17-year Periodical Cicadas to Return in 2025

[scottfreidhof]

I have been looking forward to this coming spring of 2025 since the magic of 2008! This year's brood of cicadas will hatch in eastern and central Kentucky, southeast Ohio, and central Tennessee. I'm bringing up this topic now to suggest that those of us in the hatch zone collectively help the martins take advantage of all the extra flying protein this year by adding/expanding housing.

Of course I'm making a big assumption that cicadas actually improve nest and fledge success of purple martins. I know in 2008 that the bluebird pairs successfully fledged 5 nests in my 1-acre yard. Without cicadas the best year was 4 successful nests. It is well documented that wild turkey brood survival increases during a periodical cicada emergence.

In 2008 the adult martins began feeding on the cicadas as soon as the bugs hit the air in May. But the adults did not feed cicadas to the nestlings until they reached a certain size. I did not keep track in 2008 of what age the nestlings were when they received cicadas. But I will keep track this year.

[C.C.Martins]

Interesting, a cicada would feed a few chicks id imagine. Im sure those blooms are bounty to many animals. Hope your birds take advantage and multiply.

[Dan G]

Scott, We are in central PA and are also expecting the 17 year brood this summer. I’m hoping this will jump start my attempts at becoming a landlord. I had been thinking, that the cicadas would do so well this year, that next year would be when I finally get started. But we did remove two (dying) large maple trees, so maybe this year. Fingers crossed.

[scottfreidhof]

2025 may just be your year Dan! Those SY males of 2024 will return as purple adults in 2025 and attract mates now that the two trees are down - at least that is my hope for you. And with the beautiful ridge-and-valley mountain landscape around Bellefonte, it would be difficult for the birds to find a more scenic location to nest.

[Dave Reynolds]

…. The last year that we had 17 year locust, the parent Martins did bring locust in for their babies, but the locust were to big for the little ones to eat.. The Locust just laid in the nest and no one ate them.. This could have been just the timing of the locust arrival.. Hope all works out for ya..

Dave

[scottfreidhof]

I just fed the first periodical cicada to the martins this morning. There was a cicada resting on the wood pile under the domestic pear tree in the yard. I walked the "bug" about 40 feet to the gourd racks and tossed it in the air to make it fly. It did not fly well and two martins attempted unsuccessfully to catch it before it hit the ground. The cicada flew better on the second attempt and an adult male swooped in for the snack!

I noticed the first cicada had emerged on Thursday, May 8. Just scattered individuals emerging so far from the yard. The big hatch is yet to come.

[scottfreidhof]

The periodical "Biomass Pulse" has ended here in eastern Kentucky. What a difference a week makes. Just a week ago, Saturday, June 14, I was able to sit and observe the martins for a good hour that morning. Periodical cicadas were a frequent food item delivered to the nestlings during that hour. My oldest nestlings are 23 days old today, on June 23rd. On the 14th, those same nestlings would have been 14 days old.

Foraging behavior of the adults has changed as well in the past week. When the cicadas were still active, foraging height was at or just above treetop level. I noticed on more than one occasion where the martins would flutter close to the tree branches or even gently bump into the branches (as it appeared at 50+ yards) to dislodge a cicada and then catch it out of the air. Foraging height is much higher than the treetops now and a variety of insects are coming into the nestlings minus the cicadas.

So now I wait until the year 2042 for the 5 weeks of fun to return again!

[Dan G]

Hey Scott. They are still going strong here. (Central PA). But I have noticed alot laying dead on the ground in just the past two days. But the buzz is deafening! I catch them and feed to my chickens. They would land on me without me realizing, until they start buzzing in your ear!! My sister resides near Lexington, so she keeps me updated. Back in February, I was crossing my fingers for this year, and we do have one pair with two eggs. Due to hatch the end of this week. ( very exciting !) There are 3 single SY males that are here most of the day again. And I have seen up to 9 martins ar once. An ASY male has been here as well. But not as regular. I can’t say I’ve seen them get a cicada, but as you said, I see them go to the maple trees regularly. At first they were bringing in green leaves. But they aren’t doing that any more, but are still going to the trees, so I assume they are feasting on the cicadas.

[scottfreidhof]

Congratulations Dan - well earned new colony establishment this year. Central Pennsylvania could have so many more martin colonies if people would catch the passion that we have. I hope both eggs hatch this week. One of my brothers lives in Lycoming County to the east of you and he has no cicadas. He was traveling along I-80 recently between Lamar and Bellefonte when he hit the cicada line. When he heard the sound he thought something was wrong with his truck. He turned the radio off to listen more closely and realized that the sound was outside the truck. Then he said the cicadas were flying so thick across the highway that he had to put up the windows to avoid cicadas flying inside the truck at 65 mph.