Advice Needed
We are new to housing martins. Our first year, we got 3 nests, all hatched. (fledged? also am new to terminology, please forgive). Last year, our second year, we had only one nester. Why do you think we had fewer? We checked the house regularly; had no bad boys (animals,birds, etc.) that ran martins off. Was this just an off year for us? Or did we do something wrong perhaps? So far I've seen none yet this year, but is still early.
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TreeGreenwood
- Posts: 362
- Joined: Thu Apr 15, 2004 9:27 pm
- Location: Virginia/Catlett
When did your Martins arrive last year? It's still early. Most likely, your returning birds just haven't arrived yet. The scout reports are the first bird at long-established colonies, definitely NOT an indication of when most Martins get back.
Hang in there. It won't be long now.
Tree
Hang in there. It won't be long now.
Tree
One thing that MIGHT have happened is... three pairs two years ago translates to six adults. About 60% of purple martin adults in any given year survive to return the following year. Six adults is a very small sample, you could have gotten unlucky and lost four, or one or more of your adults could have relocated as is apparently not that unusual even with good sites.
A more pressing concern is.... why didn't the old ASY pair in residence last year attact any new SY martins to nest in the vacant compartments?
If martins are rare in your area that might have been simply because there weren't many around to move in. However, if martins ARE common where you live and you STILL didn't get new SY's moving in alongside that old ASY pair then there might be a problem. In that case I would take a long look at how your housing is located.
Mike Scully
A more pressing concern is.... why didn't the old ASY pair in residence last year attact any new SY martins to nest in the vacant compartments?
If martins are rare in your area that might have been simply because there weren't many around to move in. However, if martins ARE common where you live and you STILL didn't get new SY's moving in alongside that old ASY pair then there might be a problem. In that case I would take a long look at how your housing is located.
Mike Scully
Thank you for your input. It's been warm here, but now is cool again--typical spring weather. I'm not surprised to have no martins yet; i believe last year (or the year before) it was April when they arrived.
As for why we only had one pair last year; maybe it was just an off year. I still feel fortunate that we had any success at all our first two years with a martin house!
As for why we only had one pair last year; maybe it was just an off year. I still feel fortunate that we had any success at all our first two years with a martin house!
Thank you for your input. It's been warm here, but now is cool again--typical spring weather. I'm not surprised to have no martins yet; i believe last year (or the year before) it was April when they arrived.
As for why we only had one pair last year; maybe it was just an off year. I still feel fortunate that we had any success at all our first two years with a martin house!
As for why we only had one pair last year; maybe it was just an off year. I still feel fortunate that we had any success at all our first two years with a martin house!