search for nesting sites

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birdy girl
Posts: 1179
Joined: Wed Apr 19, 2006 9:09 am
Location: Mississippi/Dumas

After PM fledge and before they leave to go South, do they check out the surrounding area for nesting sites that they might be interested in for nesting purposes next spring or do they just return to the same site that they were raised at? I think I have read information on this topic here on the forum at some time.
Mary Dawnsong
Posts: 1685
Joined: Wed Nov 12, 2003 8:17 pm
Location: Michigan, Livingston County

Yes, fledglings do a lot of wandering and investigating. Here is a fascinating paper on the topic:
"Post-fledging Wandering by Hatching-year Purple Martins: A Color-banding Study"
http://purplemartin.org/update/10(4)fledge.html
Click here to see my colony
"In Michigan every martin matters"
birdy girl
Posts: 1179
Joined: Wed Apr 19, 2006 9:09 am
Location: Mississippi/Dumas

Do they visit both established and unestablished sites or just established? Since I have no martin's yet, I was hoping the fledglings might come by my houses and maybe return next year as SY.
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