Tough week ahead

[randyM]

Sadly I had my first martin of the season arrive yesterday (as did others in this region). I was hoping the migration would hold off another week. A powerful spring storm is wreaking havoc across much of North Dakota with forecasts showing 2+ feet of snow and 50 mph winds over the next 3 days. It's been 25 years since we've had such a powerful spring storm in April in this area. My colony in SD is located in the "warm" sector of the storm with only wind and rain and a few inches of snow in the forecast. The temps are expected to drop below freezing tonight and not get above freezing during the day or night for the next 7 days. Sustained winds are going to be blowing 25-35 mph with gusts over 50 mph through Saturday creating windchill values 5 degrees either side of zero. It will be impossible to flip crickets or put any food on a feeding platform with the gusty winds. The only hope I have is to put grasshoppers that I collected last fall into the compartment the bird is roosting, but I fear the martins that made it this far north in the Dakotas will likely perish before things warm up toward the middle of next week. Thankfully only a handful of martins are this far north in this region and towards the end of the month the migration will continue and all local colonies will be buzzing with activity.

Randy

[flyin-lowe]

Good luck, it sounds like horrible conditions. The only bright side is you don't have a bunch of your colony back. Sometimes they seem to know when to stop. I had about 10 martins back two weeks ago and we had a cold snap (nothing like yours) in Indiana and I didn't get any new arrivals during the cold snap and now more are moving in since it warmed up. I think they can stay huddled up enough that the cold might not kill them if you can get them to eat somehow. Whatever you feed them I would try to get it wet so they don't dehydrate.....

[deancamp]

Dang Randy, that's a heck of a storm anytime of the year let alone April. Do what you can and hope for the best. Keep us posted on the outcome.

[ToyinPA]

I suggest...... If possible place hand warmers the rooms your martins are staying in. If they won't use the room then place the hand warmers in a lower room, so the heat rises. I usually try to place them a good 30 minutes or so before dark. Change them out each day. Place crickets, grasshoppers, meal worms, etc in the cavities 3 times a day if possible. With any luck your martins will survive the storm & cold weather.

Best wishes,

Toy in PA

[brent]

I am praying for the best. Never will I complain about the weather here after hearing your description of what’s expected. Good luck to you and those little martins. Brent

[C.C.Martins]

Thats a horrible weather report to see martins through, I too won't ever complain. If they won't get a chance to eat, or stay warm doesn't look good. Toy has lots of experience sustaining her martins through bad weather. Lots of folks use hand warmers, and put food in the cavity. Going to be rough, sorry about that weather. They work very hard to get home and face the worst.
Tom

[randyM]

Thanks all for the info and encouragement! The lone martin (likely the founding male of my colony - given he chose the same nest cavity out of 300+ that the first arrival has chosen since 2016) at my place ventured out today to brave the cold, snow and wind. I immediately went outside and started flipping grasshoppers into the wind. The bird came right to me as he most surely is one of the half dozen early arrivals last year that I trained to catch flipped food offerings. However he had trouble navigating the 25 mph sustained winds and could not get enough speed to catch the insects. He followed me to a somewhat sheltered area behind a tree row and was able to catch some of my offerings by flying 40 yards downwind from me about 3 feet above the ground and then flew within 10 yards of me then I would flip an insect and he would ascend and drift downwind to catch the fast-moving wind-driven offering. I tossed about 10 hoppers and 10 June beetles and was able to catch about half of those. He then perched on a nearby fence with some grackles for about an hour before he went back into a nest compartment. Winds tonight and tomorrow are supposed to be 35 mph sustained gusting to 50 but are supposed to drop to 20 mph on Friday night. I'm glad he's eating, but am worried about the extended upcoming cold. Today's temp got to 32 with a low of 20. The high temps the next 5 days are going to be in the 20s with lows in the teens to single digits. Not sure if hand warmers would do the full trick as they would likely run out of heat by midnight if I put them in close to sundown. I'm planning to put a 40 or 60 watt light bulb in the cavity below the compartment he's been staying, but it's a wooden house and I'm not sure if fire might be a possible risk? I looked into getting a 250-watt mini ceramic heater (4"x5"x7") to put in the compartment below. Info on the heater states that the exterior of the unit stays cool to the touch so fire should not be as much of a risk. Does anyone have experience with using mini ceramic heaters for such a purpose?

Thanks.

Randy

[ToyinPA]

Randy:

With sustained winds that high your temps will be even lower. Dang. I have no experience in using light bulbs or electric heaters. Others have, but sorry I don't remember who. I have kept martins alive using hand warmers with night temps in the 20's. If it were me I'd opt for the light bulb in the cavity below & let it on 24/7 until the temps get better. It would warm the floor of his cavity. Try to secure it so it's not touching anything. When you lower the house, if he is still in the nest shove a rag in the opening to keep him from flying out. Tie a string to it, so you can pull it out once you raise the house back up. That'll keep him inside & out of the cold wind while you work.

