More Photos Of My New Martin Colony

[Steve Kroenke]

More Photos Of My New Martin Colony

The martin season in northwest Louisiana is winding down and most of my martins have fledged their young and the remaining ones should be gone by the end of the first week in July. I will have one late SY pair that will fledge their young around July 20.

During the mornings, huge numbers of martins have been visiting Bob?s (next door neighbor) colony and mine. I believe I have over 250 ASY and SY martins visiting at times and Bob has just as many or more. No doubt most of these are martins from our colonies, but our sites appear to be ground zero for martin socializing activities in this area.

I have attached five photos of my colony which shows MANY martins socializing. I wish the photos were clearer after downloading from my computer. In the ?flight? photo, the martins were preparing for battle! My colony took to the sky like fighter pilots to meet the male Cooper?s hawk which was flying high over and looking for vulnerable fledglings. My presence in the colony kept him from diving down and trying for some fledglings which were sitting on a utility line in Bob?s yard. Two of the photos show my PMCA racks with both funnel and standard gourds. The funnel gourds have been big hits with the martins. I have added a photo of my modified Lone Star Goliad with porch dividers and one of my Alamo house.

Please note in the photo of the martins preparing for battle that Bob's large colony is in the distance. About 100 yards separate our colonies and there is a wide open space between both. I will often stand in this area and confront the Cooper's hawks if they dare try to dive down into our colonies.

At the end of the season, I will present my purple martin status report for 2005. It has been the most remarkable and awesome martin season I have ever experienced in the over 40 years I have managed martin colonies. I have never had a new martin colony like this one!

Steve

[Emil Pampell-Tx]

Steve, thats quite a sight! Its amazing how a large colony will attract more martins than it can handle. I have found that most birds that come to my colony are ASY birds. Occasionally, I see SY birds, but they are rare at my place.

[Guest]

Steve, I could not say it any better than Emil, the pictures are amazing, and before too long, you might be hosting a fest!!! I took some pictures a few weeks ago, of our martins attacking a hawk while it was circyling above. We were ooutside and you just knew something was going to happen because of the way the martins all flew out and away from the gourds making the biggest racket you have ever heard, and I knew without looking up what I would see. Sure enough, there the martins all were, literally attacking that hawk with such a fierceness, it was something to see. Needless to say, between the martins and me standing out under the gourds waiting to "shoo" them away, it was going to end up a good day, but then anyday we have martins around is a good day

[Steve Kroenke]

Hey Emil,

That is interesting about your colony and how it is nearly all ASYs. All my martin colonies in Florida were usually about 2/3s or 3/4s ASYs and 1/3 or 1/4 SYs. My new colony in Louisiana has 81 pairs this season, but 5 of the late SYs will not complete the breeding cycle. They got as far as pair bonding and one even laid eggs, but that was all. I have 76 pairs that had/have young. My composition is 28 ASYs and 53 SYs for the 81 pair total. So my ratio is about 2 to 1 in favor of SYs this first season. I suspect in subsequent seasons my ASY numbers will grow and exceed the SYs.

You are correct about the ?magnetic impact? of large colonies! They will pull in huge numbers of martins even though many of them will not be able to secure territory. So other new sites nearby may benefit from the ?magnetism? of a super large full colony. The martin overflow goes to them.

Steve

Hey Holly,

Well, there should be PLENTY of martins in both Bob?s colony and mine next season! So we could probably have a ?Fest? over here someday!

I am going to try to take some pictures of the Cooper?s hawks when they come over. They are so high up many times that it is difficult to get good pictures. Other times they are too far away. Plus, I still have to keep the hawks from diving on our colonies, so that makes it difficult for me to sit back and take photos of them!

Yes, any day is a good day when martins are educating and entertaining us and just being themselves.

Steve

[Dale Davis]

Hi Steve, Very impressive colony. I am sure you are proud, as you should be.

I liked the way you posted the photos, #1 showing a considerable amount of PMs, #2 showing pretty much the same and #3 Wham! The grand finale.

Congratulations Steve.

Dale

[Steve Kroenke]

Hey Dale,

I am just overwhelmed by the success this first season! I have never seen anything like this and possibilities for the future are mind boggling. In the mornings, my colony site is COVERED with martins. There are HUNDREDS of martins at both Bob?s colony and mine. The sky will be black with them when they take to the sky to meet the Cooper?s hawks which invariably make several ?visits? a day.

I have some more pictures and will try to post them. Since we are limited in the amount of space, I have to keep deleting others or re-sizing them to avoid going over the limit.

