I was removing the rest of the clothespins from my SGs this morning and adding some cedar shavings as I do each year.
This morning I discovered a dead martin. Is this unusual? I've been doing this for quite a few years and this is the first time it's happened to me. I called our local health department, but they didn't seem too interested; bluejays and blackbirds, only, the lady said. Tried to call Martin headquarters, but only got a busy signal. So, forum, what would you do with this bird? I put it in a baggy in case SOMEONE wanted it. :-)
Where did you find the martin? If he was inside the gourd, how did he get in if you had clothespins on the holes? Was he there from last year? Did the clothespin trap him inside after he got in this year?
[quote="Emil Pampell-TX"]Where did you find the martin? If he was inside the gourd, how did he get in if you had clothespins on the holes? Was he there from last year? Did the clothespin trap him inside after he got in this year?
I would take the dead martin and go and bury it..[/quote
I think I said thE REST of the clothespins. I put clothespins on all twenty-
four of my supergourds after the martins leave at the end of the season.
When I see them returning, I open up a few on each pole and later, like today, I remove the rest of the clothespins. The martin was in a SG that didn't have clothespins on it. It would be pointless to put clothespins on there in the first place, if a bird could get by it. I also said I kept the bird until I could contact a few people, maybe the martin forum wasn't a good place to do this. The health department said they weren't concerned about martins, so I disposed of the bird. End of report.
Jim, I also overlooked the 'rest' in the first sentence of your post, and also wondered if the martin had wriggled its way in and gotten trapped. Glad to learn that was not the case.
It's always sad to find a dead martin. we have found two here this spring, and believe both were unfortunate to arrive when the migation conditions were not in their favor - having to struggle against winds from the north and cool weather on arrival. Both the dead adult males we found were in natural gourds, and on examination, looked to be in very poor condition, with little breast muscle left. We believe both starved to death, or it could be said they did not survive migration/weather. I would bet that might be what killed your bird as well.
It is not unusual to find a dead martin or two, some older birds make it back 'home' before dying, others die during migration. thankfully, many many more do make it. How many birds are back at your site now? If you were concerned about disease, such as west nile virus, it is not common in martins. If you find other dead martins and the weather is good, you can contact your state wildlife agency to see if they want to examine the birds. they probably will not check martins for west nile, as that is pretty much being limited to crows, jays, and hawks, as others commented. Avian flu is not here yet and not likely to arrived with migrants from south america. there are a few other diseases that can spread at a martin site but it's not common (avian pox, salmonella, avian pneumonia) good luck with your site.
I'm sorry if I was a little tight in my last post. I love my martins and do everything in my power to protect them. To have someone suggest that I
was careless and caused the death of that bird kinda ticked me.
Ah, Jim,
You done good.
I am new enough to the PM forum to have never heard of using clothspins on entrance holes after the season. So, even though it's not a new one, thanks for the tip.
Joe
Jim,
Glad to have you on the forum, keep up the good work and protecting our martins we need all the landlord's we can get to help our martins go forth and multiply, Jim, i'm sorry for your loss, it happens from time to time to all of us landlord's and it just breaks your heart when it happens but what is important is helping the martins that are at your site and careing for them, I know you are a good landlord because like me,you got defensive real fast about your bird's...Jim , your a good Landlord....Thanks.
Your Martin Friend,
K.C.
Pictures Taken with Canon Rebel XT Digital using a Sigma 50-500 Long Lens.
Wishing everyone a Great Martin Year
Happy Martining for 2022 to everyone,
