Sad news to report as one of the two purple martins from the late nest that was abandoned has died. For those of you that did not read in past posts, there was a very late nest of 5 nestlings were pretty malnourished having become victims of  Diminished Parental Care.  You can read the blog entry HERE.

But in short, 3 of the 5 were taken to the rehabbers for emergency hydration. I left the two stronger, larger nestlings in the nest so that the parents would stay bonded to the site. I would lower the housing and offer food and fluids to the weaker and thinner of the 5 at several points during the days. When the first 4 fledged and only the smallest runt remained, still not being fed by the parents, I made the decision to take him to the rehabber. That same morning I was packing up to drive to Busch Wildlife Sanctuary, I found another of the smaller and weaker which had technically fledged, on the ground next to my pool, too weak to fly.

As of today, from what I am told, the stronger of the two which survived is in an outdoor songbird flight enclosure. This fledgling was eager to eat in the time that I cared for them, unlike the nestling that ultimately died. I am not sure yet, if this purple martin is feeding off a platform or still needs to be fed. I hope to visit Busch Wildlife Sanctuary this weekend to see how he (she?) is doing.

I believe the critical period is over and the 2 purple martins from the last late nest will survive. As of yesterday, Busch Wildlife Sanctuary reports that they are eating and gaining weight. It appears as though my efforts to keep them hydrated has paid off. My hopes that they get released back with the colony are dashed however as the day that I removed the most critically thin and dehydrated nestling was the last day that the martins were here in any significant numbers.

It is quite apparent that they were all returning because of the nestlings in the one nest, almost as if to keep them company. Though the parents of the other successful nests did not contribute with feeding the nestlings, they did return as if tied to the colony site while it was still active. Once the nests were empty, they were obviously released from whatever ties they had to the location and have most definitely moved on. Yesterday I counted 6 martins on the wires for less than 5 minutes. They did not land on the housing at all which leads me to believe that they were not my birds, only passers-by. Today there were none. And so the days have passed since the nestlings were taken to the rehabilitation facility.

Unfortunately this does not bode well for the nestlings/fledglings, as far as their survivability post rehabilitation. Without parents to instruct them on feeding, their chances are poor. But there may be a new hope for some rehabbed nestling martins that miss the opportunity for the post fledging instruction period that they usually receive from their parents. In a post on the PMCA forum, a purple martin conservationist in California has had positive, albeit early results from a radically new and controversial theory in the rehabilitation of nestling purple martins. Check out the thread HERE.

In short, it describes how in past years in banding and releasing into colonies, nestlings that required rehabilitation, that none had been recovered. But last year, 3 nestlings that were rehabbed were “taught” to catch flying insects in a large flight cage. These 3 purple martins were them banded and released. This year one of the 3 birds was sighted in the area having obviously survived and returned from migration. This just may be a huge turn in the current thinking in rehabilitating purple martins. If this hypothesis is correct purple martins may very well have new hope when it comes to purple martins that miss that critical post fledging instructions. Rehabilitation that may have been in years past-delaying of the inevitable, may very well be  a new beginning for these birds.

Many thanks to Daniel Airola, from Sacremento, California for this important information.

I was out several times in the morning giving Pedialyte to the nestling that I took out yesterday. He is visibly afraid at what I am doing but doesn’t give up a fight. His beak has more strength today and required some patience and gentle effort to open for some crickets today. As I was feeding him around 11AM or so, I saw the few Swallow-Tailed Kites flying overhead and low. I kept hearing a purple martin like chirp and found myself looking around. Hmmmm, I didn’t know Kites sound like martins? I kept hearing the chirp. No martins were around, they had visited this morning and were not around now. Then low and close I saw another one of the fledglings an the pool deck on the inside portion of the baby gate surrounding our pool. I went and picked him up and he chirped to me as if I was familiar.

Placing him in the bucket, with what I am sure is his sibling, I placed a drop of Pedialyte on my finger and as I approached him with my finger he practically bit my finger off. Not in fear or hostility but out of hunger. I picked up a cricket and approached his beak with it and between chirps he gobbled it down, looking for more. A friendly sort this little fledgling must have sat up in the trees all night. Finally when the other martins returned he tried to fly with them, only to be without strength to join them. He must have quickly lost altitude and thankfully landed where God would let me see him. Instantly, this little bird has especially touched my heart.

I placed a call to Busch Wildlife Sanctuary and drove them up to Jupiter. Beyond my help these 2 little birds need aggressive intervention. Even with that they seem so weak and malnourished that they may never be able to catch up to the HY’s flying about like experts now.

