Final report for first time purple martin landlord

[birdgardener]

I put up a 8 vertical gourd rack on May 8 in Buffalo, MN. I had 5 nesting pairs for the season. Egg laying started on June 2 and the last pair started laying eggs on June 25. I had a total of 27 eggs. One did not hatch. All 5 made it out in the first batch. In one of the gourds, 1 died at about 8 days old. In another gourd 1 died at about 10 days old and 1 died at about 17 days old. In a fourth gourd one died at 24 days old. In the last gourd I found a 21 day old young on the ground about 40 feet from the pole after a 1" rain storm the night before. It didn't make it. At 24 days old 2 more died and had little maggots on them. They looked fine 3 days earlier. What could have caused their deaths so quickly? I took out the dead ones as soon as I found them in any of the gourds. At 32 days 1 of the remaining 2 was on the ground. I put it back on the porch but it kept falling off. I fed it a cricket and a grasshopper, but it was dead by the afternoon. No sign of mites or other problems. The last remaining martin finally left the nest at 33 days. It hung on the perch and then roosted back in the gourd at night. At day 35 it finally flew off with the other martins. The day was August 17. A total of 18 actually fledged successfully. The following week I had up to 40 martins flying around the gourds and landing on them for a brief time before flying off again. This went on for over a week. They put on quite a show. They seemed to love swooping around our neighborhood which doesn't have any tall trees within 200' of the gourds. On August 25 I took down and cleaned the gourds before a violent storm was set to hit the next day. About 8 martins came swooping around the yard while I was taking them down. Today August 30, I heard and saw about 6 more martins migrating south. It was a fabulous and fascinating experience hosting these avian wonders. My 8 year granddaughter got in on the weekly nest checks as well. Looking forward to next year!

Dan Kahl
Buffalo, MN

[Les Frampton]

Congrats Dan, good first year. We’ve been doing martins for about 40 years and have no idea regarding deaths.

[Bird Brain]

Your first year was much better than mine, and I'm in Texas. I'm jealous. I only had 1 pair. 1 died. 4 fledged. The big disadvantage to first year landlords is that your nesting cycle begins later than established colonies. That means more heat inside the gourd than an early nester, which increases mortality in my opinion. Every clutch has a week bird, or runt that doesn't get enough food because of his aggressive siblings. This is normal and "baked into the cake" in my opinion. Your record keeping is impressive for a first time landlord. On the bright side, you lost no birds to predators and the martins know this. 200 feet from trees is almost unheard of. No wonder you got 5 on the first year. That amount of distance from trees almost guarantees no predation from predators. All those martins hanging around after the last fledge are considering your site for next year. Some call this "imprinting." I think your colony will grow quickly. I think you need much more than 8 units next year. Congrats on a very successful first year!

[Mstan]

Congrats on a good first year. If you desire to manage more birds I believe you could double your gourds and might fill them next year.

[Dave Reynolds]

.. Great job on your first year... My first year was only one pair, and four eggs.. You have had a good start on being a Landlord.. Much success in 2025,, Enjoy

Dave