Last night well after dark I noticed an ASY male on the porch of one of my houses. I thought maybe he was stuck as it appeared his head was in an SREH entrance hole and his whole body was out and up against a porch divider. I checked again on him about midnight and he was still there.
This morning I went out to check, thinking I would have to lower the house, but he was gone. It appeared that he was roosting on the porch.
Has anyone ever seen this behavior? Why would he not go inside? The compartments are 6x12 with plenty of room.
I am always trying to better understand their behavior.
Thanks
Curious Behavior
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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
I see the same thing occasionally. I have even changed the hole from SREH to round, and he still sat on the porch...About 3 days later, he either went in, the owls got him, or he moved on to another landlords place. Later in the season, the babies sit on the outside a lot, don't know if its the heat, or if they rather sit outside, as there were some empty cavities if they looked a bit...the babies don't like to go back to their place sometimes..
PMCA Member, 250 gourds, 6 poles, 2traps
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Bob Rogers
- Posts: 226
- Joined: Sun Feb 15, 2004 6:48 pm
- Location: Arnold, Missouri
KEL,
What you describe is quite common, especially early in the breeding cycle. PM's (generally males in my observations) will roost on a house ledge rather than in a safer cavity. When you think about it, PM's spend only a small % of their lives in cavities. ie; the breeding season. The balance of there lives they roost in trees. While it looks like pure suicide, it may be safer spread out in trees rather than a communal site. Colonies can actually get quite noisy at night---especially to the keen ears of an owl. ASY males will often leave after dark in favor of a tree, leaving the female alone on the nest. I think again, nature's way of spreading the odds for a diaster. Good Luck!
What you describe is quite common, especially early in the breeding cycle. PM's (generally males in my observations) will roost on a house ledge rather than in a safer cavity. When you think about it, PM's spend only a small % of their lives in cavities. ie; the breeding season. The balance of there lives they roost in trees. While it looks like pure suicide, it may be safer spread out in trees rather than a communal site. Colonies can actually get quite noisy at night---especially to the keen ears of an owl. ASY males will often leave after dark in favor of a tree, leaving the female alone on the nest. I think again, nature's way of spreading the odds for a diaster. Good Luck!
Bob R.