Hi All, Recently here in Washington State we had a run of bad weather during late June and into early July. When I did nest checks recently several nests that had eggs in June were now empty. So, I'm curious what you folks might know about how martins behave when their nest fails. We do not have any such information specific to Western Martins, but I think it's reasonable to assume it would not be unlike that of Eastern birds. So,, what can you tell me ? Will the adults remove eggs, or dead nestlings, in an attempt to renest ? There is still time for them to renest here, we have had a few cases in the past of very late nests. One time I banded 14 day old young on September first, so those eggs were not even laid until late July. No way to know with certainty but I feel it was a second attempt since both attending birds were full adults.
Thanks for any info.
Stan Kostka
Seattle
Behavior of martins in failed nesting attempts ?
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Bird Brain
- Posts: 338
- Joined: Wed Feb 10, 2016 9:22 am
- Location: Highland Village, TX
- Martin Colony History: 2022-visitors, 2023-visitors, 2024-1 pair, fledged 4, 2025-10 pair, fledged 42, 2026-17 pair, fledged 81
yes. Martins will sometimes remove dud eggs, weak chicks (runts) and dead chicks. I've never had a failed nest. I've had chicks die later from mites and heat. Nest abandonment is the more likely in my opinion. Many younger martins change their mind and decide not to commit after the eggs are laid. I guess the commitment and responsibility is just too much for them. It's mostly younger, late arrivals that exhibit this behavior. Older Martins are more responsible and make better parents. I've never witnessed a second attempt either, but I only have 3 years experience.
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Jones4381
- Posts: 843
- Joined: Sat Apr 25, 2020 10:54 pm
- Location: Southwestern VA
- Martin Colony History: 2020- 0
2021- 1 pair-5
2022- 5 pair-20
2023 34 pair-44
2024 30 pair-122
2025 54 Pair -178
2026 65 pair- 220+/-
Typically snakes are the primary reasons for empty nest before fledging around here. Good Luckstan kostka wrote: ↑Sat Jul 11, 2026 9:09 pmHi All, Recently here in Washington State we had a run of bad weather during late June and into early July. When I did nest checks recently several nests that had eggs in June were now empty. So, I'm curious what you folks might know about how martins behave when their nest fails. We do not have any such information specific to Western Martins, but I think it's reasonable to assume it would not be unlike that of Eastern birds. So,, what can you tell me ? Will the adults remove eggs, or dead nestlings, in an attempt to renest ? There is still time for them to renest here, we have had a few cases in the past of very late nests. One time I banded 14 day old young on September first, so those eggs were not even laid until late July. No way to know with certainty but I feel it was a second attempt since both attending birds were full adults.
Thanks for any info.
Stan Kostka
Seattle
"Be content with what you have; rejoice in the way things are. When you realize there is nothing lacking, the whole world belongs to you." - Lao Tzu
Because we are conducting a census in Washington State, it's of value to know what to expect of the pairs we are trying to count. The practical reality is counting nesting pairs is really counting cavities containing nests. We have to assume that a cavity with an active nest equates to one nesting pair. This seems to be reasonable and generally an accurate way to conduct a census. However, nest failures prompt some questions. Does a pair that fails early renest in the same cavity? Or, does it move to a different cavity where it could be counted a second time? It's also possible, I suppose, that a pair could fail early and abandon a cavity that is then taken by a different pair that initiates a nest. In that instance, we assume one pair when it is, in fact, two pairs. Kelly McAllister, Olympia