I took several photos of two ASY male martins that were fighting over a compartment in my Lone Star Alamo house. In the photos, the loser has already tried to exit, but the dominant male has his victim pinned on the porch. The dominant martin has such an arrogant posture when he looks down on his victim! The dominant male controls an entire side of the Alamo house which is very similar to the T-14 design. The loser often cried out and winner would not let his rival leave. After a thorough beating, the loser finally broke free. As of this date, March 4, 2006, the dominant male is still in control of four rooms in my Alamo house.
Hello Steve,
That is funny because the same thing is going on at my trio house! Two males were fighting for along time that I had to let down the multi-purpose pole to check to make sure they were not injured! Well when the house was let down to my face, one of the males flew out but the other one stayed in! So I opened the door and grabbed him with my hands but he got away from me after I had a hold of his tail feathers!!! I let him go so I wouldn't injure him! HA! He did come back and claimed his hole again! I got alot of fierce fighting going on here with all these males fighting over the not so many females! HA! I'm refereeing out here in the mornings! Great pictures Steve! Thanks John!
Martins FIGHT! They may be communal, but they still like their space! Martins rarely hurt each other during these fights though the battles seem brutal and the loser will often scream loudly. My martins, both males and females, are currently fighting over territory. Sometimes they will fall to the ground locked in mortal combat. Then they become very vulnerable to predators like Accipiter hawks and cats. Keep refereeing!
