Super Purple Martin Colony

[Steve Kroenke]

Super Purple Martin Colony

As of April 5, 2006, my second year purple martin colony has attained super colony status. I have over 100 ASY pairs and several SYs in residence. (In 2005, I attracted 81 pairs of martins for my first season, 28 ASYs and 53 SYs.) There are now two super martin colonies side by side in our little part of the world in northwest Louisiana! Bob?s colony is older and historically larger so he probably has a few more martin pairs and we both together have well over 200 pairs with many others still fighting to move in. I have never seen so many martins in my life and this part of Louisiana is saturated with them. There are still many ASY males looking for territory and the first few SYs are just beginning to arrive and seek nest sites and mates.

I currently have 200 cavities available and all have round holes; the martins are thriving in them. With about 50 % occupied at this time, the chances that newcomers will be able to muscle their way into the colony can become difficult. Nest domination by possessive ASY martin pairs has been severe, particularly in the multi-compartment houses. House design, separate porches, and porch dividers have done little to mitigate this territorial behavior. It is so bad that I have decided not to erect anymore multi-compartment houses in my colony. My only house that is doing well is a 12 room Goliad with porch dividers which has 7 pairs of ASY martins, some nesting side by side. However, one dominant male controls 4 rooms in this house and has two mates; he chases all males away from this side of the house. My 14 room Alamo which is basically an aluminum T-14 is completely dominated by 4 pairs, each holding an entire side. They are super vicious and chase numerous martins away everyday. I have about given up on multi-compartment houses because of the nest domination behavior. I will focus on natural gourds, which minimize nest domination because of spacing and separate nesting territory, and my new favorite plastic surrogate: the Troyer horizontal with a round hole. This is an outstanding artificial gourd and the martins in my colony have completely accepted it. There are so many martins trying to move in my colony that I just ordered a Deluxe 18 horizontal gourd rack and guess what kind of gourds will be on it? Yes, all Troyer horizontal gourds with round holes. Plus I will install cane perches to increase the attractiveness of this circular rack design and give martins plenty of space to sit. I hope to have this new rack in place by mid-April.

Late yesterday afternoon, we erected 4 Troyer horizontals with round holes at Bob?s large colony. These were placed on a single crossbar using threaded bolts to secure the gourds. This method works well and completely eliminates swinging. Today, 2 ASY males and 1 SY male have already moved in and are seeking mates!

Nest building has been intense though all my cavities have pre-built nests. The martins still add dry oak leaves which I spread out on the ground underneath the housing. I do the same under Bob?s housing and his martins just cover the ground to pick up the oak leaves.

Dawn singing is increasing in intensity with more males participating. This morning one male in Bob?s colony was dawn singing in his nest at the top of his lungs and the sound could be heard a great distance from the colony. This is almost suicidal if barred or great horned owls are hunting nearby. My martins were emitting numerous early morning vocalizations beginning around 4:00 am and I constantly patrol around my colony site and check on Bob?s at certain intervals. Both our sites are somewhat illuminated by outdoor security lights and this helps us to see any owls sitting on gourd crossbars or house top perches. Plus the light readily visualizes me and this would probably deter any owls from making a direct visit to my colony. Though I enjoy listening to the morning martin vocalizations, I know they can attract deadly martin killers: barred and great horned owls. And we have both species in our area of northwest Louisiana.

Accipiter hawks and merlins have been strangely inactive recently and that is GOOD NEWS! However, there is a female Cooper?s hawk that tries to get close, but she is seen every time so far by the martins. April through early May is the big migratory time frame for the northbound Accipiters and merlins to fly over our colonies. So the raptor tidal wave is probably coming! Since my colony is south of Bob?s, my martins often have to first face the speedy merlins when they tear through! But with so many eyes watching in both our colonies, the martins usually escape.

Both our colonies are starling and house sparrow free. Starlings continue to be non-existent and I just don?t worry about them. They are more common the closer you get to urban areas like Shreveport.

Well, that is about it so far. Stay tuned for more martin news from northwest Louisiana.

Steve

[Tim Mangan-Kansas]

Steve, I don't think I can even visualize your set-up with so many houses.
Curious though, how often do you conduct nest checks and how long does it take?
Tim

[Steve Kroenke]

Hey Tim,

When I add the new gourd rack, I will have 16 poles in my colony. I usually conduct several major nest checks each season to count eggs/nestlings. I tend to spread out the checks over a day and not do everything at one time. I also conduct periodic smaller scope checks to ensure I have covered all nests or to make sure there are no problems. Since all my housing uses a winch or rope and pulley system, it is easy to lower the housing. All my gourds have access doors and my houses have easy to open compartments. So it really doesn't take long to check a cluster of 12 gourds for example or open the compartment of one of my houses. I don't over do it and mainly want to keep track of the number of eggs/nestlings and catch any problems with specific nests.

I am retired so I have plenty of time on my hands to observe, protect and check on my martin colony!

Steve

[Bob Rogers]

Steve,
CONGRATS from the "show me" state --- you shure showed 'em!. Glad to hear of your success---the PM's are the real winners as always. Looks like a good Missouri year---about 35/40 ASY at this point. Can't wait for the SY's to show. Continued good luck to you and neighbor Bob.

