Did you hear that? It is the sound of my soap box being pulled out of the closet and dusted off. I have been wanting to write about a very big pet peeve of mine for some time…so now that my birds are gone, here goes.

As a birder, it goes without saying that I am a conservationist. As a purple martin landlord, that just adds fuel to the fire and makes me even more pig headed when it comes to the house cat being outdoors. First off a few facts MUST be cleared up.

Fact #1 Cats are domesticated animals-not wild. Many people consider letting their cat room outside as an extension of the cats native environment. They consider it cruel to keep cats indoors. When actually the opposite is true. Cats were domesticated some 4,000 (four THOUSAND) years ago. They do not occur naturally anywhere. They have only been in North America since European Settlers arrived.

Fact#2 Cats hunt and kill whether or not they are hungry. Studies show that well fed cats actually kill MORE than feral cats. In other words they hunt for pleasure. The portion of the cats brain that is used to hunt is not the same part of the brain that registers hunger. Thus a cat will hunt even if it just ate a huge bowl of food. They hunt to kill, not necessarily to eat. Also neutering and spaying have no impact on a cats desire to hunt.

Fact#3 Studies have shown that Bells do not keep cats from killing. On the contrary bells may actually make cats more successful at hunting. Besides the fact that a bird does not necessarily associate the sound of a bell with danger, bells teach a cat how to hunt even more efficiently. The cat will learn how to move silently. And bells are of no help when a nest full of helpless nestlings is being stalked. Consider this product called the CatBib. Their website has a study that was conducted that shows an 81% decrease in the amount of BIRD KILLS! That is impressive. Unquestionably more effective than a bell this device allows the cat free movement, is soft, flexible and lightweight yet restricts a cats ability to stalk prey.

Fact#4 Cats kill HUNDREDS of MILLIONS of birds nationwide per year. That is no trivial number even though it is a low ball number. According to a post on Windstar.org that estimates over a BILLION birds are killed each year in the US alone. And looking at the math, that number may be conservative as well.

Follows is a sobering quote from www.Windstar.org :
“The American Veterinary Medical Association estimate in 2007 there were 81,721,000 pet cats in the U.S.
According to Cat Fanciers, 43% of cat owners allow their pets to roam outside, that gives us: 35.1 million outdoor pet cats in the U.S. Add the number of feral and stray cats. numbers published by feral cat advocacy groups say there are between 60 to 100 million cats. Lets just take half that number say 81 million.

So that’s 81.7 million + 35.1 million = 116.8 million outdoor cats. More realistic might be a range of 95.1 to 135.1 million (based on possible feral range). But for arguments sake, lets just stick with 116.8 million cats for now.

How many birds killed by cats? According to a study in Michigan by Lepczyk et al, outdoor pet cats across an urban to rural gradient killed an average of .683 birds each week during the breeding season. If you can extrapolate that across the full year, that would be an average of 35.5 birds killed by each cat/each year. If you can use that figure for all outdoor cats, you get a calculation of 4.1 billion birds killed each year.

But maybe cats don’t kill birds at the same rate all year long, or at the same rate everywhere that they do in Michigan. But lets presume that the only kill birds during the breeding season (22 weeks in MI), that would still be 1.76 billion birds killed per year.

Another study in San Diego found each cat to kill an average of 15 birds per year (and 41 other small animals). If you multiply this number by the number of outdoor cats you get 1.75 billion birds killed per year. And that’s just in the U.S. and doesn’t take into account our migratory birds killed by cats in Canada or Latin America.”

Fact#5 Cats are responsible for the EXTINCTION of 33 bird species since the 1600’s. That is more bird species than any other cause, except habitat destruction. Currently there are dozens of seriously threatened birds that are still experiencing high levels of predation due to cats. Ground nesting birds, such as the Piping Plover, Least Tern and California Tern are even more at risk and several monitored nesting sites have been abandoned by these birds due to cats.