Birds can not digest food if they are too cold. All you can do is try to keep him as warm as you can during bad weather. Flipping food will cause him to use up his energy reserves, especially in high wind, but many will not eat from platforms or any you place in the nest. Mine never would & I tried many times. So flipping may be your only option. If, and I pray he does, survive the bad weather, offer him food even after the bad weather passes, until he refuses to try catching it. He may lose weight trying to survive & need easy access of food to build it up. So you may need to offer food for a few days, even tho the weather is nice. Once he regains his strength he should be able to find his own food.

Best wishes,
Toy in PA

[deancamp]

Any chances of bring your bird into the garage with some type of makeshift cage. If it doesn't stress him too much maybe he would eat as well. It's a bad situation, just throwing out ideas....

[randyM]

Still pretty harsh weather conditions in my area....small wetlands have again frozen over and bays sheltered from wind on nearby lakes are freezing over as well. Normal high temps should be in the upper 50's and lows around freezing but today the high temp was 24 and last night's low was 10 with the windchill in single digits below zero for the next 5 nights with more snow in the forecast for Sunday. Near sundown last evening the wind subsided to about 20-25 mph and I was able to get the lone martin to come out of his nest cavity. I tossed some June bugs and he ate 2 then went right back into his nest cavity. He did not look very strong. I believe this bird likely was not going to survive more than another day or so without my direct intervention. I captured the bird near dark and placed him in a gourd with a plugged entrance. I brought the gourd into my house and let the bird warm up overnight. This morning I placed one of my martin houses that I have not yet put up in my 50'x50'x10 garage along with a few space heaters. I also placed 3 martin decoys and a feeding tray with egg shells, thawed and hydrated June bugs, grasshoppers and dragonflies that I collected last summer and started playing the daytime chatter martin CD. The garage warmed up to 50 degrees by noon so I released the martin into the garage (I put thin sheets over windows so the bird would not mistakenly fly into a window). I went to check on the bird at 3:00 and he had eaten 4 dragonflies, 5 June bugs and 6 grasshoppers! He even pooped a few times which is good to see his entire digestive tract is working. He has perched on the bird house near entrances but has not yet gone into a cavity. He seems to have adapted quite well to his new temporary environment and appears to be quite calm. I believe his rapid acceptance to this new environment is in part due to the amount of time I spend around my colony where the martins realize I'm not a threat to them. Each year I set decoys around my colony, provide a feeding station with eggshells, play the daytime chatter and dawn song CDs, so these sights and sounds in the garage are familiar to him. This is likely a bird that has been at my colony for 5 or more years and obviously has gained my trust over time. I will keep folks posted as to how things progress. The weather forecast shows a daytime high finally reaching 50 and overnight lows around freezing by Thursday, so if things go according to plan, this martin should regain his full freedom in 5-6 days....I'll just open the overhead garage doors and let him fly out on his own.

Randy

[C.C.Martins]

Randy,
Started to read your post and my heart sank. But. You saved that Martin!
That is fantastic, a 50x50x10 garage is pretty big, don't think he'll loose muscle mass in there. Good thing you had food supplies!
Good thinking on disguising the windows, hate for him to get injured. And playing the CD is a good touch.
Is his poop firming up? After eating all that food he should be in fine shape. You saved that martin for sure.

Being out there, taking care of them and getting to socialize with you seems to have laid the groundwork for your success, he trusts you. As a friend once said to me, we stand with them through the good and the bad, sometimes we carry them, sometimes they carry us.

Man, that's a fantastic job Randy. When he's ready to go, gotta let us all know.
Regards,
Tom

[deancamp]

Great setup Randy, I believe you saved him. It's good you were prepared and that has to give you a special feeling. Glad he adapted so quickly. You still have some time to go but it sounds promising!

[ToyinPA]

Randy:

You've been on my mind since your last post. With your brutal weather I wondered if he was still alive. Great job catching him & setting him up the way you did in your garage. The fact that he is eating so well is a good sign he may make it. From your description another day in the cold, with little food, & he would have perished. Hopefully he will continue to eat well & by Thursday be able to fly out of your garage.

We're all sitting on pins & needles pulling for him. Keep us updated on his progress. Again Great job.

Toy in PA

[Jones4381]

Excellent. I was googling Long Lake, South Dakota this morning visualizing your situation and admiring your story of love...Outcomes are often treated with celebration, mourning, or indifference but your example of 'wonder' will live on and reveals a better way...Wishing you celebration as we are collectively with you in this quest. My college and subsequently life's motto; "Not self but others"...you're an example of...we should all celebrate that and I just wanted to say 'Thank you'!...I read and rejoice in admiration.