[John Atteberry]

Hello Steve,
All I have to say is CONGRATULATIONS on having a super colony!!!! I thought by hearing all the martins last year that you and Bob have, would spell SUPER MARTIN COLONY!!!!! I'm proud to say that maybe some of your babies will come my way!!! HA! Good luck and keep us posted on this huge colony!
Now back to some questions and you thought I would let you get off early by you being excited with your huge colony!!!! HA! What I wanted to say is I was thinking about adding a 18 Deluxe Gourd Rack next year or adding another multi-purpose pole but after hearing of your problems with the males being too controling over these holes that I thought I would go to the Deluxe Gourd Rack! Because I'm having the same problem too with only three pairs on one side of the two MSS-8 houses and only one pair on the opposite sides of the trio houses! So they are keeping all the newcomers off of these houses! Then on the MSS-12 house, I have only one pair of ASY martins on one side and none on the otherside! They control the whole house! Then the four gourds hanging under the trio house has none too! But under the multi-purpose pole I have the 6 gourds, two Natureline gourds and four Troyer Horizontal gourds, have all been picked by ASY pairs! All filled!!!!! So I think I better not get another multi-purpose pole but add another 18 Deluxe Gourd Rack! What do you think? Maybe next year take the MSS-12 Trio house off the pole and take one of the MSS-8 house off the multi-purpose pole and replace it with the MSS-12 House! That way I'll have 10 compartments verses 8 comparments! Do you think the same pairs will get scared and move on next year if I do this? The ones that are nesting in the MSS-8 house and the MSS-12 house! Thanks for your opinions and help! Thanks John!

[Fred Kaluza~MI]

Steve, as far as Martins go, Michigan and Louisiana must seem like they are on different planets. I couldn't even get 100 pairs of Starlings or House Sparrows to nest here if I tried to! Good luck down there!

[abernathys]

Hey Steve--That is awesome! I'm happy for you!! Glad to hear that the hawks are giving you a short break. I have had numerous hawk attacks this year, I have lost three, the last one was the worst. I guess the hawk grabbed one off the porch on one of my coates watersedge houses. When I came home from work and did my daily walk looking things over, I saw blood all over the porch railing. It made me sick.

Anyway, I hope things continue to go well for you and Bob. Keep us updated!

Sandy

[rickluc]

Steve

Good job, have a great summer!!!

[Dale Hrncirik]

Steve,

Congrats on that 'super' super colony news It must be some kind of awesome sight to see.

The martins should start laying any day now. I checked my gourd rack yesterday afternoon and found green leaves in one of the gourds. The martins here like the dried live oak leaves too so I usually add some to each cavity when I have them.

Enjoy!

Dale

[Steve Kroenke]

Hey Bob,

Appreciate that BIG CONGRATS from the ?show me? state! Looks like you are doing super well, too this early in the season. We are getting more SYs every day now. I will be so glad to put up my new 18 gourd Deluxe rack because the ASYs are constantly fighting the SY males. Hope you have a super year in Missouri.

Steve

Hey John,

Thanks man! We are just being overrun with martins. Bob will be erecting another Trio castle soon to help out all these SYs. We will be happy to have some of our fledglings nest in your colony because we know they will have great housing accommodations!

I would recommend the Deluxe 18 gourd rack with Troyer horizontals. When you add the cane perches, this rack design is outstanding. You will most surely have more martins in the gourd rack than multi-compartment houses. Nest domination is a major problem with houses.

You can change your colony around some and the martins will do just fine, particularly if you mainly keep the same type of housing. However, I have switched from houses to gourds and my martin numbers exploded! If I had done the opposite, then my martin numbers would probably have declined because of nest domination behavior in the houses.

Keep us posted on your colony. Sounds like you are doing well. Continued great success, John.

Steve

Hey Fred,

Louisiana has historically had enormous numbers of martins nesting here and the tradition of erecting martin houses was very strong in the past. Bob?s Dad had martin houses and Bob no doubt was greatly influenced by this. I believe Bob?s Grandpa also had martin houses. Also, Louisiana is one of the first states that martins arrive at when migrating from their wintering grounds. So over eons perhaps martins developed a large nesting population base here. Why migrate any farther north if plenty of housing is available down south?

I sure hope you and CUL Lou have a nice martin colony this season. But don?t try for 100 pairs of starlings and house sparrows!

Steve

Hey Sandy,

Thanks man! The Accipiters and merlins are here, but they have not been actively chasing the martins recently. But those beautiful merlins LIKE martins! The merlins are always trying to get close, but the martins see them every time so far, climb high up and wait for the threat to pass. The martins also mob the merlins. Just the other day, Bob and I watched a large female merlin circling the area while all our martins were above her. I thought for a moment she was going to circle up with them and try her luck. But she didn?t and moved on.

Sorry to hear about the losses of your martins to hawks. This is a growing problem and will only continue to increase in intensity. Accipiters are learning to associate martin housing with food and are now focusing on martin colonies. And the Cooper?s hawk is flourishing and adapting to both urban and suburban environments. This is no longer a ?rare forest hawk?, but a highly adaptable raptor that is growing in population.

Keep us updated on your colony. Good luck.

Steve

Hey Rick,

Thanks man! Have a great martin season!

Steve

Hey Dale,

Thanks man! When both our colonies are airborne simultaneously, they sky will be black with martins. I love watching our martins in the early mornings when they leave their nests and climb high in the sky. And when dawn singing becomes more intense, the Louisiana morning sky will be filled with vocalizing male martins above our colonies.

Yes, egg laying should commence any day in my colony and I need to check several nests which may already have some. The martins are using many dry oak leaves and also green leaves, too.

Glad your colony is doing great. Enjoy it!

Steve