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So you know all this data and you still feel it necessary to let your cat out. If that is the case, you are placing more value on your cats experiences outside than the animals that it will kill in its time outdoors.

If you think your cats rodent killing is a positive, think about this. Each mouse that a cat kills is decreasing the available food supply for native hawks, owls, snakes and other predator species.

If you believe TNR (Trap Neuter Release) programs work to decreasing the problems caused by feral cats, I urge you to visit TNR Reality Check. This site offers an eye opening reason why TNR programs are a huge dis-service to the community, environment and our birds. Most importantly it show why these TNR programs do NOT work.

So if bells don’t work, what can be done. The American Bird Conservancy runs a program called “Cats Indoors!” which I am a big supporter of. (I am available to give PowerPoint presentations of the “Cats Indoors!” programs to groups, BTW)

Don’t have a cat and want to make a difference? Re-Tweet this post and help inform birders and cat lovers alike.

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Sources:

Coleman, Temple and Craven  (1997). Facts on cats and wildlife: a conservation dilemma., USDA cooperative extension, University of Wisconsin. http://www.cnr.vt.edu/extension/fiw/wildlife/damage/Cats.pdf

TNR Reality Check

Winter, Linda and Wallace, George (2006) Impacts of Feral and Free-Ranging Cats on Bird Species of Conservation Concern

The daily trials and tribulations of birds is always a fascination for me. I look at them and see the challenges they face and it always seems to put my life’s issues in perspective. For being birdbrained, as they say, they sure put up with major issues.

Take the mockingbird pair, for example. The baby mocker is now fledged and the parents are now trying for clutch #2 in the same tangle of bushes in the neighbors yard. Far be it from me to suggest my roebelenii palms that they nested in last year. Even though I was a dedicated scarecrow, they just couldn’t handle the noise me and my brood produce. I was constantly telling my 2 boys to be quiet because the birds and that would just make them scream in naughty delight. Of course the purple martins could care less about the noise. The more noise we make, the safer from hawks they are.

 Well, the mockingbirds don’t agree. They prefer the quiet solace of an out of the way spot. Unfortunately, the nest has been made. An American Crow sniffed them out of their little spot. First I saw it land, cawing loudly on the wires across the street. It seemed to know the way, so I have a feeling it may have made this trip before. The mockers were frantic, of course. Dive bombing and calling out in alarm, the crow was not to be dissuaded from his target. Branch by branch it made its way closer to the bush. It landed atop the bush and started to weave its way down into the thicket that held the mockingbirds nest. The parent mockers continued the battle, to no avail. Eventually the crow sat, apparently in the nest itself and had its way with either eggs or nestlings. Of course I was outside running at this point. Jumping our fence, I knew how ridiculous this was. I mean, if the crow knows where the nest is there is no hope for it now. But it was painful to watch and to do something was the only option. The crow flew off and the mockers chased after it. I stood there about 10 feet from what once was a baby birds nursery and knew that now it was its grave. How sad.

Monday is another nest check. There are several nests that should have hatched in the last few days so I am eager

And the postponed Nest Check

Even though the temps hover in the mid 80’s it is still breezy enough to enjoy an afternoon walk down the street. The boys are forever curious about the birds, nature and all sentences that can begin and end with the word, “Why?” So it was that we took one of our walks. The first destination was to the canal at the end of the street where they still remember the dead alligator that was left there some months back. How it got there, I have no idea but the team of Turkey Vultures that were taking turns crawling up inside the dead beast were educational to say the least. Some might say that the sight was too gruesome to show a then 2 1/2 and 4 year old…they may or may not be right. All I know is that they have not had any nightmares over it.

So there we were at the spot that once was the resting spot for the dead gator. There is nothing left of the gator. Only Muscovy feathers litter the ground. As we walked away I could see the Purple Martins visiting a neighbors pond. That was our next destination.

