my first pair of martins had started building their nest i watched as they would bring in the green leafs. we did a nest check and they seem to have only a few in the nest and they have turned brown it looks as they have stoped building is this common in their building the nest or have they stoped and i can expect not to get any eggs.You know my husband started this martin project and i got into it this year mainly to get the PM in so he would stop spending so much money and time on it.big mistake now i am taken over by them i love to watch them. now im the one that cant come in at night because i am to busy watching them.
Cindy
question on nest building
When was the last time you saw them bringing any nesting material into the nest? They can really drag out the nestbuilding process. I have a pair in a gourd the sporadically bring in green leaves and then stop for awhile. The female is a sub-adult so she might not be that experienced in building nests. Keep an eye on them...they'll probably start back up.
Patrick
Patrick
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Jim Rockford
- Posts: 81
- Joined: Sun Mar 19, 2006 12:35 pm
- Location: Texas/North Richland Hills
I have two pairs building nests in my MSS-12. One has a small amount of leaves and twigs in it, and the other seems to be built primarily from mud. The mud nest has closed off about 1/3 of the entry hole. I think a couple of bachelor males are making half-hearted attempts to build the other nests and are having difficulty attracting a female.
I'm thinking I'm close to eggs in the well developed mud nest, and I'd like to open the door to have a closer look, but I'm afraid I'll damage the nest. The mud is stuck tight against the door. Also, whenever I lower the house, the martins seem to appear out of nowhere to express their disapproval of me fiddling around with their house.
Is this pretty typical?
Thanks, Ed
I'm thinking I'm close to eggs in the well developed mud nest, and I'd like to open the door to have a closer look, but I'm afraid I'll damage the nest. The mud is stuck tight against the door. Also, whenever I lower the house, the martins seem to appear out of nowhere to express their disapproval of me fiddling around with their house.
Is this pretty typical?
Thanks, Ed
Ed,
Yeah, it's typical. They seem to appear out of nowhere when I go out to do a nest check. As for the nest that is stuck with mud to your entrance door, you're going to have to unstick it sooner or later if you want to do nest checks. I've got several with mud. It presses down over time as they use the nest anyway. I just raise the doors and check. I've even had them land on the house when I have it lowered to about 5 feet while doing checks. Some of them are almost domesticated.
Good luck with your season,
Patrick
Yeah, it's typical. They seem to appear out of nowhere when I go out to do a nest check. As for the nest that is stuck with mud to your entrance door, you're going to have to unstick it sooner or later if you want to do nest checks. I've got several with mud. It presses down over time as they use the nest anyway. I just raise the doors and check. I've even had them land on the house when I have it lowered to about 5 feet while doing checks. Some of them are almost domesticated.
Good luck with your season,
Patrick
Cindy, it is always hard to tell exactly where a given pair of martins are with their nest building/egg laying cycle. Some will stop nest building and lay eggs in a half-completed nest. On the other hand, the pair we observed with a nest cam last year, nest building activity had essentially stopped on their nicely completed nest for a whole week before the first egg was laid.
Ed, will a small mechanic's or denstists mirror suffice for nest checks in those mud dammed compartments? Folks here have apparently opened such cavities anyway, but certainly you could do that with even more confidence after the young are about ten days or so old (maybe at the same time as doing nest replacements).
Mike Scully
Ed, will a small mechanic's or denstists mirror suffice for nest checks in those mud dammed compartments? Folks here have apparently opened such cavities anyway, but certainly you could do that with even more confidence after the young are about ten days or so old (maybe at the same time as doing nest replacements).
Mike Scully
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Guest
Just did my first nest check - have three eggs nestled nicely in the pine straw - my young pair have apparantly added little or nothing to the nest I had started for them. One egg in another gourd - but the pine straw scratched away from the bottom, and the one egg is sitting on the plastic. Since we STILL haven't moved in to our home and only observe am and pm - I didn't know if there were two pair or some gourd confusion. I was never seeing 4 birds consistently - but today at nest check, all four put in an appearance and 
had something to say.
Is the one egg on the gourd floor ok that way? This is my first year - I have more guts than brains!
help help.
had something to say.Is the one egg on the gourd floor ok that way? This is my first year - I have more guts than brains!
help help.
mavou,
At your next nest check it might be a good idea to put some pine needles (aka pine straw) in the bottom of the gourd with the egg on the plastic. When the nestlings hatch they will need something underfoot for traction to prevent the possibility of splayed legs. You might also try a circle of crafter's plastic canvas mesh under the entire nest. That would give the needed traction. In a windy situation, eggs rolling around on the bottom of a gourd might crack. Just some thoughts. Good luck and let us know what you decide.
Patrick
At your next nest check it might be a good idea to put some pine needles (aka pine straw) in the bottom of the gourd with the egg on the plastic. When the nestlings hatch they will need something underfoot for traction to prevent the possibility of splayed legs. You might also try a circle of crafter's plastic canvas mesh under the entire nest. That would give the needed traction. In a windy situation, eggs rolling around on the bottom of a gourd might crack. Just some thoughts. Good luck and let us know what you decide.
Patrick
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Jim Rockford
- Posts: 81
- Joined: Sun Mar 19, 2006 12:35 pm
- Location: Texas/North Richland Hills
Hi Mike,
A mirror is a good idea. I'll try it next time I check. I did have a look this morning. I opened the door and didn't do any damage to the mud dam, but I couldn't see over it into the nest either. I don't think there are any eggs in there, but I can't be sure.
It looks like I now have two largely complete nests, neither with eggs. They are very different looking: One is a mud dam with twigs and leaves behind it, and the other is grass, twigs and some dabs of mud sprinkled in layed flat over the bottom of the room. There are live oak leaves in each, which makes me pretty confident both are martin nests. I've never seen anything but martins on that side of the house, sometimes 5 or 6 of them.
I made my pair of sparrows so mad by pulling their nest out every day that they left. Yay!
Good luck all,
Ed
A mirror is a good idea. I'll try it next time I check. I did have a look this morning. I opened the door and didn't do any damage to the mud dam, but I couldn't see over it into the nest either. I don't think there are any eggs in there, but I can't be sure.
It looks like I now have two largely complete nests, neither with eggs. They are very different looking: One is a mud dam with twigs and leaves behind it, and the other is grass, twigs and some dabs of mud sprinkled in layed flat over the bottom of the room. There are live oak leaves in each, which makes me pretty confident both are martin nests. I've never seen anything but martins on that side of the house, sometimes 5 or 6 of them.
I made my pair of sparrows so mad by pulling their nest out every day that they left. Yay!
Good luck all,
Ed
This year I had a number of pairs that only added about 3 leaves to their nest before they started laying. One of them had virtually no nest at all when the eggs were layed but a few days later there was a fully completed nest under the eggs. This full nest construction after laying is not typical but regularly I do see the birds continue to bring in nest material after the clutch has been layed.
James
James
James Mejeur
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floridasunshinegoddess
James,
The same thing happened with my 3 early nests. They were very sparse with NO green leaves at all... just a few brown ones placed in the nest cup and then the eggs were laid. I have a nest cam inside one of the gourds and I could see the female putting leaves UNDER the eggs when she was incubating them. So eventually the nest looked pretty good.
The same thing happened with my 3 early nests. They were very sparse with NO green leaves at all... just a few brown ones placed in the nest cup and then the eggs were laid. I have a nest cam inside one of the gourds and I could see the female putting leaves UNDER the eggs when she was incubating them. So eventually the nest looked pretty good.