185 fledged
2025- 40 pair. 181 fledged
HOSP:
Home colony: mix natural, super, Troyer and excluder gourds, enlarged compartment house. All SREH.
Satellite colony: Oso Bay Preserve: 49 PMCA excluder gourds; 16 room Lonestar Goliad with Modified Excluder entrances.
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, 181 fledged
2025: 51 pair, 216 fledged
PMCA member
Be interesting! I suspect your right, they will come home. Our eclipse was in Oct last year, eerily quiet. Good thinking on not moving around on the streets, going to be crazy busy.
A good house sparrow is a dead house sparrow.
HOSP: 17. Starlings: 23
HOSP: 17. Starlings: 23
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Dave Reynolds
- Posts: 2441
- Joined: Mon Jan 31, 2011 4:35 pm
- Location: Little Hocking, Oh.
- Martin Colony History: Satellite Site “Oxbow Golf Course”..
2018 - 15 Pair, 36 Fledged
2019 - 26 Pair, 97 Fledged
2020 - 30 Pair, 137 Fledged
2021 - 30 Pair, 144 Fledged
2022 - 27 Pair, 125 Fledged
2023 - 31 Pair, 130 Fledged
2024 - 41 Pair, 198 Fledged
2025 - 44 Pair, 168 Fledged
Home Site "Little Hocking, Ohio".
2019 - 1 Pair, 5 Fledged
2020 - 1 Pair, 4 Fledged
2021 - 8 Pair, 36 Fledged
2022 - 13 Pair, 46 Fledged
2023 - 16 Pair, 84 Fledged
2024 - 22 Pair, 104 Fledged
2025 - 28 Pair, 83 Fledged
.. I’m not to sure what they will do, but my instinct tells me they will just fly around as if it is a very heavy cloudy day with out rain in site…. Just a thought
Dave
Dave
PMCA Member
Little Hocking, Ohio
Little Hocking, Ohio
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flyin-lowe
- Posts: 3788
- Joined: Wed Mar 29, 2006 8:49 am
- Location: Indiana/Henry Co.
We too are in the line of "totality" and from what I have been seeing even in totality it will not be total darkness, more like dusk or dawn. We had one a few years ago but not quite this strong. I was at our school with the kids so I have no idea what the martins did.
2026 HOSP 26
2025 62 pair HOSP 20
2024 60 pair, HOSP 44
2023 60+ pair, HOSP 8
2022 60 nests with 262 eggs, HOSP 14
2021 62 pair, HOSP 9
2020 42 nest, HOSP 8
2019- 31 pair
2018- 15 pair 49 fledged
2017 3 SY pair, 12 eggs , fledged 10. 4 additional lone SY's
2016 1 pair fledged 4
2015 Visitors
2014 Visitors
2013 Moved 6 miles, 1 pair fledged 2.
2012 30 pair fledged 100.
2011 12 pair 43 fledged.
2010 5 pair 14 fledged.
2025 62 pair HOSP 20
2024 60 pair, HOSP 44
2023 60+ pair, HOSP 8
2022 60 nests with 262 eggs, HOSP 14
2021 62 pair, HOSP 9
2020 42 nest, HOSP 8
2019- 31 pair
2018- 15 pair 49 fledged
2017 3 SY pair, 12 eggs , fledged 10. 4 additional lone SY's
2016 1 pair fledged 4
2015 Visitors
2014 Visitors
2013 Moved 6 miles, 1 pair fledged 2.
2012 30 pair fledged 100.
2011 12 pair 43 fledged.
2010 5 pair 14 fledged.
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Thomas Maddox
- Posts: 580
- Joined: Fri Jun 25, 2021 5:23 pm
- Location: Sulphur, Louisiana
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flyin-lowe
- Posts: 3788
- Joined: Wed Mar 29, 2006 8:49 am
- Location: Indiana/Henry Co.
I didn't notice any major changes. It got fairly dark here for about 3 minutes (enough that the dusk to dawn lights came on) I could still hear them flying around, probably by the time they realized something was going on it was over. As soon as the sun started to peak back out it got daylight again very quickly.
2026 HOSP 26
2025 62 pair HOSP 20
2024 60 pair, HOSP 44
2023 60+ pair, HOSP 8
2022 60 nests with 262 eggs, HOSP 14
2021 62 pair, HOSP 9
2020 42 nest, HOSP 8
2019- 31 pair
2018- 15 pair 49 fledged
2017 3 SY pair, 12 eggs , fledged 10. 4 additional lone SY's
2016 1 pair fledged 4
2015 Visitors
2014 Visitors
2013 Moved 6 miles, 1 pair fledged 2.
2012 30 pair fledged 100.
2011 12 pair 43 fledged.
2010 5 pair 14 fledged.
2025 62 pair HOSP 20
2024 60 pair, HOSP 44
2023 60+ pair, HOSP 8
2022 60 nests with 262 eggs, HOSP 14
2021 62 pair, HOSP 9
2020 42 nest, HOSP 8
2019- 31 pair
2018- 15 pair 49 fledged
2017 3 SY pair, 12 eggs , fledged 10. 4 additional lone SY's
2016 1 pair fledged 4
2015 Visitors
2014 Visitors
2013 Moved 6 miles, 1 pair fledged 2.
2012 30 pair fledged 100.
2011 12 pair 43 fledged.
2010 5 pair 14 fledged.
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defed
- Posts: 281
- Joined: Fri Jun 03, 2016 8:50 pm
- Location: WNY
- Martin Colony History: :
2022 - 1 pair, 5E, 4H, 4F
2023 - 2 pair, 9E, 5H, 5F
2024 - 4 pair, 16E, 16H, 14F (2 more pair started nests but failed due to weather/loss of mate).
was too cloudy here to see anything....too bad because they said i was in one of the more ideal spots for totality. it still got very dark, very fast. i don't even have any martins back yet and if i did, i was at work during it.
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G Saner
- Posts: 256
- Joined: Wed Nov 13, 2013 3:37 pm
- Location: TX/Kerrville
- Martin Colony History: Fort Worth, TX (1967-1976), The Colony, TX (1981-1985), Carrollton, TX (1986-2013), Kerrville, TX (2015-present).
Two SuperGourd poles (12 gourds on each) at River Point Assisted Living Center.
This is the reply I got from the Assisted Living Center staff about the martin behavior during the eclipse:
The Martins were very active and very vocal before the Eclipse. As the time of total totality approached, they became more calm and less vocal. During the Eclipse they were quiet and mostly inside the gourds, a few were perched outside. As the light started to break through, they started talking and coming out of their nest. it was very interesting to watch and observe!
The Martins were very active and very vocal before the Eclipse. As the time of total totality approached, they became more calm and less vocal. During the Eclipse they were quiet and mostly inside the gourds, a few were perched outside. As the light started to break through, they started talking and coming out of their nest. it was very interesting to watch and observe!
G Saner