Calling for an update from David Hitzig (the Director at Busch Wildlife Sanctuary) I can report that both are being hydrated,  the outgoing fledgling is eating enthusiastically but the more timid nestling is not fairing as well. I am hoping that by watching his sibling accepting food, that he will follow suit, but as David related, it may be that he is beginning to shut down and death is imminent for him.

I will keep you updated.

Three more nestlings became fledglings. It was the most painful thing to watch. Once again no parent in sight. I ran outside this morning and one of the larger nestlings had made it to the top of the gourd. It begged pathetically at every bird that flew by. I knew that if a Hawk, or one of the many Swallow-Tailed Kites saw him, he would be picked off. Luckily for me, I did not witness that. What I did witness was the begging that went on for about an hour. Sitting in the sun as the flock of purple martins would spook and fly up in a panic at the slightest disturbance and then settle back on the racks looking in and out of all the compartments. The showed great interest in the nestlings but no adult took pity and brought a morsel.

The Nestling that was sitting outside was visibly thinner than it should be. But the thinnest stayed in the gourd. Finally with a sudden burst the nestling took to the air and made a wide circle and easily gained altitude. It made an ungraceful landing in the Slash Pine and all the martins followed enthusiastically. Many of them also perched in the tree chirping and calling to the new fledgling. It was trying to keep a hold of the pine needles it was holding on to and at this point I went inside. I checked the nestcam and there still was the runt, chirping away.

I know that in theory that this fledgling had successfully fledged. My numbers get the benefit of another “plus” but in my heart, I don’t feel this nest will do well. Behind the eight ball there is a lot of catching up that needs to be done and I wonder if they will have the time to do it. Learning to fly is the easy part. Being in condition to fly to South America is another. I estimate that the number of visitors that I have seen will again drop withing the week. I would be surprised to see more than the occasional purple martin come by August.

I went ahead and went out with my boys and we did not return until the afternoon. Looking out I saw nothing. I looked with my binoculars, I saw nothing. I checked the nestcam and there was the runt. All alone. I still had some of the crickets and knowing how he was yesterday when I checked them I went ahead and lowered the rack. I again carefully slipped a mesh bag over the entrance so that he would not flush out. I took him out and my hopes for him fledging are nearly zero. Even skinnier than before his keel bone is protruding more than ever. I feel at this point that he is so malnourished that he wouldn’t have the muscle tone to even be able to fly. I gave him some Gatorade and am keeping him outside in a 5 gallon bucket hanging up an a peg. No snake or coon will reach him and if he wishes to fly out he can. But as I suspected, he has not attempted to do so yet. So Gatorade was given till dark and I will start again early in the AM.

My prayers are for his peace and mine.

My husband was outside hollering at me as I lowered the gourd rack. Thunder was cracking and the sky was way to volatile to be messing with the purple martins. But I had just gotten home with a few dozen crickets and the Nestcam was not very reassuring. It seemed like something was not quite right.

For those of you unaware of the current drama. The last nest of the season and the 5 nestlings within (now at 26 days old) have been suffering from diminished parental care. The ASY male curiously has been around on and off during the day but with no meal to offer the nestlings. The SY female also has been circling and feeding high above watchful but also not feeding the young. Last Saturday I took the skinniest of the lot (including a runt) to the Busch Wildlife Sanctuary. A few feedings and bolus of fluids given later, they were perky and I put them back in the nest. Today I could not watch anymore. So down the rack came.

I had left the rack only halfway down and placed a net bag over the opening so that no birds could fly out while I lowered. When I opened the Troyer gourd only 4 nestlings were inside. In a mad rush I fed the 2 skinniest but am unsure if the runt had caught up or if one of the older more vigorous siblings fledged at some point today.

Back to my husband hollering at me, “Do you want to get struck by lightening?” Came in between thunder  claps. My hair wet as a slow drizzle had begun to fall. In a rush I raised the rack back up and after putting everything away I pulled the sock on a string that held the nestlings within. They stayed put and mom and dad circled.

The thin keel bone of the skinniest nestling is disturbing to me and I should have kept him out and fed him over the course of the remainder of the day and tomorrow.

The last nest is in the zone where nest checks are not advised. Fearing that I can flush out the 2 stronger birds and decrease their chances of survival, I have stopped supplemental feeding of the runt. I have seen the mother flying overhead and calling out but not actively feeding. Within the last week I have noticed a decrease from over a hundred birds flying about in the morning to none. Only about a dozen or so will stop by for several minutes at different parts of the morning. The season is ending quickly and the SY female is in a hurry to leave. Whether or not her instinct to stay and care for her young wins out over the instinct to join the flock and migrate, I am not sure. I hope the 2 larger and more robust nestlings make it but I doubt the runt can catch up now. This situation is a textbook example of something described as diminished parental care in some late nesting purple martins by a fellow PMCA forumite and purple martin landlord Mr. Steve Kroenke. You may have read this article on the forum but for my non-PMCA readers this is an issue that is fascinating if not tragic. With Mr. Kroenke’s permission I am posting his article here.

