I have a male who looks to me to be an adult as his plummge is quite dark and beautiful and he is good sized.There is one female that stays in the nest most of the time,she may have eggs or little ones even,I have no way of telling.
There are 3 more females who are roosting on the opposite side of the house(4 on each side).All of the females appear to be adults as well.I guess they could be juveiniles possibly.
There were no birds here at all last year.
Questions are, do males oft times mate with more than one female in a small just started colony,and do juveniles also take up with a breeding pair????
dick
Is this normal???
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Mary Dawnsong
- Posts: 1685
- Joined: Wed Nov 12, 2003 8:17 pm
- Location: Michigan, Livingston County
Hi Dick,
I just answered some of this in reply to an earlier post of yours. This is info on identifying the different sex/age plumages of martins:
http://www.purplemartin.org/forum/viewt ... 7920#57920
You will not have any juveniles in your colony at this time of year. Every single martin in your colony right now spent last winter in (or near) Brazil. So, your youngest birds are what we call subadults, or subbies (nickname), or SY (abbreviated). SY birds were born last season, are fully capable of breeding, and have migrated from Brazil to Texas for that purpose.
SYs pair up, breed, lay eggs, and raise young -if- they can find a mate.
SY females virtually always find a mate, I believe.
SY males are less successful at finding a mate and often don't breed. Non-breeding SY males are called "bachelors" and they hang around a colony, where they often cause mischief (idle hands, etc., etc.)
SY females often choose adult (ASY) mates.
I once had an SY male mated with an ASY female.
In SY pairs, the SY male is NOT the biological father of most of the clutch.
SY females have extra-pair relations with ASY males, who have basically proven their genetic soundness by virtue of their longevity. For more info on that topic, read http://purplemartin.org/forumarchives/a ... inHogs.htm
Generally, clutch size is smaller with an SY female.
In my experience SY pairs are less successful fledging young than ASY pairs or SY/ASY pairs.
Regarding size of martins:
When martins fledge (leave the nest) they must fly perfectly and be capable of catching insects on the wing. Juvenile martins do not spend 2-3 weeks hopping around on the ground like juvenile Robins do. My colony is lakefront and martin fledglings in my colony make their maiden flight over water.
Purple Martins spend almost twice as long in the nest as most other familiar songbirds. When they finally leave the nest, they weigh as much as their parents and are about the same size. Fledgling tails are short, but grow very quickly. SY females often look smaller than older martins in the colony and a few may actually be smaller. However, I suspect it is usually an optical illusion; the two-tone, vertical lines of plumage on SY females make them look more slender than they really are.
A few landlords have reported having an ASY male who kept two mates in two nests, but it is EXTREMELY unusual. I suspect you have SY bachelors or SY pairs. I doubt you have unmated SY females because females are usually in short supply - but anything is possible in nature!
I just answered some of this in reply to an earlier post of yours. This is info on identifying the different sex/age plumages of martins:
http://www.purplemartin.org/forum/viewt ... 7920#57920
You will not have any juveniles in your colony at this time of year. Every single martin in your colony right now spent last winter in (or near) Brazil. So, your youngest birds are what we call subadults, or subbies (nickname), or SY (abbreviated). SY birds were born last season, are fully capable of breeding, and have migrated from Brazil to Texas for that purpose.
SYs pair up, breed, lay eggs, and raise young -if- they can find a mate.
SY females virtually always find a mate, I believe.
SY males are less successful at finding a mate and often don't breed. Non-breeding SY males are called "bachelors" and they hang around a colony, where they often cause mischief (idle hands, etc., etc.)
SY females often choose adult (ASY) mates.
I once had an SY male mated with an ASY female.
In SY pairs, the SY male is NOT the biological father of most of the clutch.
SY females have extra-pair relations with ASY males, who have basically proven their genetic soundness by virtue of their longevity. For more info on that topic, read http://purplemartin.org/forumarchives/a ... inHogs.htm
Generally, clutch size is smaller with an SY female.
In my experience SY pairs are less successful fledging young than ASY pairs or SY/ASY pairs.
Regarding size of martins:
When martins fledge (leave the nest) they must fly perfectly and be capable of catching insects on the wing. Juvenile martins do not spend 2-3 weeks hopping around on the ground like juvenile Robins do. My colony is lakefront and martin fledglings in my colony make their maiden flight over water.
Purple Martins spend almost twice as long in the nest as most other familiar songbirds. When they finally leave the nest, they weigh as much as their parents and are about the same size. Fledgling tails are short, but grow very quickly. SY females often look smaller than older martins in the colony and a few may actually be smaller. However, I suspect it is usually an optical illusion; the two-tone, vertical lines of plumage on SY females make them look more slender than they really are.
A few landlords have reported having an ASY male who kept two mates in two nests, but it is EXTREMELY unusual. I suspect you have SY bachelors or SY pairs. I doubt you have unmated SY females because females are usually in short supply - but anything is possible in nature!
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"In Michigan every martin matters"
"In Michigan every martin matters"