Check for capped eggs when doing weekly nest checks.
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Dave Duit
- Posts: 2145
- Joined: Tue Nov 25, 2003 2:02 pm
- Location: Iowa / Nevada
- Martin Colony History: In 2024, 82 pair with 350 fledged youngsters. 110 total cavities available, 82 Troyer Horizontal gourds and a homemade PVC / metal 28 compartment unit, 1 fallout shelter. Hawk and owl guards included. Martin educator and speaker. President and founder of the Iowa Purple Martin Organization. Please visit Iowa Purple Martin Organization on Facebook link: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1627283871068161 Emails send to [email protected]. Subject line include Iowa Purple Martin.
Just a friendly reminder to look for capped eggs when you do your weekly nest checks or egg counts. I do weekly checks and this week I found a capped egg. For those new to martins; a capped eggs is when a baby hatches his or her half shell flips over onto another egg in the nest that has not yet hatched. It is then impossible for that baby to hatch because the shell thickness with the additional half egg shell is to thick. If you find a capped egg, VERY VERY gently pull off the half cap from the unhatched egg. I use a delicate pull with my finger nail. Then replace it back to the nest.
Good advise. I found 2 this year out of 31 active nests. One I saved to lead to hatching, but the other failed to hatch.
Fledged over 3,000 martins in beautiful southern Indiana since 1996.
Started 2 colonies and mentored 3 colonies with total fledged >4,000 martins into the world.
Started 2 colonies and mentored 3 colonies with total fledged >4,000 martins into the world.
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Dave Duit
- Posts: 2145
- Joined: Tue Nov 25, 2003 2:02 pm
- Location: Iowa / Nevada
- Martin Colony History: In 2024, 82 pair with 350 fledged youngsters. 110 total cavities available, 82 Troyer Horizontal gourds and a homemade PVC / metal 28 compartment unit, 1 fallout shelter. Hawk and owl guards included. Martin educator and speaker. President and founder of the Iowa Purple Martin Organization. Please visit Iowa Purple Martin Organization on Facebook link: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1627283871068161 Emails send to [email protected]. Subject line include Iowa Purple Martin.
HI Soindydon,
Thank you for being a great landlord. It always feels good to know the capped eggs you check save a life. Nice work.
Thank you for being a great landlord. It always feels good to know the capped eggs you check save a life. Nice work.
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sawhisker
- Posts: 17
- Joined: Sun Mar 01, 2020 7:06 pm
- Location: Little Rock, Arkansas
- Martin Colony History: 2019 - Visitors
2020 - 7 pair. 21 fledged
2021 - 5 pair. 17 fledged
2022 - 6 pair, 24 fledged
2023 - 7 pair, 20 fledged
2024 - 14 pair, 42 fledged (doubled housing)
2025 - 15 pair, 32 fledged
I was unaware that capped eggs were something that could happen. I will add this to my growing list of things I have learned on this forum. Thank you for the information.
By the way, I had a rat snake attack two weeks ago that wiped out half of my colony's babies, but the remaining 17 babies are all growing and doing well. I added a ton of bird netting to my existing snake guard and hopefully all are safe for the remainder of the season.
By the way, I had a rat snake attack two weeks ago that wiped out half of my colony's babies, but the remaining 17 babies are all growing and doing well. I added a ton of bird netting to my existing snake guard and hopefully all are safe for the remainder of the season.
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Dave Duit
- Posts: 2145
- Joined: Tue Nov 25, 2003 2:02 pm
- Location: Iowa / Nevada
- Martin Colony History: In 2024, 82 pair with 350 fledged youngsters. 110 total cavities available, 82 Troyer Horizontal gourds and a homemade PVC / metal 28 compartment unit, 1 fallout shelter. Hawk and owl guards included. Martin educator and speaker. President and founder of the Iowa Purple Martin Organization. Please visit Iowa Purple Martin Organization on Facebook link: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1627283871068161 Emails send to [email protected]. Subject line include Iowa Purple Martin.
Hi sawhisker,
If the snake netting doesn't work, consider using a pole baffle. The baffle should be wide enough so not to allow the snake to go to the outside of the baffle. Snakes are not inherently a bad creature, they are doing what comes natural. But the baffles work great. The biggest difference between baffles and netting are that the netting can sometimes kill the snake. Once the snake learns it is a lost cause from being unable to get up the poll, they usually never try again. I hope this was helpful.
If the snake netting doesn't work, consider using a pole baffle. The baffle should be wide enough so not to allow the snake to go to the outside of the baffle. Snakes are not inherently a bad creature, they are doing what comes natural. But the baffles work great. The biggest difference between baffles and netting are that the netting can sometimes kill the snake. Once the snake learns it is a lost cause from being unable to get up the poll, they usually never try again. I hope this was helpful.