As I found an ant-free spot to sit, the boys occupied themselves with the all important task of throwing grass in the pond. The martins were taking turns dipping down for a drink and didn’t mind us at all. One by one they take a drink then fly off to the South East. Then another few would come from our yard and repeat the process.

The boys were oblivious to the martins slaking their thirst but perhaps on a subliminal level they took note and asked for their cups (which of course I always have) We sat on the banks of the pond and looked out at the pond in a rare and silent moment. They drinking in their water. Me, drinking in my martins.

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Yesterdays nest check results:

Total eggs:  58             Total young:  50      Total nests:  25

Yesterdays nest check was postponed. At 3pm the skies were dark and a drizzle was falling. By 4:30 pm or so a steady rain was falling and distant thunder was heard. By 5 pm a deluge of water let loose. It was fantastic. In the midst of the biggest drought on record for some 80 years, South Florida needs whatever rain mother nature can muster. The landscaping is hopelessly lost. The grass is overrun with the hardier weeds and my suspect to the sparse egg laying on the last nest check is dry weather.
It is a well known fact that birds have biological cues that trigger nesting bahavior. Daylight is probably the best known cue but another highly important ingredient is the abundance of food. In breeding Finches (another hobby of mine) Daylight can be measured in exact quantities by using a timer. But without the proper dietary considerations the birds will not start nesting. It is the same for all birds. As barometers of the environment, birds can show stress even when us humans are oblivious to the subtle signs that drive their inner workings. So as the first gourd rack filled up in record time, the later arriving birds are now all competing for the same dry season level of insects. Nature makes the spring a wet season for a reason. It all is timed perfectly so that the spring showers can produce a cascading chain of life. More water = more life= even more life. With a drought the spring season begins but stalls out and the heavy spring influx of birds is left with a dry dinner plate as well.

This morning the birds are obviously ecstatic about the rain that continued to fall throughout the night. I hope to do a nest check today that will give a great baseline to see if more eggs appear in the coming week or so.

In other news more photos have been uploaded to the gallery, another art piece is in the works and PurpleMartins-R-Us.com, our webstore continues to grow as a source of Purple Martin information and purple martin houses and supplies. If you have not had a chance to visit, please do.

Nest check Schedule: Today (4/21) and Friday (4/24)

I was just outside letting my dog out for his last foray of the night. The air is perfectly comfortable and a perfect South Florida night. The neighborhood Chucks Will-widow is calling out in its haunting and beautiful call. My son who was up all night with a 103 fever seems back on the mend. All is right with the world. 

Friday I will be doing a nest check. Looking at my watch I see it IS Friday so this is not much of a heads up. Since several nests are due to hatch, I will probably do another check come Sunday. (Just for fun!) Sometime between 3pm and 5pm EST, the usual time.  Of course, you can watch me on the Birdcam and laugh at me, if you like.  Also, the nestcam has one egg hatched so far and 4 more eggs at any moment.

Their are several starlings that are regularly feeding in my yard every morning. I have made feeble attempts with my pellet gun, to no avail. My aim is ridiculously bad and every time I squeeze off a shot, I blush with shame. Both from my bad aim and the picture I make, out in the yard in my bathrobe, morning hair and a pellet gun. The neighbors at least have free entertainment. I even have put out my home made wire bait trap which I used last season as a holding cage for the starlings. It is even more poorly made than my repeating nest trap. The starlings have no interest however in the popcorn and cereal I have placed inside. I will persist though. Should I ever manage to catch something with the trap, my husband owes me a sushi dinner. Yesterday evening I saw a lone starling perched on the phone line stalking my colony. Fortunately I am using SREH (starling resistant entrance holes) so my birds are safe, for the most part.