I hope you had a great season in my former State of Florida!

Steve

[Matt F.]

Steve,
Great photos! That is one impressive setup!

Matt

[John Miller]

Steve

When folks walk by my computer, they say, "Oh Brother...." because I've set up a favorite martin photo as the screen "wall paper." (ha)

You might do the same with your "martins prepare to battle!"

John Miller,
St. Louis, Mo

[Steve Kroenke]

Matt,

Thanks! I am real pleased with my colony this year. No telling what will happen next season. I added another photo of my modified Goliad with porch dividers.

Steve

John,

Thanks for that idea about a screen saver! I didn't think about that. Now if I can just get a photo of the martins mobbing the Cooper's hawk, that would make a great screen saver.

Steve

[Dale Hrncirik]

Steve,

Congrats on a superb 1st year!!! Sounds like you moved to a perfect location. You probably wouldn't get similar results unless you moved next to Victor Stoll or Tony F. in Seguin. Thanks for sharing those great pics Lemme know when and if you plan on having a martin watching party in the future and maybe we'll plan a trip to the casinos and 2 supercolonies.

Dale

PS I'm thrilled to have 5 nesting pairs my 1st year here in Allen after such a slow start. I expect that # will at least triple next year....I can hardly wait.

[Steve Kroenke]

Hey Dale,

I am really pleased you have a new martin colony and it is doing well! I bet your colony doubles or triples next year. I really don?t know how many martin pairs I would have had if Bob?s huge super colony was not next door to me. He attracted 30 pairs of martins the first season in this location and got around 100 pairs the second. But I do agree that his colony was a tremendous benefit to me and the numerous martins attracted to his site also colonized my new one. Other colonies in the area have good numbers of martins in them.

We also have a huge martin population base in this area and these martins are desperate for housing. I believe anyone in this area can have a large martin colony if the landlord protects the martins from predators and competitors. This can be partly explained by history. In Louisiana, many folks have had martin colonies for years. This probably allowed for a build up of the martin population over many years and continues to this day.

I also believe we are on a major migratory flyway for both songbirds and raptors. Our colonies were exposed to daily multiple visits by migratory Accipiters, merlins and even several peregrine falcons during winter/spring with April being the major month for attacks by numerous merlins. This flyway probably has large numbers of martins flying through and it is always possible that some of these are staying in the area once they find suitable nesting sites.

I have no idea what will happen in 2006. Bob and I had around 250 pairs of martins between us in 2005. If we increase the number of cavities, then there is no doubt this total will increase. I believe we can easily have between 300 and 350 pairs next season. Of course, this will just increase the predation pressures from hawks and owls. Time will tell!

We have talked about having a martin field day at our colonies. Nothing fancy. Just folks getting together for a day of martin observation and good conversation. Perhaps we can organize such an event in the future. However, you are always welcomed to visit! I never tire of talking about martins and will do it year round! Recently, Jeff Webster from Corpus Christi and his father in law dropped by. Jeff is good friends with John Barrow, Louise Chambers and Tony Frederickson. We really enjoyed gabbing with Jeff and his father in law about martins and showing them our colonies.

Again, I am real happy you have a new martin colony. Continued great success.

Steve

[Steve Kroenke]

I added a photo of my Lone Star Alamo house with martins in residence. The Lone Star houses are probably the best on the market these days. I am planning to add another level to my Goliad to give it 16 compartments. I will probably add another Goliad house to my colony for 2006. The Goliad is my personal favorite.

Steve

[Guest]

Hi everyone,i am new to the forums,but would really like some feed back,
have been trying for two years to get some martins,finally about three
weeks ago one martin landed and stayed about one minute,next day he/she
came back and another came with it,but would not land,just kept flying
around for maybe two or three minutes,now this has been going on
for three weeks and they both will land now and sometimes several
will come with them,but they never stay more than a few minutes,but
now this may happen three or four times a day,and the one will go inside
and put up a fuss,but can not get any one to go in with him.

What does all this mean?,will they maybe come back next year?

Thanks for any comments
Bobby Rowell

[Steve Kroenke]

Hey Bobby,

Welcome to the Forum.

It appears that the martins are investigating your housing to determine its suitability for a possible nest site. Martins will do this later in the season and not spend a lot of time around the housing. Sometimes a male will enter the housing and then try to entice a female to join him. It is too late to attract breeding martins to your area, but these martins may return next year and nest. It is a good sign that martins have found your housing and are checking it out.

