I posted something similar recently, but I just wanted to say what pleasure it is to watch fledgings come in to roost in the housing, after they have fledged. If you haven't watched this closely, try to do so.
Yesterday I had three fledge from a gourd that hangs below an aluminum house -- at 32 or maybe even 33 days. These guys flew back home in late evening and tried two at the time to get in the gourd -- having no trouble when one got out of the way. Then darn if they didn't leave back out, with one peering out momentarily as if to say, come on guys, it's time for bed!
I wasn't able to watch until it was comletely dark to see if they came back again, but these guys were flying so well, I'm thinking they've got a good start in life.
John Miller,
St. Louis, Mo
fledglings great fun to watch
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Steve Kroenke
- Posts: 4342
- Joined: Fri Nov 28, 2003 6:49 pm
- Location: Louisiana/Logansport
Hey John,
Yes, it is a lot of fun watching the fledglings come home to roost in the evenings. This year I had several hundred at one time, but the great horned owls caught so many of them as they roosted on the exposed gourd crossbars and house perches.
Here is a link to an article I posted about roosting behavior of fledgling martins. You might find it of interest:
http://forum.purplemartin.org/forum/vie ... ht=kroenke
Steve
Yes, it is a lot of fun watching the fledglings come home to roost in the evenings. This year I had several hundred at one time, but the great horned owls caught so many of them as they roosted on the exposed gourd crossbars and house perches.
Here is a link to an article I posted about roosting behavior of fledgling martins. You might find it of interest:
http://forum.purplemartin.org/forum/vie ... ht=kroenke
Steve
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abernathys
- Posts: 220
- Joined: Tue Jul 06, 2004 8:40 am
- Location: maxwell/texas
Hey John-I love watching them come back to roost also. Sometimes I just have to laugh at them. They zip in the hole after ma or pa, then when ma or pa leave to go retrieve another out they pop, only to be scolded by one of the parents when they return to get back in the hole.
I had so many coming back at the same time this year that it became quite confusing, so many went in the wrong gourd or compartment in the houses. I think some of the adults were alittle stressed trying to get thier babies to the right place. It all worked out ok. Only had one stay the night on the crossbars and he made it to the next day to fledge with his family. Nothing like what Steve had to deal with. Enjoy them before they leave us.
Sandy
I had so many coming back at the same time this year that it became quite confusing, so many went in the wrong gourd or compartment in the houses. I think some of the adults were alittle stressed trying to get thier babies to the right place. It all worked out ok. Only had one stay the night on the crossbars and he made it to the next day to fledge with his family. Nothing like what Steve had to deal with. Enjoy them before they leave us.
Sandy
PM lover
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kimball911
- Posts: 180
- Joined: Tue Mar 23, 2004 6:33 pm
- Location: Kansas/Iola
My 9 babies took flight yesterday - the flying went well, but landing was another story. One of them was hanging upside down on a little peg attached to the house. They are so cute to watch. I will miss them before long, but all 9 eggs hatched and all have made it with no mites or any accidents like falling out of the nest. I started out with 2 males and 7 females with 2 clutches of eggs. Somewhere along the line one of the males never came back home (unknown what happened), but three other females picked up the slack and successfully raised 5 of the babies.
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Guest
John,
This is my first year of having babies to fledge. I have 28 babies, 15 of them already fledged. Some of them do come back in the evening. You can bet I got plenty of videos.
The only thing I have noticed, something I think Steve had in his article about fledglings. I have about four or five unmated sy males, I think they have been here for awhile. To me it seems they just just hang around making noise, just waiting for the young ones to come out of their housing.
I have seen a couple of these sy males trying to mate with these fledglings. The mother and father do a pretty good job of chasing them off. But when they get alittle scattered around, its hard to keep them away.
Like I said, it just looks as if these sy males are flying around, landing by the compartments with the fledglings try to mate with them.
Just wanted to know if you have noticed this at your site?
Enjoy the little ones, it seems to be going bye to fast!
Craig
This is my first year of having babies to fledge. I have 28 babies, 15 of them already fledged. Some of them do come back in the evening. You can bet I got plenty of videos.
The only thing I have noticed, something I think Steve had in his article about fledglings. I have about four or five unmated sy males, I think they have been here for awhile. To me it seems they just just hang around making noise, just waiting for the young ones to come out of their housing.
I have seen a couple of these sy males trying to mate with these fledglings. The mother and father do a pretty good job of chasing them off. But when they get alittle scattered around, its hard to keep them away.
Like I said, it just looks as if these sy males are flying around, landing by the compartments with the fledglings try to mate with them.
Just wanted to know if you have noticed this at your site?
Enjoy the little ones, it seems to be going bye to fast!
Craig