First Purple Martin Arrival Dates In My Colonies Since 1965
Since the first purple martins will be arriving in south Florida in just a few weeks, I thought I would post the martin arrival dates that I have recorded since 1965 at my various colonies.
Just a point of interest?nearly all early arrivals were ASY male martins. However, on two occasions I recorded ASY females arriving first. This tends to confirm the male martin?s important role in arriving first to establish territory.
As my colony aged and grew larger, the first arrival dates tended to get earlier up to a point, but not always. With the exception of an aberrant arrival date on January 5, 1973, the earliest arrival dates tended to be around January 18, 19 or 20. What folks often observe is that the older and larger martin colonies typically have the earliest arrivals in a specific area. Why? These colonies tend to have a greater number of older martins and these martins may arrive earlier than younger martins. Older martins have survived the rigors of migration for several years and may be genetically programmed to begin the journey north earlier from Brazil to re-claim their former nest sites. Plus these veterans of several migrations to and from their breeding sites perhaps ?know? the importance of claiming their nest cavities as soon as possible and protecting them from competitors.
Here are the dates broken down by colony site for first purple martin arrivals that I have recorded over the years:
Havana, Florida?1965 through 1982; this small town is located about 16 miles northwest of Tallahassee:
2/20/65; 2/14/66; 1/31/67; 1/28/68; 1/26/69; 1/20/70 (female) 1/23/71; 1/29/72; 1/5/73 (earliest I have ever recorded in north Florida); 1/26/74; 1/19/75; 1/20/76; 1/25/77; 1/26/78; 1/30/79; 1/23/80; 1/30/81; 1/28/82
Wacissa, Florida?1977 through 1984; this small town is located about 16 miles east of Tallahassee:
3/23/77; 2/14/78; 1/18/79; 1/20/80; 1/21/81; 1/26/82; 1/22/83 (female); 1/29/84
Tallahassee, Florida?1985 through 2004:
3/8/85; 2/3/86; 1/31/87; 1/28/88; 1/27/89; 2/2/90; 1/25/91; 1/22/92; 1/27/93; 1/24/94; 1/30/95; 1/20/96; 1/25/97; 1/19/98; 1/19/99; 1/24/00; 1/27/01; 2/13/02; 2/02/03; 01/24/04
Logansport, Louisiana--2005
2/6/05; reported at my neighbor?s established colony; mine is brand new and located about 100 yards to the south.
The Tallahassee area in Florida is about 200 miles farther south than my current colony site in Logansport, Louisiana. The martins that nest in these areas most likely make the flight across the Gulf of Mexico from the Yucatan. In Louisiana, the martins would have more land to cover to reach my colony site. In Florida, the martins would have a shorter flight over land to reach my previous colonies.
It will be interesting to see if two separate ?scouts? will arrive simultaneously in 2006, one for my neighbor?s and one for my colony. We will probably see our first martin around the first week in February.
Steve
First Purple Martin Arrival Dates In My Colonies Since 1965
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John Atteberry
Well Steve, It looks like I better get busy and start ordering the 6 Natural Gourds and getting them ready! I'm going to put four of the Natural Gourds on the top rack with two Troyer Gourds, on the Deluxe Gourd Rack. Then probably put the other two Natural Gourds on the bottom. I've got alot of work to do coming up on Christmas week! So I guess my scout ought to be in the first week of February too! What do you think? By the way, I wanted to ask you about the S@K Access Doors, Are they the ones in the PMCA catalog? Under S@K Access Caps? They are white? They are 4 inch in diameter? How are they? Do they hold good if these are it? Thanks Steve! John!
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Steve Kroenke
- Posts: 4342
- Joined: Fri Nov 28, 2003 6:49 pm
- Location: Louisiana/Logansport
John,
In the Pensacola area, the earliest martins tend to return to the older larger colonies probably around the third or fourth week in January. Probably many of the first ones arrive around the first or second week in February. So you need to get your gourds ready soon!
You can order the S&K Access doors from the PMCA. They are white and do have an interior cap lining to help reduce light penetration. However, I did notice some translucence of several of them so I spray painted the inside of all the caps several times to make them as opaque as possible. Hold up the access lid to the sun and determine if you can see your hand outline through the top. If so, then you may want to paint the inside lining lid until the translucence is eliminated or greatly reduced.
Their diameter depends on where you measure it. The open area where you insert your hand is about 3 ? to 3 7/8 inches on several I measured. This is plenty large enough. However, when you factor in their wall thickness, the ones I have will not fit into a 4 inch diameter hole. I used a 4 1/8 inch hole saw and it was still too small. Several access doors I measured across are about 4 and ? inch inches in diameter. The access door walls on mine are thick and that is good to create a stronger foundation. So if you cut a 4 inch diameter hole, you may have to use a hand hole saw and cut the hole a little larger, but not too large. You want to twist the access door into the hole so that it is tight. You don?t want the access door to be real loose inside. This is sometimes a little tricky to do, particularly with the curvature of the gourd. I had to work on some for awhile. But I got all in eventually. This is the only part that I didn?t like! But overall I like the S & K access doors very much.
Once I got them into the hole, I then applied a nice layer of Lexel adhesive all round to ensure the access door is well attached and any cracks are covered. I have already attached 24 S & K access doors to my natural gourds and they are working perfectly. The Lexel adhesive is holding tightly so far.
Good luck.
Steve
In the Pensacola area, the earliest martins tend to return to the older larger colonies probably around the third or fourth week in January. Probably many of the first ones arrive around the first or second week in February. So you need to get your gourds ready soon!
You can order the S&K Access doors from the PMCA. They are white and do have an interior cap lining to help reduce light penetration. However, I did notice some translucence of several of them so I spray painted the inside of all the caps several times to make them as opaque as possible. Hold up the access lid to the sun and determine if you can see your hand outline through the top. If so, then you may want to paint the inside lining lid until the translucence is eliminated or greatly reduced.
Their diameter depends on where you measure it. The open area where you insert your hand is about 3 ? to 3 7/8 inches on several I measured. This is plenty large enough. However, when you factor in their wall thickness, the ones I have will not fit into a 4 inch diameter hole. I used a 4 1/8 inch hole saw and it was still too small. Several access doors I measured across are about 4 and ? inch inches in diameter. The access door walls on mine are thick and that is good to create a stronger foundation. So if you cut a 4 inch diameter hole, you may have to use a hand hole saw and cut the hole a little larger, but not too large. You want to twist the access door into the hole so that it is tight. You don?t want the access door to be real loose inside. This is sometimes a little tricky to do, particularly with the curvature of the gourd. I had to work on some for awhile. But I got all in eventually. This is the only part that I didn?t like! But overall I like the S & K access doors very much.
Once I got them into the hole, I then applied a nice layer of Lexel adhesive all round to ensure the access door is well attached and any cracks are covered. I have already attached 24 S & K access doors to my natural gourds and they are working perfectly. The Lexel adhesive is holding tightly so far.
Good luck.
Steve