4th of July Fledging Party

[Mstan]

Happy 4th fellow landlords. Please correct me if I’m wrong on this. This morning at 9:00am I noticed a lot of martins hovering around the gourds,flapping wings and loudly chirping, I also noticed an ASY male on the top wire of fence below the gourd rack. Then all at once every Martin flew off together and circled above the nearby pond. It was a sight to see. I currently have three Troyer 2” racks with 12 verticals,12 horizontal and 6 chirpy nest boxes. The birds circled and flew together about 5 mins. I noticed a group going to and from tops of near by trees. Is this what I have heard termed on the forum a “ fledging party”?

[scottfreidhof]

Your description matches the behavior of the colony when birds are actively fledging. Same thing has been happening in my yard the past few days. Yesterday evening there were lots of new fledglings going to roost in the tops of trees about 100 yards to the east. Some fledglings returned to the gourds. I noticed a fledgling on the lawn when I returned home. One adult would occasionally swoop low towards the grounded bird and it would respond but could not fly. Upon capture it was evident that the primary flight feathers had not grown out on the left wing. The right wing was normal.

[Mstan]

Thank you, I too have found fledges on the ground. I put them back in gourd with birds closest to their size. It’s a nice feeling to see them fledge.

[dsonyay]

Awesome stuff to watch. Very exciting indeed