Hi,
This is my second year in attracting martins,last year was a little late( due to having a baby )I had many visitors but no takers.Well this year for the past 3 days i have had an"ADULT" male lurking around all my houses. I see him about twice a day and he only stays a few minutes.Today he brings a female and they stay about 2 hours or so and seem very interested they even get after one of my bluebirds.I was sooooooooo excited that he brought her but my question is this like i said they stayed for a couple of hours then left, I was wondering if any of you think they will return and is this normal for a pair to take off and maybe come back the next day?I am so puzzled by this.For one I would never dream an adult male would be this first to attract and second i don't know why he would bring in the female if they didn't intend to stay.Can someone tell me if this is normal behavior? The way they acted i thought they would have stayed all day.I seen them about 1:00 today.Please tell me if this is normal?
All very normal. A male stake will out new territory at unestablished sites and then try to lure in a female. He may try for several weeks. He'll come and go throughout the day, but tend to stay longer during morning hours through about midday.
Some finicky females stay just a few minutes. To stay two hours is promising. I've also thought it was a good sign when the male defends the site by chasing away other species. I think he enjoys it when the threat is more annoyance than real.
Hopefully your martins will begin roosing in a compartment in a night or two and then begin nest building.
It sounds like you may be in the process of getting a first pair, but you really never know for the first few days..Sit back and relax, enjoy them when they are there, and hopefully they will stay. If they decide to stay, then congratulations.
)I had many visitors but no takers.Well this year for the past 3 days i have had an"ADULT" male lurking around all my houses. I see him about twice a day and he only stays a few minutes.Today he brings a female and they stay about 2 hours or so and seem very interested they even get after one of my bluebirds.I was sooooooooo excited that he brought her but my question is this like i said they stayed for a couple of hours then left, I was wondering if any of you think they will return and is this normal for a pair to take off and maybe come back the next day?I am so puzzled by this.For one I would never dream an adult male would be this first to attract and second i don't know why he would bring in the female if they didn't intend to stay.Can someone tell me if this is normal behavior? The way they acted i thought they would have stayed all day.I seen them about 1:00 today.Please tell me if this is normal?