martin pair seem to have desserted baby's

[Guest]

help, my first year with nesting martins, two pairs. It seems that when one nest of two baby's fledged the other nesting pair of martins desserted their young, who also are about ready to flegde. Is there anything that can be done to encourage the martins to return? I did start playing the the martin dawnsong CD in hopes to encourage the martins to return to thier nest and babys.[/b]

[RC Moser]

Kelly, How many are left? and how long have you noticed? if one or two are left I have noticed they make alot less trips to feed older fledgings and knock off early in evening. They also will roost elsewhere and usually take the fledged with them. But, usually come back during the day till last fledged. I have also noticed Dad takes the fledged and Mom feeds the rest till they fledged, So you may only have one PM coming back to feed the babies IMO.

[Guest]

RC Moser brings up some good points.

Also, you might want to check to see who is the nearest wildlife rehab expert that could take the martin young, assuming the worst has come to pass and the parents have died/abandoned the site for some reason. Just in case.

On the front page of PMCA you'll find some useful guidelines for handling injured/sick/orphaned martins. It's in the "Downloads" section.

Keep us posted, and good luck!

[Laverne]

Dear Kelly,

RC and Aggie have given you good advice. No, the CD will not help and I would not play it at this time of the season.

How much time do you spend watching the housing; and at what time of the day? The feeding activity decreases dramatically just prior to fledging. And, as RC said, the parents frequently stop spending the night with their "almost ready to fledge" young. They are probably being drawn to a premigratory roost for the night.

Are the fledglings from the first nest being brought back to sleep in their nest?

What is the age of these nestlings? Can you lower your housing to check their condition? I would not remove them and take them to a rehabber unless I was absolutely certain the parents were gone. This requires a dedicated observation of the housing during the morning, afternoon, and evening. If your housing is a long distance from the premigratory roost, your birds may be traveling for a long time to get there each evening and then again in the morning to return.

I believe that parental abandonment of nestling Purple Martins is a very rare situation. It doesn't happen nearly as frequently as some have indicated.

[Guest]

I have some sad information - the two baby martins are dead
I checked the nest today with some crickets in case the babys were hungry. They did not move and further investigation reveal them to be dead. They were alive two days ago. So, I was wondering if they were already sick { possibly due to the west nile virus } or if the heat wave we have been going though took its toll.

What do you think about putting angled holes in the gourds to increase the air circulation inside. What do ya think. Also, do baby martins have trouble getting out of starling resistent openings?

Final, note thanks for all the information and suggestions. I guess this is all part of being a landlord and I look forward to next year and hope for a better year.

Take care you all!!!!

[Laverne]

help, my first year with nesting martins, two pairs. It seems that when one nest of two baby's fledged the other nesting pair of martins desserted their young, who also are about ready to flegde.[/b]

I'm so sorry to hear the nestlings died.

The above quote is from your first post. Did the first family to fledge ever come back to your housing in the evenings with their fledglings? Something is not "right" here - and I can't figure it out. If the fledged family never returned, there is some reason and it could have been a hawk or owl threatening them. There may have been a hawk attack and the attack spooked the remaining pair to the point they just could not stay there alone. Or, one of the remaining pair may have even been taken by hawk. There are so many things that could go wrong and yes, it is all just part of the life of a Purple Martin. As a landlord you will see all the challenges the PM faces.

No, Kelly, nestling or flegling PMs do not have any trouble getting out of SREH.

I doubt that these young were already sick - they just don't survive very long without food. The excessive heat probably helped speed up the process. They get their liquid intake from the bugs they eat.

A gourd should have ventilation holes in the neck of the gourd to allow for heat to escape. As the heat escapes from the ventilation holes in the neck, fresh outside air is drawn in through the entrance hole. However, this fresh outside air could still be 100 degrees! But, I have to say, I have never lost a nestling to heat. There has always been some other cause. The last nest of young I lost were the offspring of an SY pair. I discovered them during a regular nestcheck. I had been watching every day - and had seen the SY Male entering the gourd - but, I had not seen the female. Several days earlier, I remembered a successful hawk attack. I believe these nestlings lost their mother to a hawk and the father is usually inadequate to insure their survival.

Best of luck to you for brighter seasons in the future.

[Guest]

I asked the West Nile question early this year. They included it in the Update and said that the virus has not been found to be a problem for purple martins. I'm guessing they starved, sadly. I agree with Laverne-maybe something spooked the parents or even got them. Sy's can do some crazy things as well. By the way, what the heck does IMO mean RC?

[Laverne]

IMO means "In My Opinion" - sometimes people will say IMHO, "In My Humble Opinion"...

[Guest]

Oh ok. I'm still learning internet-speak and I've been online for 7 years duh.

[Al Denton]

I didn't know what it meant either I know what 104 degrees feels like though. Record breaking heat today! Al

[Guest]

It was 104 here sunday but a cold front hit yesterday and it was 52 this morn. Broke the record. It will be a blissful 81 here today-hope it makes it that far south.

[Al Denton]

Relief is on the way. We'll be getting your low 80's weather by the end of the week. I'm concerned with nestlings in my BB box today, and getting them relief with a light misting with the water nozzle. Also covered the top this morning aluminum foil. The parents continue with feeding, and I guess that's a good sign. Al