Well, it's been a a few days since I last posted. There's so much going on this time of year with the vegetable gardening, flower beds, birdwatching, etc, etc. There's just not enough time in a day. I did however want to follow up on my post from last week titled Purple Martin Update (2009). I received a few comments and questions that I didn't get around to answering in the comments so I thought I would try to touch on them here.
Part of being a responsible purple martin landlord requires frequent nest checks. My particular setup comes with a telescoping pole that allows me to bring the house down to my level to check the nest. Martins are very tolerant of people, which is good, because studies have shown that active involved landlords improve the colonies reproductive success rate. Without knowing exactly what is going on in each nest, a landlord would have no clue if predators like snakes, owls or raccoons were eating their eggs or babies; or if nest was infected with blowflies or mites and needed to be changed out. Not finding and reacting quickly to these problems can greatly reduce the breeding success of your purple martins.
Non-native birds like house sparrows and European starlings can be big problems for purple martins as well. These birds are aggressive and will quickly take over a martin house if nothing is done to stop them. If starlings are a problem in your area then use martin houses with starling resistant entrances holes (SREH). These half circle shaped holes are big enough for purple martins but too small for starlings to fit into. I use SREHs on my purple martin house and gourds and haven't had any problems with starlings. House sparrows can be a bit tougher to control. I'll save that topic for another post, but if your interested in learning more about controlling house sparrows then check out this article: http://www.sialis.org/hosp.htm
For more information on the advantages of doing nest checks and how to conduct them read the article "Why Landlords Should Conduct Weekly Nest Checks" written by James R. Hill III, Purple Martin Conservation Association.
4 comments:
Good for you Alan. I had no idea that there was so much interaction involved with Purple Martins and their homes. Really intersting.
That's an interesting read, Alan. I realize that I've learned quite a lot about different birds and when I see a bird during my travel, I'm able to impress my friends and family by pointing them out. Telling them about those birds that we spot. All credit goes to you.
...someday I'd like to add Purple Martin condo to my yard, so I was really interested in this post. I love watching these birds fly and listening to their chatter. I didn't know they were so tolerant to humans. Great info...
I wanted to point out a link that has some info on identifying the non-native house sparrows from other native birds that look very similar.
I have heard of some who mistakenly harm native birds such as wrens by mistake...It's at PurpleMartins-R-us.com
Good luck with those HOSP!
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