New Arrivals (Lookie Loos or Renters)

[DeepPurple]

Yesterday I was mowing the lawn when a group of about 12 PM's flew over really high. A short time later 4 of them circled and landed on the house. As I approached the pole with the lawn mower they flew away. When I was 20 yards away, they returned. They repeated this a few times then the last pass I made close to the pole, they remained.

Eventually they flew away, but yesterday evening I was sitting on the patio when two of the PM's returned. They inspected the house carefully and started their songs. Once in a while they would fly up then glide down over the pond real low, but return to the house and sing. I was curious so I got up this morning early and went out to the patio. The first thing I heard was their song! They are still there, so I guess they have decided to take a lease????

Yaaaahoooooo!!!!

Deep Purple :grin:

[Emil Pampell-Tx]

Congratulations, the first ones always bring so much joy!

[Glen Webb Jr]

Yip, I'd say you have the makings of a colony.

[CUL Lou~Mich]

Sounds like either Renters, or Star Boarders (Folks who just move in and don't pay rent.) to me. Congratulations. CUL Lou

[DeepPurple]

As a follow up, the two PM's that were there this morning were sitting on the porch about 8 this morning and I walked out and looked up at them and said, "Good Morning, I hope you had a nice stay"

They just looked at me.

I stood there for about two minutes and they flew away.

About 11 a.m. I went back out and they were back. I walked down by the pond (twenty yards away) and they stayed a minute or two then flew away again. Is this a normal routine? It seems as if they keep coming back, which I hope is a good sign. One is all dark (almost black) and the other is dark gray on back and head but with lighter gray chest. I'm thinking I have a male and female, any thoughts?

My pond has two or three families of Red-Woinged Blackbirds, I also have some cliff swallows who built a mud nest on the stone of my house, right by the patio-sunroom door.

In addition, we have cardinals, yellow finches, bluebirds and a variety of sparrows in the yard as well as a woods full of robins that come out every morning in the yard to look for worms.

Thanks for all responses.

DEEP PURPLE :grin:

[Guest]

As a follow up, the two PM's that were there this morning were sitting on the porch about 8 this morning and I walked out and looked up at them and said, "Good Morning, I hope you had a nice stay"

They just looked at me.

I stood there for about two minutes and they flew away.

About 11 a.m. I went back out and they were back. I walked down by the pond (twenty yards away) and they stayed a minute or two then flew away again. Is this a normal routine? It seems as if they keep coming back, which I hope is a good sign. One is all dark (almost black) and the other is dark gray on back and head but with lighter gray chest. I'm thinking I have a male and female, any thoughts?

My pond has two or three families of Red-Woinged Blackbirds, I also have some cliff swallows who built a mud nest on the stone of my house, right by the patio-sunroom door.

In addition, we have cardinals, yellow finches, bluebirds and a variety of sparrows in the yard as well as a woods full of robins that come out every morning in the yard to look for worms.

Thanks for all responses.

DEEP PURPLE

Im sure i wont be the only one to say this but ,do not tolerate s/s buy a pellet gun and make it your favorite passtime in getting rid of them.

[Mary Dawnsong]

Hi Purple,

You sound like someone who can tell the difference between our many species of native sparrows and the non-native House Sparrow (which is actually a type of finch that originated in Africa). If any readers are uncertain, check out this post:
http://purplemartin.org/forum/viewtopic ... ght=#58799

Yes, the behavior you describe is normal. Martins are not housebound until they start incubating eggs and raising young. They may spend weeks at a site before they even start nestbuilding. You should expect this pair to come and go at this stage. Hunting for flying insects is often a challenge and the colony site is not always the best place to find them, so martins may fly miles to an area where the hunting is easy and where other martins are available to socialize with. Martins are very social creatures - happy, happy extroverts!

Time will tell, but it sounds like this pair likes your place and is likely to stay.

If the male is solid dark then he is an adult (ASY) male and the other bird is almost certainly a female. You can view dozens of great martin photos on this website:
http://www.link not allowed/id61.htm

Good luck keeping them and keep us informed,
Mary

[DeepPurple]

Well I hope this is a good sign. The Purple Martin couple that has been coming back each day since Saturday are back again this morning.

I am 99.9% sure that they are Purple Martins, one is dark black (I'm color blind so it's hard to determine exact color) and the other is grayish with lighter gray chest.

The only thing that has me puzzled is that they are not as large as I thought they should be. It is hard to tell from 15 yards away but I would say that the dark one is NOT 7 inches long, but then they have their chests all puffed out, so it is hard to say. My wife took a picture but couldn't get a real close up. I stood there this morning for a half hour watching them. They preened themselves and looked around but didn't fly away. They paid no attention to the Red-Winged Blackbirds, even though the female RWB's were skittering all around making noise.

How can I make sure that this couple sets up permanent residence?
I am thinking of putting some eggshells on a board and attaching the board to the pole about 6 feet up. Will that help??

Thanks
Deep Purple

[Mary Dawnsong]

Purple Martins are usually described as 7 1/2 - 8" long.

House Sparrows are 6" long.
European Starlings are 8" long.

So, expect a martin to be significantly larger than a House Sparrow and about the same size as a starling. However, starlings stand taller than martins because of their long legs.

Often folks believe they have a pair of martins when they actually have a pair of Tree Swallows. Tree Swallows use martin housing and fly and hunt like martins, but are much smaller. Tree Swallows are about the size of House Sparrows, but more slender. However, Tree Swallows have bright white undersides - throat, chest, and belly - and are never dark all over.

[DeepPurple]

I'm sure these are not tree swallows. I had them last year and I kept taking the house down and digging their grass and stuff out. They finally gave up and didn't come back.

Like I said, I am 99.9% sure they are PM's. It is hard to determine the size from where I stood watching them. They have the wide beaks like PM's and they sound like the PM song. Any suggestio;ns on making them paermanent residences?

[Mary Dawnsong]

Purple,

I doubt you need to do much at this point except make sure non-native pest House Sparrows and European Starlings do not survive on your property.

If you have the time to be outside during the day, that can help, too.
The presence of a human doing yard work or gardening 30' away or so makes a martin feel safer. One of the things that pair is trying to figure out right now is whether they will be safe from predators at your site.

Eggshells and grit on an elevated platform will help the martins be successful breeding, probably not a big factor in convincing them to stay - but it surely cannot hurt.

Good luck, Mary

[DeepPurple]

We had a pretty bad windstorm through here and yesterday evening the Purple Martins did not return. They are not there this morning either. I hope they are OK and can find their way back.
I played golf Thursday so I was not out in the yard all day, but every other day except Thursday, I spent time outside, even in the rain. Do you think they will return?