3rd Year PM Colony Observations

[Bob Burkard]

This is my 3rd season with nesting PMs in SE Pennsylvania after a few years of trying. I credit the advice given on this forum to my success in attracting them. I have a T-14 with 4 gourds (2 supergourds and two naturals) all with crescent SREH. I live in an area with a great number of starlings and HS. I deter the starlings with the SREH and actively remove (and destroy) the HS. I also see many old PM houses, but most of these are full of HS and starlings; only a very small number in my vicinity have PMs. About 20 miles east there is a large well managed colony.

1st year: 2 SY pairs in the supergourds. 4 eggs, 2 hatched, and 2 fledged.

2nd year: 2 ASY pairs in the supergourds, 1 SY pair in the natural gourd. 15 eggs, 13 hatched, and 13 fledged. 1 SY male claimed one of the T-14 cavities and built a ?half nest?.

3rd year: 4 ASY pairs in the gourds, 10 SY pairs in the T-14. As of today, 38 eggs, so far 28 hatched. At least 4 unmated SY males are hanging around the colony.

It is interesting to me that, at my site, the PMs prefer the gourds. The ASY?s arrived about 3 1/2 weeks earlier the the SYs and claimed the gourds. The first arriving SY?s tried to claim the gourds, but settled for the T-14.

Per nest, the ASYs in the gourds have fewer babies than the later arriving SYs in the T-14. Average: ASYs in gourds = 2, SYs in T-14 = 4.

Also, even this late into the season, it is a daily occurrence for starlings to attempt to get through the SREH. I could not have a colony in this area without this deterrence. The HS are more attracted to my BB houses and I am able to control them with nest traps.

I know that I have read about this on our forum, but if nature keeps a balanced ratio of males to females, why are there so many unmated SY males in the colony?

[Laverne]

Hi Bob.

Congratulations on the wonderful increases in your colony size. I don't understand why you have such small clutches - especially from your ASY birds. Is there an insect shortage in your area that would make large clutches consistently fail? My average nest contained and hatched 5 this year.

Your question regarding the abundance of unattached SY Males has indeed been discussed many times. Unfortunately, all the posts have been lost. I don't believe anybody has an answer to that question. Many suggestions were made. This is what I think. In my colony this season - I saw many ASY Male / SY Female pairings. There were also more than normal SY/SY pairings. Many landlords reported absent and tardy colonies. The seasonal arrival of their PMs was late and weird. I don't know what happened - but, something did and it resulted in the loss of a lot of ASY PMs - especially the ASY Female.

We have had a fabulous season here in SE Texas. If every fledgling survives, we will have added 165 to the premigratory roost this season. Last years final tally was 131. Enjoy your season!