Diminishing Parental Care In Some Late Nesting Martins

Purple martins are a highly colonial and migratory species. They spend a good portion of their lives on the go, as they travel with other martins between their wintering grounds in South America and their nesting sites throughout the United States and Canada. So, the instinctive drive to migrate with the flock is deeply engrained in a martin’s genes and behavior. This drive is highly prevalent toward the end of the nesting season when nearly all martins have finished breeding and are forming pre-migratory flocks in preparation for the flight south. The urge to assemble and migrate south seems to dominate the purple martin species after the young have fledged and are independent. Martins have a long journey ahead of them and they must also finish molting all their feathers while on their wintering grounds. Migration instinct is extraordinarily strong in purple martins.

Also, late nesting martins must face much higher daytime temperatures and this factor can impact the number of feedings to the young. During extremely high temperatures in the upper 90s for example, insects, such as dragonflies, may not be flying in large numbers, thereby reducing the prey base for the parent martins. The young martins may become heat stressed and not be as responsive to the food stimulus.

And, just prior to fledging their young, parent martins will start reducing the daily feedings to prepare their babies’ transition from nestlings to fledglings. Hungry young are more prone to fledging than well fed ones, particularly when the parents tempt them with a dragonfly. So, it is normal to see fewer feedings during the last week prior to the young making their maiden flight.

There May Be Significant Differences In Feeding Behavior Between Male and Female Martins

From my observations of these very late nesting pairs, you may see significant gender differences between male and female martins in feeding their young. The female martin is clearly more attentive to the young and spends more time with her babies than her mate. This is largely a function of the specific gender roles in purple martin family life. The mother martin broods her young during their early lives and she usually roosts at night with the babies for much longer than the male. Some males may quit roosting with their families after the young are older and nearing fledging. For late nesting pairs, the males may quit roosting with their families soon after the young have hatched.

Late nesting male martins may show reduced parental care to their young by feeding them fewer times than normal and then leaving earlier in the day. This may become more pronounced after the young are about two weeks old and it is later in the breeding season. These males may arrive at the nest site later in the mornings and feed the young a few times. Then they may disappear for long periods and show up again later with an occasional food item. Generally, their feedings to the young may be lower than the females. Other males may function mainly as guardians to the nest and chase away other males, particularly SYs that try to enter the cavity. These males may stay around the nest site in the mornings and bring in an occasional dragonfly. Then they gradually disappear in the afternoons and will not return until the next day. Some males may eventually abandon their families after the young are older or just after fledging. I had several cases where the males finally just quit coming around and the female went solo to finish raising the young.

Female martins are extremely attentive to their young and closely bonded to them. Nurturing the young is a key gender role of the female martin. Females usually feed late hatching young reliably and provide good parental care. I never had a case where a female abandoned her late hatching young though some of these females may not feed their young as often as normally. Also, these females roosted with their babies almost up until fledging and some through that time. However, I did observe several situations where non-roosting females with older young would arrive late in the morning to start feeding their babies and then departed relatively early in the afternoon. In these cases, the females may have been flying many miles to reach a communal pre-migratory roost. Again, the females are usually much more bonded to their young than the males and provide better parental care in late nesting situations.

Differences Between Late Nesting ASY Pairs And SYs

Generally speaking late nesting ASY pairs, both male and female, are more attentive to their young and provide more reliable parental care. These martins have most likely successfully raised young in the past and this experience no doubt helps them. Late nesting ASY males are probably more prone to feed their babies at higher rates than the SYs. The SYs, particularly the males, are raising young for the first time and embarking on this most important and potentially stressful adventure late in nesting season does create a challenging situation. However, I have seen both late nesting ASY and SY males significantly reduce their feedings to their nest bound young and even on occasion abandon their family prior to the babies fledging.

Late Nesting Fledglings

When late nesting youngsters fledge, I have observed cases where the parents or female parent brought their young back to roost in their natal nest for several nights and in other situations where they all disappeared. However, I did have several cases where the females brought their young back for longer than a week. It is possible that these youngsters may have greater difficulties in surviving to independence since the parents are under pressure to migrate with the flock. This may result in reduced parental care after fledging. However, martin youngsters grow up fast and learn to hunt flying insects quickly. So, that is a good behavioral adaptation to possibly help martins overcome problems with fledging later in the nesting season.