On another bird note. The mocking bird fledgling is almost indistinguishable from its parents. It follows its parents in the yard. Silently doing their wing displays as they scurry from spot to spot on the lawn. I only see the one fledgling which speaks volumes on the survival rate of these brush nesting birds. The neighbors which have at least 2 cats are constantly on the prowl. My dog has chased them out of my yard and away from the purple martin poles on numerous occasions. I am not sure how I will address the issue come fledge time but if I have to chase cats, I will. Another reason to call me a crazy bird lady. All I need now is a little more gray hair.

Blog contents/photos © 2009 S.Halpin/PurpleMartinArt.com

Before I opened our business PurpleMartins-R-Us.com, I did what many people do that want to try their hand at Purple Martins. I went out and purchased an inexpensive plastic house. With the cheap house came a cheap triangular pole, and with the cheap pole came a cheap feeder/platform tray that slides over the pole.

Last year I had big problems with egg shells sliding down the inner opening of the platform feeder and sliding down in between the pole sections. What resulted was severe sticking of the pole. So when I attempted to circumvent this issue this year by gluing a barrier around the opening, I was confident it would succeed. NOT! My gorilla glue lasted about 2 months in the sun and came unglued allowing the bits of shell to slide, once again, down the inner hole and in between the pole sections. What resulted was the delay of nest checks on the Sunset Inn house and today’s story.

As you may or may not realize, I do not sell these triangular poles on my site. I had a gourd rack on a triangular pole that I phased out this year with the new Economy 12 gourd rack and I am sorry I did not go ahead and phase the triangular poles out in their entirety. It has been a continued headache.

I greatly underestimated my desire to hoist up a telescopic pole every few days. Last year one of the plastic tabs that keeps the triangular telescopic pole locked in place broke and I had to use a long bolt in the opening to extend the pole. One pole bent about 10 degrees in a thunderstorm and one developed a very slight bend that made bringing the pole up and down difficult. Then of course there was the problem of the egg shells getting inside the pole sections. I can assure you that next year all my poles will be pulley operated.

What does this all mean to someone that wants to get into Purple Martins without spending SEVERAL hundred dollars? One can easily spend upwards of $500 to $1000 (and more) for a sweet purple martin set up. Does this mean that you should NOT try your hand at purple martins? No, it only means that if you choose to go the frugal way into the hobby do not be surprised if within a few years you find yourself wishing you had a sweet tricked out Purple Martin set up. Do not feel badly that your cheap system has let you down. You may just find that you have outgrown it.

So what do I have on my triangular pole? I placed my aluminum Sunset Inn house on it with a custom made mounting plate. It seems to be hanging in there just fine. It’s my arms that are giving out. And other than the egg shell pain in my noodle, it will serve out this season (I hope) with honor. Finally after a can of WD-40 and much prying and wiggling and banging it came free. 3 delayed nest checks later I was finally able to lower the Sunset Inn and check it and the 2 gourds hanging under it. What did I find? Both gourds have eggs, a total of 7 more for the count and the house itself has eggs but I don’t know how many. “Why is that?”, you ask. Look and see.

This is why I love these birds. Stupid? No, she knew it was me. I was fooling with the pole for some minutes, calling out to my husband and when I heard a rustling and looked, there she sat. Calm and trusting. Watching me and knowing. Partners we are. Tethered and wild. Human and not. Surface dweller and flying free. Working together by the grace of God and under His watchful eye. How can one not want to put up a Purple Martin house?

 (c) Blog contents copyright 2009 S.Halpin/PurpleMartinArt.com

I have never really thought of myself as a birder. I mean, geez, growing up in South Florida in a basically urban environment, there were not many opportunities for me to feed my hidden bird loving tendencies.  House Sparrows and Rock Pigeons were the basic “bird de jour” in my backyard. The mockingbird and doves would make a token visit and the glimpse of a Blue Jay or red-bellied woodpecker was enough to send me flying to my diary. As a young girl all ‘black’ birds were the same, but even in this un-exotic location I was observant enough to see that there was a big bird world out there. Beyond my 80 x 100 backyard, I knew there were birds I only saw pictured in books. So it went until I moved to the semi rural area I now call home.

