Well, looks like our martins have finally taken flight after a successful season. At the opening of the season we had eight birds. As of last week, we had 17 circling the back yard. Not bad. But we'll do better next season!
If you all recall, my folks had been having problems with HOSP in the yard, and I'd been asking for suggestions on how to control them. Since we have neighbors on either side, as well as behind us, shooting was not an option (lack of a clear shot and stay rounds, you understand). Well, you'll be pleased to hear that, after doing a total overhaul of the seed and feeders, there is hardly a HOSP to be seen! Apparently the lack of food has driven them off! Their nests are also abandoned.
Next season my father (who is the real landlord) and I will be putting into practice what I've learned this summer. The first project is the modification of our Trio house for larger nest cavities; then erection of a multi-purpose pole; and the construction of a custom-designed, insulated purple martin apartment complex.
End of our season, TX (includes an updated situation report)
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Laverne
- Posts: 2216
- Joined: Thu Jan 08, 2004 1:58 pm
- Location: TX/Alvin
- Martin Colony History: Erected 1st house in 1997. Birds were checking it out before Mike got down from the ladder. Six cavities had a little colony 1st year. Grown to 88 cavities all gourds with near 100% occupancy. Most important factor for success is rain = bugs.
Congratulations on the successful season, AggieMEEN.
It feels good to get a break from the HOSP war. But, please be forwarned that this is the end of their nesting season, too, and that could be another reason why they are nowhere to be found.
Many landlords continue trapping throughout the off-season to get the HOSP numbers down before the next martin season gets here. There have been several seasons that I have failed to take my martin housing down during the winter and I never see any HOSP until the Purple Martins come back next season.
Just a little food for thought...
Best wishes to you for many more successful Purple Seasons!
It feels good to get a break from the HOSP war. But, please be forwarned that this is the end of their nesting season, too, and that could be another reason why they are nowhere to be found.
Many landlords continue trapping throughout the off-season to get the HOSP numbers down before the next martin season gets here. There have been several seasons that I have failed to take my martin housing down during the winter and I never see any HOSP until the Purple Martins come back next season.
Just a little food for thought...
Best wishes to you for many more successful Purple Seasons!
Sincerely,
Laverne
Laverne
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Steve Kroenke
- Posts: 4342
- Joined: Fri Nov 28, 2003 6:49 pm
- Location: Louisiana/Logansport
Hey,
Your observation about the relationship of bird feeders and house sparrows somewhat relates to what happened many years ago at my boyhood martin colony at my Grandparents? old home site in Havana, Florida. Way back then, many folks had outdoor chicken coops and these coops supplied PLENTY of food for house sparrows. There was also a feed store in town which was infested with sparrows. I saw this in the 60s and 70s and the same situation most likely occurred earlier, too.
My martin colony was constantly under assault by house sparrows and the martins and I fought them constantly. However, after folks removed their outdoor chicken coops and the feed store finally closed, the house sparrow population plunged and these pests were of little problem. The elimination of a ready food source via chicken feed adversely impacted the sparrows and many disappeared. The only sparrows that remained were the ones that had reliable bird feeding stations available or ones that could nest near fast food establishments or similar businesses. The sparrow population has probably declined more than 90 % around my boyhood colony area.
At my new colony site in rural northwest Louisiana, we have almost no house sparrows around our colonies. However, you can find some sparrows at local dairy farms where more food is available and there are some at our local trash dump site. A few sparrows also nest around the small towns in my area. House sparrows definitely prefer to nest around human establishments, particularly ones such as food related businesses and ones where many bird feeding stations are available.
Steve
Your observation about the relationship of bird feeders and house sparrows somewhat relates to what happened many years ago at my boyhood martin colony at my Grandparents? old home site in Havana, Florida. Way back then, many folks had outdoor chicken coops and these coops supplied PLENTY of food for house sparrows. There was also a feed store in town which was infested with sparrows. I saw this in the 60s and 70s and the same situation most likely occurred earlier, too.
My martin colony was constantly under assault by house sparrows and the martins and I fought them constantly. However, after folks removed their outdoor chicken coops and the feed store finally closed, the house sparrow population plunged and these pests were of little problem. The elimination of a ready food source via chicken feed adversely impacted the sparrows and many disappeared. The only sparrows that remained were the ones that had reliable bird feeding stations available or ones that could nest near fast food establishments or similar businesses. The sparrow population has probably declined more than 90 % around my boyhood colony area.
At my new colony site in rural northwest Louisiana, we have almost no house sparrows around our colonies. However, you can find some sparrows at local dairy farms where more food is available and there are some at our local trash dump site. A few sparrows also nest around the small towns in my area. House sparrows definitely prefer to nest around human establishments, particularly ones such as food related businesses and ones where many bird feeding stations are available.
Steve
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Laverne
- Posts: 2216
- Joined: Thu Jan 08, 2004 1:58 pm
- Location: TX/Alvin
- Martin Colony History: Erected 1st house in 1997. Birds were checking it out before Mike got down from the ladder. Six cavities had a little colony 1st year. Grown to 88 cavities all gourds with near 100% occupancy. Most important factor for success is rain = bugs.
So, what you indicate is, if we quit feeding the HOSP all our trash and supplying them with easily attained grain (as in feed for our desirable animals) then maybe they will die back and become less of a problem.
I wonder what HOSP eat naturally; when our "excess" is not available to them?
If everybody with a bird feeder would leave it empty for a month - maybe we could reduce the HOSP population considerably!
I wonder what HOSP eat naturally; when our "excess" is not available to them?
If everybody with a bird feeder would leave it empty for a month - maybe we could reduce the HOSP population considerably!
Sincerely,
Laverne
Laverne
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Emil Pampell-Tx
- Posts: 6743
- Joined: Tue Nov 11, 2003 1:26 pm
- Location: Tx, Richmond (SW of Houston)
- Martin Colony History: First started in Gretna, La in 1969 with a small homemade house, have had martins ever since at 2 different homes in Texas
Laverne, we fed our birds with regular bird feed, and we had tons of sparrows, and very little else. Now we only feed black sunflower seeds, and we have cardinals, doves, finches, chickadees, etc but seldom do we see a sparrow, and before we switched to sunflower seeds, we never saw a cardinal, chickadee, etc. Of course, part of may be that I try to keep the sparrows trapped or I shoot them if I can. It seems like as soon as you get rid of the sparrows & starlings, the other birds start coming..
PMCA Member, 250 gourds, 6 poles, 2traps
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Guest
This discussion made me do a bit of research into the subject. This Google search result presented some interesting reading, regarding what appears to be a declining population of HOSP in England.
One finding: Changes in farming practices are likely to account for at least some of the decline [of the HOSP population] in the
wider countryside, probably related to changes in food resources, with a loss of grain in
fields and better storage of harvested grain, though these changes are unquantified.
Very interesting!
Original Document URL: http://www.defra.gov.uk/wildlife-countryside/ resprog/findings/sparrow/chapter3.pdf (Note: Copying and pasting the URL may not work on all browsers.)
One finding: Changes in farming practices are likely to account for at least some of the decline [of the HOSP population] in the
wider countryside, probably related to changes in food resources, with a loss of grain in
fields and better storage of harvested grain, though these changes are unquantified.
Very interesting!
Original Document URL: http://www.defra.gov.uk/wildlife-countryside/ resprog/findings/sparrow/chapter3.pdf (Note: Copying and pasting the URL may not work on all browsers.)