What the hey? New martins hanging around my gourd array

[Guest]

I have a 16 plastic gourd array with one (count em, one) occupied gourd with 4 babies about to flege any day now. However, in the last couple of days, I have been delightedly beseiged by 10-16 purple martins, hanging around, going into the empty gourds, etc etc. What gives? Is this good, bad, no big deal? The two parents continue feeding their young by flying up to the door of the gourd, feeding (nearly in flight) and flying off.

[Guest]

Sounds good to me. Is there anyway you post a picture?

[Laverne]

Hey-hey, Mark!

Read this thread:

http://www.purplemartin.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=222

It pertains to the same subject...

I would say it is a very good sign!

Enjoy your season and good luck for many happy returns...

[Guest]

Laverne, Thanks for the thread. Sounds identical. Actually, we are about 5 miles from the Ponchartrain Causeway roost. I hope you nailed the phenomenon. I am really looking forward to my second year.

[Laverne]

Hi, again, Mark.

Post-breeding Behavior: Most landlords assume that their birds head
south for Brazil when they disappear from their breeding sites or when their
young become independent. PMCA banding studies have shown that this
is not the case. Most parent martins are around for another four weeks or so
at a premigratory roost, fattening up. Some of these roosts are hundreds of
miles north of their breeding sites.
Colony-site Recruitment: Our banding studies have shown that the
breeding martins at any given colony site are recruited from (i.e., fledged
from) dozens of different sites; some are from nearby sites, while others are
from hundreds of miles away. At one 50-pair colony site where we?ve
looked for color bands for the past five breeding seasons (but have never
banded at), we have now seen 80 different color bands, originating
from at least a dozen different sites.
Age at Independence: By following known-aged, color-banded
fledglings, and/or seeing them at the nearby roosts without their
parents or siblings, we?ve been able to determine that young
martins reach independence at about 40 days of age.
Post-fledging Wandering: Through the visual recovery of
over 2500 color-banded martins at the Presque Isle Bay Purple
Martin Roost, we now know that local premigratory roosts
draw in birds from at least a 250-mile radius. We also know
that fledgling martins wander and visit many non-natal sites
in the weeks after reaching independence.

This is where I confirmed what I thought was happening. You can thank James R. Hill III for his hard work and research. This quote is from the Update Magazine, issue 11-3, Banding Purple Martins, page 6.

There is a lot of information to be found by searching the PMCA website.

You should be well on your way to many years of hosting Purple Martins at your site. Your area has a rich population of PMs and you can build a colony as large as you wish to care for. Just be sure to "take good care of the martins"... (this little quote from Emil in Central Texas).

Educate and enjoy...