Could you provide some more information about the type of housing you have erected and a general description of how open the area is around the housing? Any tall trees nearby? Do the martins have an open flyway to reach the housing in nearly level flight in at least a few directions? Also, do you have any problems with house sparrows or starlings taking over the housing? This will help us to provide more feedback.

The Mobile, Alabama area has historically had a large purple martin population. This includes the coastal areas down through Gulf Shores. So you are located in a good area to attract martins.

We are looking forward to hearing back from you. Thanks again for posting on the Forum.

Steve

[ron20m]

Steve,
I'm impressed that you have have round entrances! Is it because you have so many birds? I've had Starlings come in and build over a PM nest in an afternoon.
Also, I'm adding a third house and have no gourds and was gonig to add a gourd house. But now I'm interested in that Alamo.
I live in Oklahoma, which do you think does better in the heat? I've had a lot of problems with the last 3 or four nests dying from the heat before they could fledge.
Ron Powell
Norman,OK

[Guest]

Steve, seems like people would like to see more pictures of your colony, so I have posted your pictures to free up some space for you.

[Steve Kroenke]

Hey Ron,

Yes, I only use round holes and will continue to do so for the time being. Martins evolved in round holes and are perfectly adapted biologically, physically and behaviorally to enter such entrances. Starlings are of little threat to my new colony and the few that have been around have not tried to investigate. I did shoot two starlings early in the season and both of these were away from my colony. So, many folks who use round holes either don?t have a significant starling problem or they can control it with trapping/shooting. Every location is different and you can?t generalize from one region to another relative to the severity of any starling competition problem. Some folks have enormous problems and others do not. I had zero starling problems at my previous colony in Tallahassee, Florida. Of course, starling competition dynamics can change from year to year, but I will not arbitrarily convert to srehs in the absence of starling interference. I will keep my pellet gun ready!

I agree that a large martin colony with numerous martins flying around and sitting on the housing may intimidate even starlings. That is what I have seen at my new colony in northwest Louisiana. Starlings would sometimes fly over, but keep on going. Starlings are possibly more of a threat to smaller colonies, both new and old, or colonies that are not managed from year to year. Many times if you eliminate the early territory seeking male starlings, then that can minimize starling problems for the remainder of the season.

I like both the Lone Star Alamo and Goliad, but the Goliad is my favorite, particularly if you add porch dividers. I like the shape of the Goliad and the ability to add more floors.

I would recommend you give gourds a try! Over here in northwest Louisiana, I rarely see any gourd colonies, yet my gourds have been highly attractive to the martins. I like the naturals that maximize vertical/horizontal depth and I hope to use more next season.

Good luck with your martins.

Steve

Hey Sam,

I really appreciate that gesture! I hope to post more pictures of my martin colony soon. Thanks again.

Steve

[Guest]

Steve,

You mentioned in an earlier post that you expected that you may well double, perhaps triple the pairs next year, but that would bring on additional predidation. That may not necessarily happen. Though it may during the hawk migration season, during the balance of the year, hawks are territorial and will self-limit the number that feed in the area, so if you double the size of the colony, the hawk pressure may only slightly increase.

Just like the massive staging sites prior to migration, the theory is predidation is limited to just a few hawks in the immediate area, whereas if the PMs were distributed across a whole state, they would be pressured by hundreds, even thousands of hawks.

Maybe? Who knows.

[Steve Kroenke]

Hey Chuck,

Good point about the territorial behavior of resident hawks. I know we have one pair of Cooper's hawk that nested nearby and probably are feeding fledglings now. The male hawk probably caught two martin fledglings today at martin family assembly sites located near my colony. I watched him flying around the tree canopies as numerous parent martins mobbed him. The screams of the martins trying to defend their fledglings is incredibly loud and intense. The territory of these hawks typically is a square mile or two.

I was mainly referring to migratory Accipiters and merlins. These pass through our area in large numbers from February through early May. With a large martin prey base flying about and vocalizing, more of these raptors may be more inclined to pay our colonies a visit. I observed numerous pass overs and attacks this season, particularly in late March and through April. We will see next season!

Hope you are having a great martin season. Thanks for the insightful comment.

Steve

[Guest]

Steve, it looks like you have 10 martin poles in your colony. I am guessing you have around 125(+or-) nest cavities available. Could you clarify the exact number of martin poles and nest cavities.

Also, I see some martin poles in the back ground, like there is a parcel of land between your 10 martin poles and these martin poles in the background. Are those gourd racks part of your neighbor's colony?