Last Martin Fledglings Still Returning To Roost

[Steve Kroenke]

Last Martin Fledglings Still Returning To Roost

On July 23, 2005, my last martin pair (SYs) fledged their three young from a natural gourd. The male parent had largely stopped feeding his young about two weeks prior to this date though he still visited and protected his family from other SY males. The female did nearly all the feeding of the babies.

However, the male martin was there when the youngsters fledged and he helped his mate during the first day. But that was all and he abandoned the family after that.

The female martin is an excellent mother and she is still bringing her three youngsters back to roost in my colony and she did so this evening, July 28, 2005. The female usually roosts with her babies if they enter the natal nest. However, sometimes the young will sleep in different gourds. Today, the female roosted alone in her nest while her three fledglings roosted together in another gourd. These were the only martins that spent the night in my colony.

Very few martins are now visiting our colonies during the day and most have no doubt departed the area. Just a few days ago there were still sometimes nearly a hundred martins flying around. As long as there were still nestlings in the colony, then numerous martins, particularly SY males were visiting and often trying to enter the cavities where the babies were located.

Bob and I hope to visit Shreveport soon to determine if the enormous pre-migratory roost is still active at the Schumpert medical complex. We hope our good friend, Johnny Gerber will get a chance to go with us and perhaps see one of the wonders of the natural world. In August of 2004, we saw what I believe were easily 100,000 martins roosting at this facility. I have never seen anything like it and was awestruck. But there are negative aspects to martins roosting in gigantic numbers in urban settings: large amounts of fecal droppings, strong odors, and noise. At the Schumpert site, the odor from the martin droppings was so strong that it would almost take your breath away! Plus the droppings soiled automobiles and covered the sidewalks. This martin roosting behavior in urban environments often creates conflicts between martins and people. I am sure this same situation exists in Brazilian cities while martins are on their wintering grounds.

Steve