Every morning I look out my bedroom window and look out back. A quick glance at the Purple Martins to assure myself that they are in fact still there. I often find myself accidentally birding. Like the time I saw my first Pileated Woodpecker out on the Purple Martins favorite slash pine. Or the Red-Headed Woodpecker that I only see a few times per year, the Flickers, the Eastern Phoebes, the Blue-Gray GnatCatchers, the Bronze-Headed Cowbirds and of course the plethora of Ibis, Egrets, Herons, and other marsh birds that frequent the area.

Today was no different. I was amazed by a simple visit to the Purple Martin Gourd rack by a Red-Winged Blackbird. The Martins were all up in arms about the Turkey Vultures that were swooping way to close for comfort. The Vultures, though not a threat were quite annoying to the Martins who were up and back in frantic bursts. To be quite honest, I don’t think I have ever seen the vultures flying so low to the ground.

Then of course my attention turns, as it always does to the purple gems singing in my backyard. Dozens of them. Now with several younger SY birds looking the rack over in search of an open compartment. No shyness with me. No coyness, no attempts to duck and cover from me. Their casual disregard to my approach is as comical as my look; outside, just rolled out of bed, hair in disarray, coffee in hand and a big dumb smile on my face. My transient children that come home to partner with me in raising their young. My Purple Martins.

 

Copyright: S.Halpin/ PurpleMartins-R-Us.com

Don’t get me wrong. My excitement is tempered with a healthy dose of reality. The nestcam is using mogulus.com (thank you tech support) and the birdcam is using Ustream.tv. I welcome any and all feedback on which you like better. Both insert the most annoying ads that I do NOT profit from. So please, no hate mail. The weight of the camera housing makes the gourd list to the side a bit but not too bad. Gourd #4 was the winner of the online poll to determine which gourd would get the camera first. The Nestcam seems to kick off a bit more frequently which requires me to focus a fair bit of my OCD tendencies to checking the 2 spare computers Internet connection. My husband is at the end of his patience…I think. I only know I would be. I am sure he wonders when he will get me back from the birds and is counting the days until the season is over.

This has been a very busy year. Between the websites and all that entails and my outreach efforts, I have been talking, thinking, and breathing purple.

I don’t know if I mentioned the Purple Martin presentation I gave at Green Cay Nature Center a few weeks ago. There were some 20 + people there and many questions were asked. I brought a selection of gourds and tried to “make some converts”. I have also been sending out flyer’s to local residences that have purple martin houses in their backyards.

My martins appear very happy and are quite loud. The pool water feature runs 24/7 to mask any noise that may attract Owls. We added the sheet metal to the pine tree under the Owls nest box and hope that helps to keep them safe from raccoons. But back to the martins, I need to hang more gourds to accommodate the birds that have yet to arrive. I still have yet to see a SY.

On today’s nest check I noticed that most of the gourds had either pine bark or leaves brought in and all seem used. Spotless clean of course but all but 1 or 2 have perfectly shaped nest bowls swirled like soft serve ice cream.

I hope you all enjoy the nest cam and bird cam and let me know what you think.

The Purple Martins were perching in the trees today. Making me wonder if they were deciding when to start picking off pine needles off the trees . No nest building. I still think it is a tad to early for that. It did seem interesting to see them in the trees though. Usually they make their perch the telephone pole at the edge of my property.

The Mocking bird was taking sticks to a large tangle of Brazilian pepper plants and malealuca saplings in my neighbors property. She must have gotten tired of all the noise in the Roebellini Palm off my pool deck (a safer spot for sure) but Mockers being the shy type, I understand her resistance. My 2 boys are quite the rowdy bunch and have taken to posing the local population of Anoles (lizards) in the most embarrasing of situations.

