Help! Cold in Tulsa for a week and now SNOW!

[Guest]

I saw about 20 martins flying around on Tuesday and then counted approx 14 yesterday coming out of gourds at my dad's house. I'm worried about them because of the cold weather and snow. They didn't take the crickets that I flung at them Tuesday. I left hard boiled egg on the porches of their gourds yesterday and haven't been back by to see if they've eaten it or not. They wouldn't land on the racks until I was too far away to see what they were doing with it. It's hard to tell since I don't live there. I'm planning to go back today and try to fling more crickets. I feel horrible for them and don't know what else to do!

Does anyone have suggestions?? It's 32 degrees right now with a high today of 40. Tomorrow is supposed to be over 50 and getting warmer from there. I'm just hoping they survived the snow and can hang on for 2 more days!

[stan davison]

I went to the Arkansas river this morning at Zink lake and noticed several birds, approx 100 or so feeding low on the river. They were not drinking but feeding 1 foot or so above the water. I think they might be ok this time around. Hopefully the weather will stay good now thru the season.

[Guest]

Thanks for the response, Stan. My dad's house is very close to the river so if you saw them feeding there, then most likely his birds are ok. That makes me feel alot better! I'll still take the crickets just in case, but am breathing a HUGE sigh of relief I've been the main caregiver for the past few years, but this is the first year that I have not lived there so it's been more difficult to know what's going on. Thanks again!

[roblrich]

I would suggest putting crickets into their compartments, approx 15-20 for each martin. If they are like mine, they may spit them out on the ground, but this may mean they are doing fine. But if they are hungry, surely they are smart enough that once they have food in their mouths, they wouldn't spit it out.

Some people fling the crickets at their martins, but mine leave the area once I get very close to their housing this time of year. Mine don't get very docile until they are back in large numbers and have gotten use to me once again.

So if they fly off when you approach and you can't fling or toss the crickets at them, place 10-15 for each in their compartments. I would freeze the crickets, then thaw them as I needed them. But if it is very cold, you might want to place some live in their compartments as it would be very cold for crickets, and they would move like snails, and may be more appetizing for them.

[Darryl Sparlin]

I know exactly how you feel. We have had pretty much the same kind of
weather here in Missouri. I had 25 martins roosting at my site as of Sunday last week. It has been cold and rainy here for the past 5 days and
2 of those days included light snow. I tried to get my birds to eat some
hard boiled eggs but they would not take them. They acted like they were doing alright. They would sit out on the perches and chirp and preen and
often I would see them flying around. Wedsnesday morning I only counted
10 birds sitting outside, and then this morning i only counted 4. So I'm
afraid to look into the nest!! Everyone wish me lots of luck. It has warmed
warmed up to around 46 deg so possibly they got out and went searching
for something to eat. Good luck to all..

God Bless

[Guest]

I went today and didn't see any outside. When I lowered the gourds, a few flew out. Then I heard some movement inside some gourds. I opened one and found at least 4 birds huddled inside. I put the crickets inside where they could easily get them. I opened another and found a banded female. The rest were empty, so I just put crickets in them and raised the rack back up. They came back and sat on the rack and chirped. They look a little ragged, but the fact that I didn't find any dead ones in the gourds gives me great hope. Tomorrow is supposed to be much warmer and it should get better from there. They are troopers!