[paule]

Randy
Just read this thread. It is simply amazing! I added a thread that you may find useful for the future. Scroll down a bit and it talks about heaters. I started with 60 watt bulbs and even used a crank case oil heater prior in a pinch. I am now using a stubby 75 watt ceramic heater that I think modified would work for you also. I use a cardboard compartment separator and have had no scorching problems.

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=37363&p=299223#p299223

I have also had great success with egg for supplemental feeding. I add 1/2 cup broke up dried meal worms, a little crushed egg shells to 3 eggs cooked in about a 10 inch old Teflon pan with the lid on at medium heat. It makes what looks like a pancake. Use no oil or water. I cut it up into 1/4" to 3/8" squares. I do sprinkle on the squares a product for avian insectivores. Nekton Tonic-I for insect-eating birds (Nekton). Google it if interested.

P.S. I would use the egg squares as I would run out of bugs. They now prefer the egg to the bugs.

Paul

[paule]

This is directly off the PMCA site and I thought I would add it to anyone following this thread that may be having trouble. Easy to follow...its Youtube after all!

Supplemental feeding & Purple Martins
by Forum Admin

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TdbY1Rn_hwg

[C.C.Martins]

Still pretty harsh weather conditions in my area....small wetlands have again frozen over and bays sheltered from wind on nearby lakes are freezing over as well. Normal high temps should be in the upper 50's and lows around freezing but today the high temp was 24 and last night's low was 10 with the windchill in single digits below zero for the next 5 nights with more snow in the forecast for Sunday. Near sundown last evening the wind subsided to about 20-25 mph and I was able to get the lone martin to come out of his nest cavity. I tossed some June bugs and he ate 2 then went right back into his nest cavity. He did not look very strong. I believe this bird likely was not going to survive more than another day or so without my direct intervention. I captured the bird near dark and placed him in a gourd with a plugged entrance. I brought the gourd into my house and let the bird warm up overnight. This morning I placed one of my martin houses that I have not yet put up in my 50'x50'x10 garage along with a few space heaters. I also placed 3 martin decoys and a feeding tray with egg shells, thawed and hydrated June bugs, grasshoppers and dragonflies that I collected last summer and started playing the daytime chatter martin CD. The garage warmed up to 50 degrees by noon so I released the martin into the garage (I put thin sheets over windows so the bird would not mistakenly fly into a window). I went to check on the bird at 3:00 and he had eaten 4 dragonflies, 5 June bugs and 6 grasshoppers! He even pooped a few times which is good to see his entire digestive tract is working. He has perched on the bird house near entrances but has not yet gone into a cavity. He seems to have adapted quite well to his new temporary environment and appears to be quite calm. I believe his rapid acceptance to this new environment is in part due to the amount of time I spend around my colony where the martins realize I'm not a threat to them. Each year I set decoys around my colony, provide a feeding station with eggshells, play the daytime chatter and dawn song CDs, so these sights and sounds in the garage are familiar to him. This is likely a bird that has been at my colony for 5 or more years and obviously has gained my trust over time. I will keep folks posted as to how things progress. The weather forecast shows a daytime high finally reaching 50 and overnight lows around freezing by Thursday, so if things go according to plan, this martin should regain his full freedom in 5-6 days....I'll just open the overhead garage doors and let him fly out on his own.

Randy

Randy,
How goes your martin?

[randyM]

He's doing great! He's eating 2-3 dozen large hoppers and June beetles a day, chirping and singing. I only go out to the garage 4-5 times a day for a few minutes to check on him and feed him...I want to give him his space and minimize stress. He flies laps around the garage and looks quite healthy. One of my martin friends a hour east of me said he had a half dozen martins at his place last week but only saw 3 today. A few days ago he put a light bulb in the bird housing for heat and offered insects in their nest cavities. Hopefully his other 3 birds are just staying in their housing during the harsh cold and wind. He also said a neighboring colony reportedly had 10 martins this week. Hopefully that landlord is offering food or the birds are finding enough somewhere on their own. A week ago today is when my martin arrived, along with 9 tree swallows. I have not seen another martin here since then and have not seen or heard any of the tree swallows. Still planning for a release on Thursday as the weather will warm a bit. After Thursday the 7 day weather outlook here calls for below average temps (highs in the 40's and overnight lows only in the upper 20's). I think he should be able to tolerate those weather conditions as I'll be offering insects on a feeding platform and flip insects to him as well. I'll let you know how things go on Thursday. However, if another martin shows up at my colony before then, I'll release him earlier as he'll hopefully show the new arrival(s) how to eat from a feeding station and/or catch flipped insects.

Cheers!

Randy

[Jones4381]

Cheers Randy! Great job and thank you for this wonderful update.

[ToyinPA]

Randy......great job. Glad to hear is is doing so well.

PA is to get hit with a Nor'easter. Calling for several inches of snow by Tuesday morning. I hope PA landlords all know how to supplement feed.

Toy in PA