Summary

Purple martins are highly migratory birds and are nomadic for a good portion of their lives. This powerfully developed drive to “go with the flock” at the end of the nesting season may sometimes conflict with an equally strong drive to feed late hatching young. This “battle of the instincts” may result in some parent martins, particularly the males, reducing their feedings to nest bound young or in rare cases abandoning their families. Most females tend to be more closely bonded to their young and often maintain a good level of parental care in late nesting situations. These females continue to feed their babies reliably, roost with them until fledging, and may bring them back to sleep in the evenings for several nights or longer.

by Steve Kroenke

After a long evening of re-hydrating the purple martin nestling and then this morning continued Gatorade and crickets, the nestlings belly was much softer, poops were normal and most importantly-he was still alive.

All morning without any chirps, I was wondering if mom was anywhere around. Usually you would think that the nestling would give out a few chirps if he heard her. I did see a SY female coming to the porch twice in a 4 hour period. Once to drop off a large cicada on the outside porch. I wasn’t impressed with her efforts. At around noon I lowered the gourd rack and took out the 2 thin-est of the remaining 4. I left the 2 strongest nestlings which after careful aging, I determined them to be 22 days old. The runt definitely is feathered, for the most part, like a 16 day old. The 3 skinny ones then made a 20 minute ride to Busch Wildlife Sanctuary in Jupiter after having a drink of gatorade.

I met David Hitzig, the executive director of the facility. It was great to finally visit this center that I had heard about but never visited. As you may know from previous posts, I had always used Folke Peterson, which is only a few minutes away, but now that they are closing (due to financial problems) this was a wonderful opportunity to make the drive. Had I known what a full service, top notch facility it is, I would have come sooner. I brought the family and my 2 boys were kept happy and amazed at the animals including Florida Panthers, Deer, foxes, birds of prey and every sort of native Florida wildlife. I meanwhile spoke with David.

He is astute and quite aware of the dilemma these birds find themselves in. Being so late in the season, and no other nests that could foster them, the best place for them is with momma. As negligent as she is, their best hope is to fledge with her. Without the post fledging care that they will receive, their chances are dismal and I know it. My fear is that the runt will be so malnourished, that he would die or be so far behind in growth that he would be left behind or easy pickings for a predator. David saw to it that the birds received a fluid injection to hydrate them quickly. They also got a big meal of juicy live crickets and meal worms before I took them home. Now that the runts belly was softer and poop was normal, I feel much more comfortable returning him to the nest with a day of rescue feedings under his belt.

The 3 were very active on the drive home and after a quick stop at the pet store to by a dozen live crickets, I gave them one last drink of Gatorade and belly full of food. I lowered the rack and placed them back in the nest after checking the 2 much heavier nestlings.

I did see the mom flying about and I think I know what is going on. Before returning the nestlings I heard her calling out to the nestlings with her chew chew call. A call I hear the parents make when they are trying to coax them out of the nests to fledge. That would explain her leaving the food on the outside porch. She is trying to lure them out so they will fledge. Unfortunately she is inexperienced and like most birds, has no access to a calendar. She has no idea that feathered as they are the birds are just not ready to fledge. The runt is so under feathered that it would perish for sure if it didn’t die from the malnourishment first.

The nestcam is now on gourd #6 and my eye is fixed on the action.

Many thanks to Mr. David Hirtzig and to Busch Wildlife Sanctuary. I will be sending in a donation to this fine facility and coming back again soon.

© 2009 S.Halpin / PurpleMartinArt.com

The last remaining nest is on the numbered gourd rack. Gourd #6 has 5 nestlings that I have neglected terribly. I had watched the ASY male and SY female feeding vigorously  3days ago. Yesterday I saw no feeding but the racks have been covered with purple martins for the entire morning and well into the afternoon. I was sure that I just missed them. Today I saw two little heads poking out of the front of the Troyer horizontal gourd. I was sure that the nest had been hijacked by a lazy fledgling as the two heads looked so vastly different in ages. So I lowered the rack.

When I opened the gourd I noticed it was pretty dirty, but I had seen worse. I proceeded to take everyone out and put them in the 5 gallon bucket to do a nest change. When I looked at the nestling however, I noticed that 4 of the nestlings looked to be about 20+ days old and the one runt seemed to be lagging way behind. He had the feathering on his body and head of a 16 day old but his flight feathers were about the same length as his nest mates.