The cardinals are frequenting the black oil sunflower seeds in the cage feeder. I have noticed they enjoy a spot of grass that is where I throw out the unused seed and husks from my finches. The spot has sprouted quite a few greens and I am sure it is a tasty treat compared to the usual South Florida grasses and greens.

A few things have been pressing on my mind. One being the innate greed within people. In today’s economy one would think that greed equates to Wall Street bankers and Detroit Auto executives. Not necessarily so. Greed manifests itself in subtle yet just as subversive ways. People talk about the give and take in relationships. Casual acquaintances have natural ebb and flow of conversation. Friendships have a natural wax and waning of communication and support. But human “informational” parasites infest our everyday lives more than what we think.

The stereotypical supervisor who takes information from a coworker and claims it as his own. The self proclaimed fan who feigns true interest to leach off others fame. We all have had these situations either happen to us or have been witness to it. In this world of answers being a “Google” away, it is hard for some people to understand that other human beings are not a one stop shop for advice, information and trade secrets. An example of this was at the Festival I attended a few weeks ago. A gentleman stopped by my booth and began asking me questions about Purple Martins, which I will ALWAYS be happy to answer. Eventually the questions turned to who manufacturers some of the housing I sell. Specific information that made me wonder why he was so interested. To make a long story short this person was not interested in helping Purple Martins, definitely not interested in my fledgling business, and for sure not interested in making a purchase. He was in fact a store owner interested in selling some of the same products I sell. In essence, he wanted information to help him be my competition. I was amazed at his attitude when I declined to give him the phone number of the manufacturers. Almost as if it was his inalienable right to this information. All I could say to him was, “If I could figure it out, I am sure you will too. Good Luck.” In closing, I hope with this economic challenge we find ourselves in, we can find our better selves.

Blog Copyrighted  S.Halpin/ PurpleMartins-R-Us.com

In recent posts I have speculated that Purple Martins were spending more time at home and that nesting should begin soon. Well, nesting has not yet started but it can not be far off. I do not believe there was any significant portion of time today that my Purple Martins were away from home. At 2 PM they were still crawling all over the housing and chortling away. I am confident that I will have no vacancies as I counted at least 15 Martins at one time and saw pairs defending compartments all day long. The noise is a true blessing and reminds me of the gifts of life and joy and God, all wrapped up in a purple package. The activity and song has such an exuberance to it. It is hard to remember how desolate my yard becomes when the Martins are not here.

The gourd rack is the winner again but not as clear cut as last year. Though the CUENT Economy Gourd rack was first to welcome home Purple Martins, the Sunset Inn house is taking on house guests. I estimate 2 pairs in the house and at least one bachelor ASY male. A solo male in an Excluder gourd hanging under the house and at least half of the gourd rack is housing ASY Purple Martins. Not one SY yet to be seen BUT I have a feeling that I am thrilled and looking forward to nest building to commence. I wish I had the means to put up another house or rack for them as I hate to think that any Purple Martins would want for a nest site. I have seen many houses get boarded up with the housing crisis and know that these birds have been facing these challenges for some time. If only there were more people out there that were interested not just being environmentally friendly, but “environmentally intimate”.

There is nothing more intimate and precious than watching the cycle of life unfold so dramatically right in your own backyard.  Counting the eggs in the nest and marking the hatch day on the calander. Counting the nestlings as they emerge from their shells. Watching them grow and feather out over the course of a month. Holding them and whispering well wishes and prayers as you place them back in their nest for the last time. Then waiting and watching the parents coax the fledglings out into the world. Knowing that the parents will return every year, trusting me with their young. Watching over me as I say my little prayers. Waiting with bugs in their mouths, to feed the hungry youngsters, whose appetites never seem to wane. “I’m hurrying…I’m hurrying” I’ll say to them, as if they understand.   This is what I do. And Autumn will be here too soon. Leaving my yard silent.

Blog & Photos Copyrighted 2009: S.Halpin/ PurpleMartins-R-Us.com