owl predation

[cransy]

Last year I had owl predation on my gourd rack that had 24 gourds. The martins this year would perch there but not nest there. I have two other gourd racks and all the martins move over there. Why won't the martins nest in the first gourd rack? Is it the gourds or location? I"m going to move the rack to another location but can I use the same gourds? Any info would be helpful.
cransy

[Emil Pampell-Tx]

If the owl only went to that one gourd rack, its unlikely, but if that is true, then the martins know that, so they will not use it. Moving the pole may not be necessary, as they probably will use it next year

I have another theory, and that is that a snake or racoon got into that one pole, and then the martins would also do the same thing. Do you have a very good predator guard.? Those snakes & racoons can get around many commercial pole guards.

Because of those kind of problems, I now use an electric fence charger going to all of my poles. I put in an underground wire to all 5 poles from the water pump shed where I plug in the charger. I put the elecctric fence wires at the top of 4ft of pvc pipe. The pvc pipe will stop the snakes, but occasionally a racoon will climb the pvc pipe, so then the electric fence will stop them. I think my setup is probably as good as anyone can get it to stop the predators.

[cransy]

Emil,
Thanks for the reply. I know that I didn't have an attack by raccoons or snakes. My rack is mounted on top of a boatlift and they wouldn't be able to get up there.

[Laverne]

Cransy,

You can still use the same gourds. And, as Emil has said, there is no need to move the rack. Even after a snake attack, the martins will usually stay away for only one season. You seem convinced that this was owl predation. Why do you think a raccoon or a snake couldn't get on top of your boatlift?

Whatever predator was "eating" your Purple Martins doesn't really matter - making sure it doesn't happen again in the future of your colony does matter. There are owl guards to protect the contents of the nest cavity from owls. There are ground dwelling predator baffles to protect against snakes and raccoons and house cats and squirrels and opossums and even ring tailed cats (just to mention a few). But, please be forewarned that these predator baffles are not perfect and the wylie ground dwelling predator will often figure out how to get around them. We, Purple Martin Landlords, must be smarter than the predator to protect our colonies. That's why Emil has come up with the electric fence. He was tired of being trumped by the ground dwelling predator... so, he figured out a way to make his guard "fool-proof". This is the kind of stuff we have to do all the time. But, you really need to know what you are guarding against before you can successfully protect your colony.

Your PM colony should move back into the gourd rack they avoided this year. Next season will be more normal - unless that predator comes back again...

[cransy]

Thanks! I watched the owl attack in the am. Also, I didn't tell you that in 2003 I had 42 martins die of starvation in one gourd on that rack. My neighbor had martins for 20 years and all his birds died with mind. No birds will nest at his site. I really believe birds have a way with nature telling them not to nest there.

[John Miller]

Cransy

What a tragedy for you in 2003. As your question centers on martins not using that particular gourd rack, I'd like to know how many martins used it in 2004, and second, how far apart are your racks? I'm thinking, yes, that rack had sparse returning older birds last year (2004) because of the 2003 kill, and that maybe your racks are a good ways apart -- maybe 100 feet or more?

Sometimes, getting housing that far apart causes birds to colonize one housing unit and ignore the other. Martins foremost want to be where there are martins.


John Miller,
St. Louis, Mo

[Emil Pampell-Tx]

Cransy, you have it fixed in your mind that the owl did the attacking. That may be true, and you probably are right if the owl quit coming to your place. If the owl is still around, it surely would have attacked the other poles also. If the owls are successful, they will keep coming back practically every night

Also, do not underestimate how good a snake or racoon can climb, they are expert climbers, they can climb steel poles, even pvc poles, so if you have a boatlift that has steel, pvc, or wooden poles or walls, then they probably can get up to the martins. My daughter has boatlifts, and the racoons often get up on the roof of their dock, deck, and boatlift. I just thought that I would tell you how good a climber they are.

I hope the problem is solved, and I wish you the best of luck next year

[Laverne]

in 2003 I had 42 martins die of starvation in one gourd on that rack. My neighbor had martins for 20 years and all his birds died with mind. No birds will nest at his site. I really believe birds have a way with nature telling them not to nest there.

Cransy, I am pretty sure you know about supplemental feeding of PMs - but, just in case you don't - here's a link to an article from the PMCA.

http://www.purplemartin.org/downloads/F ... rticle.pdf

Supplemental feeding could have saved your 42 martins and your neighbors colony from starvation.

I believe PMs "have a way" of knowing where disaster has struck their kind before. But, eventually, all the birds alive when the disaster happened will have passed - the colony can be re-established. It would be a terrible loss to have the same thing happen to them again...

Please read all you can find on predators and on supplemental feeding. Maybe it will spare you the heartache of watching your "returning" birds die. Best wishes for better weather and many years of success with your colony.

[cransy]

Thanks for the replies! In 2003 I loss 42 martins due to starvation and saved several birds with supplemental feeding. All of my neighbors birds died with mind in the gourd rack. No birds have return to his house. In 2004 I had two pairs nesting in that gourd rack. One pair was loss due to the owl attack along with the babies. It was the end of the season and I also loss several babies that were perching at night on my other racks. The other racks are 70 feet away. What saved a lot of my martins was baby ducks that were being picked off by the owl. I witnessed these attacks for two weeks. He wanted the ducks over the martins. My boatlift has a six foot predator guard on it. So no snake or raccoon got them. This year no martins in that rack but the other two racks were full. Yes, I have installed homemade owl guards to my gourds this year and haven't had any more attacks. 2005 was a cold spring with 10 days of cold weather and supplemental feeding was done. I never loss a bird and feed several birds that were migrating to there homes up north along with mind. It's just strange that no birds will nest there or at his place. I might leave the perch and move the gourd rack.

[Guest]

Because of those kind of problems, I now use an electric fence charger going to all of my poles. I put in an underground wire to all 5 poles from the water pump shed where I plug in the charger. I put the elecctric fence wires at the top of 4ft of pvc pipe. The pvc pipe will stop the snakes, but occasionally a racoon will climb the pvc pipe, so then the electric fence will stop them. I think my setup is probably as good as anyone can get it to stop the predators.

We have similar problems with raccoons on our bird feeders..Dang those things are smart and persistant. We tried everything. First a wire pulled tight between two trees. Still got on..Then a pole with a bell..Still got on..My last resort was exactly what Emil did. Bought the lowest power electric fence generator, put it inside a weatherproof box and ran romex underground to the pole in which my bird feeders are hung on. I put a PVC pipe on the outside of the pole and attached hail screen to it with about two inches between the pieces. The lower half I grounded, the upper half we soldered the positive side wire to it. Let me tell you what, when those raccoons hit that, you will never hear such an awful noise in your life. Apparently when they grab it, they cannot let go. It will also kill squirrels in a hurry..Two have died on ours..But they both have done so much damage to my feeders I don't feel too bad about it..My guess is when we get our PM pole up I will run another wire to it and add it to the system..I don't want any chance of anything getting up there. Now I am beginning to worry about owls..Do they have owl guards for the gourds? I have never seen an owl out here but never know. The reason we did the two sections of hail screen is the dang coons would jump at the pole, thus not be grounded. This way they have to climb on the hail screen and they cannot get past it..

Thanks!
John