On further exam, I found all of them to be underweight. The runt, worse of all and another nestling not to much better. All had an easily palpable keel bone. What is a keel bone? It is the bone in the center of the birds chest that should be surrounded by breast meat. The runts keel bone stuck out like a razor, skin flaky and dry. He proceeded to poop on me but then I saw his large hard abdomen. And when I say hard, I mean hard like a rock. And unless something is made of bone (or cartilage) there is nothing on a living body-human or animal that should be that hard. I kept him out of the nest and replaced the others. A Bot fly? A partial blockage? A tumor? I do not know what his problem is but I am vigorously re-hydrating the poor fellow.

Observing the nest is difficult with 2 young boys getting into everything but I tried to watch for mom and dad martin to no avail. The entire time I was checking the nests, changing, etc, there were no concerned parents flying about. I am beginning to think that an Owl has attacked and flushed the parents out. The nestlings being to young stayed safe in the dark far reaches of the Troyer gourd but without mom and dads care, they will soon expire.

Since Folke Peterson Wildlife Center is closing soon I placed a call to Busch Wildlife Center in Jupiter, Florida. I spoke to the director and if the nestling is still alive in the morning I will take him there. I will try to observe the nest to make sure that the parent/s are feeding. If not, I will remove them all and take them to the rehabber. It can be a case of late nest syndrome (I just made that name up) but all that means is that in very late nests it is not uncommon for one (or both) of the parents to loose interest in the process and slack off.

My first purple martin pair was a ASY male and a SY female. She worked her tail off and he would come by a few times a week. He would sleep in the gourd on occasion but basically left the entire raising of the clutch to her. She successfully fledged her 2 nestlings-all alone- after all the martins were gone.

But as for this nest, I am concerned.

Call me a collector but I seem to be collecting quite a number of free purple martin house plans. Thanks to dedicated purple martin landlords such as John Balga and Bob n Jo, and thanks to the Pennsylvania Game Commission, I have put together a small collection of houses that the DIY can build. I even have plans for a gourd rack!

Of course, I am not the handy type so I have NOT made these houses myself. I guess that is why I started PurpleMartins-R-Us. If you are like me and can’t build a birdhouse yourself, check out this large selection of houses and supplies that utilize the latest in purple martin research and innovation. Believe it or not, I did NOT start this business to get rich. I did it so that I can do what I love. If I get rich that is nice but looking at my books, that won’t happen anytime in my lifetime.

So where can you get these plans? Go to the Free plans page HERE and enjoy!

If you know of any other FREE house plans for purple martin houses, please let me know. And please let me know how the house you build turns out. I would love to see it.

P.S. Tonight is the first night that all the fledglings have not returned at night to sleep in the Nestcam! Only one in there tonight. My season is winding down.

I recently mentioned about the attack I witnessed in Gourd “C” on the Nestcam.  About a week and a half ago I was witness to a  SY male viciously beating on the 5 nestlings in that gourd. The SY was set on making trouble. Several times the SY female “mother” caught the trouble making SY male outside and gave him a good lashing. While she was gone, however, he would return and seemed intent on plucking the poor babies in the nest. Thank goodness for them they were about 23 days old and well feathered and substantial enough to take what he was doling out, but still it made me wince and I thought of the carnage that could have resulted if these babies were younger. This scene is not often witnessed but is actually quite common.

Often times when the younger SY males arrive they find either all the nest sites taken or all the females taken. Some of these trouble making bullies are simply out to break up a happy family with the hopes of convincing the female to re-nest and try again. If there are eggs in the nest they have been known to damage the eggs and experienced it myself this year in a previous blog entry, read about that attack HERE. That attack resulted in no damaged eggs but the male did become entrapped with the resident male inside which could have resulted in both of their deaths as well as the eggs. If there are hatchlings the SY males have been known to kill them.

What is the purpose of all this violence? Well, according to a fellow PMCA forumite and a well known and active martin landlord, Steve Kroenke, there are several reasons why. Read the article HERE. Can anything be done to stop this behavior? The only suggestion that I have heard that is feasible is to keep some housing closed, perhaps another house or gourd rack that is kept closed until the influx of SY’s take place. Even though this technique means that you will be hanging up a “No Vacancy” sign to many ASY purple martins, it can assure that the later arriving SY’s have a place to stake a claim to and thus defuse some of the aggressive behavior. Will this eliminate the problem? From reports it does have a noticeable result. Also important to note as this will not be a suitable technique for colonies that are not full. If there is available housing and you are noticing this aggression then just about all you can do is pray.

©2009 S.Halpin / PurpleMartinArt.com