A worse fate awaited me this morning. I do not usually go out first thing in the morning. Normally, I go out after I have fed my son and put him back to bed, but this morning I had my windows open and could hear my male singing and he just called to me. I carried my son on my hip grabbed my binoculars and went out the door. It is a little bit of a walk back to the PM house and as I was rounding the last oak tree I saw a large bird make off with what I thought was my male martin....the bird dropped to the ground in the middle of my raised bed garden and so I tried to get a better look. The sun was in front of me and behind this bird and with the morning dew and my son on my hip, it was hard to see anything so I started to walk closer. The bird went to fly away but dropped my martin. It was him! I took off running (child on hip, mind you) but there was another bird waiting and grabbed him before I could get there. I watched that bird fly away with my one loyal PM male. I could barely see were he went but I did see the first bird land nearby and it was a very large crow. Do crows go after martins regularily?
Oh, my heart just broke. My 5 month old son didn't understand and I can't say I do either. I have spent so much time worrying about everything else, it never occurred to me I had to worry about the crows. Is this the end? Do PM's come back to a site that has had an attack?
Will my female look for a new mate? She's awfully pretty, surely she can lure another....
Geez Holly, that's a lousy way to start the day! I've not heard of crows being predators of PMs, and apparently your male didn't see it as being a threat either. Hopefully your female will find herself a mate at your colony....maybe an SY will strike her fancy. Have you considered relocating your colony house to a place where you can monitor it easier? I hope things get better for you!
Holly, I hate to hear that. I have never seen a crow catch a martin at my place in about 35 years of raising martins. Are you positive that it was a crow that originally caught the martin? Could it have been a coopers hawks, as they appear kinda dark early in the morning? Also, owls typically work over the martins at that time of the morning...Owls are very active at daylight and dark. Also, if you are walking around the martins, the martins are distracted, and that is the favorite time for a hawk or owl to strike. If you are not positively sure, several things could have happened. A hawk or owl could have caught the martin, and dropped it. A crow will pick up nearly anything off the ground, so that may have happened. We never know for sure when something like that happens. I have seen something come within 15 ft of us, 3 of us were standing by the martin gourd rack, it took a martin, and flew away before we could identify it, this happened right before dark, so I think it must have been an owl..
Holly, if you have an owl, you may have trouble attracting a pair this year, but lets hope that you do get some others.
Last edited by Emil Pampell-Tx on Mon Apr 10, 2006 10:53 am, edited 1 time in total.
Guys
Unfortunately, (or fortunately, depending on how you see it) my house is surrounded by several 50-100 year old live oaks. So, we really only had one spot that was far enough from the trees and still on our property to put the house. I do go out at least three times a day to check and watch, usually when my son is taking a nap. I can't say 100% that the bird that got him was a crow, just that I saw a crow land and seem to watch that other bird. We have owls, Emil. I can hear them at night so I don't know what it was. It happened pretty quick. It was already in process before I got to the clearing. When the first bird dropped him and I took off, I didn't get one step before the other bird picked him up. It's like they were hunting together or something. They were very close to each other. That's what made me think it was the crow.
I don't know, it just makes me sick.
Thanks for your thoughts.
Who knows, but I am with Emil here. I have tons of crows around here, and never have I saw one attack anything. Now if the martin was injured by a hawk or an owl earlier, a crow wouldn't hesitate to fly in and take advantage.
But I guess at this point, it really doesn't matter does it? You lost a martin. I am sorry about your loss.
I could barely see were he went but I did see the first bird land nearby and it was a very large crow. Do crows go after martins regularily?