You may recall my occasional posts regarding a Screech Owl(s) that have called the Flicker nestbox next to my driveway home for several years now. Faithfully, every Spring, a pair of Screech Owls lays claim to the box and whether or not young have been raised there, I never really knew. I have found broken owl egg shells near the box and often see the owls exiting at dusk and just peeking out in the day. But recently the owls fate has become tragically known.
One morning this week, I was outside my garage and something on the ground on the concrete caught my eye. The adult Screech Owl was on the ground, not 10 feet away from me, looking at me with heavy eyes. The sunlight was obviously uncomfortable but the injury I saw made the glare of the sun on this nighttime raptor, insignificant.
Its right wing hung by a small thread of flesh, dried blood caked on itsfeathers and wing bones protruding grotesquely. I knew (s)he was in trouble and was beyond any hope of ever flying again. At best she would retain her life, but her gift of flight was gone forever. Glancing at the nest box I wondered about its contents.
My spouse got the ladder and climbed up and heard soft calls from inside and within the box were 2 of the cutest white powder puffs of baby owl, I have ever seen. There eyes squeezed shut, it was hard to make out heads or tails of the little fluffy balls.
We removed the babies for about 5 minutes while we made some repairs to the front of the nest box which will not make it through another year and while waiting for a call back from Busch Wildlife Sanctuary to determine what should be done. I looked them over and they seemed to have empty crops but otherwise unharmed.
The folks at Busch Wildlife told us to observe the nest box as the surviving owl would return during the day (which I thought was odd) and resume care of the nestlings. My fear being that the adult that was injured was close to the nestbox and was obviously caused by some predator. Either the hawk saw the male owl roosting in the tree by day and mangled it or a Horned Owl (common in my area) or Raccoon found the nest box during the night and attempted to pull out the female. In the ensuing struggle the little screech must have been able to tumble free and land in a large section of thick dense shrubs that surround that side of our house. I can imagine her laying in the bushes and making her way out to the concrete in the hours that followed.
A careful search of the trees close to the nest box uncovered no other owl roosting and as dusk approached, no other owls came to feed or care for the youngsters. Like the purple martins, after being attacked by such fearsome predators such as Raccoons or Horned Owls , the mate (if it survived) probably fled for its life and would unlikely return.
I watched from a vantage point that I would often sit to observe these little Screech Owls and no mate ever returned. My hopes for these 2 little owls fledging from our nest box diminished and I decided that a Wildlife Rehabilitator would be their fate.
4 days later, at Wildlife Resource Center of the Palm Beaches, I am told that the babies are doing well and eating up a storm. As for the adult Screech Owl, Busch Wildlife Sanctuary has YET to return my multiple calls.
Many thanks to Ellen from Wildlife Resource Center of the Palm Beaches. I think I have found a new Wildlife Rehabber!
After a long absence, the Swallow-Tailed Kites have FINALLY returned. It seems they are much delayed but purple martin are about the only birds I KNOW for sure when they will return.
I think the forked tail is why I enjoy watching these birds so much. Any bird with the name of “swallow” is a favorite. Though I have seen these birds snatch a dove nestling out of a nest. So don’t get too close!
The area I live in is pretty rural and though my yard isn’t blessed with any wide variety of birds, I live within a short drive to several wetland conservation areas that are teaming with life. The houses that are closer to these areas get many visitors and some of those folks insist on feeding these glorious animals. I am not too crazy about it.
Baby Sandhill cranes are flightless for quite some time and the parents are not so bright. Every year there have been several chicks either hit by cars or mauled by dogs. My theory is let them stay wild and do not put food out for them. Though this may sound odd coming from a person that puts up purple martin houses and gourds every year, I think that these Sandhill cranes do much better being afraid of us.
On this day 5 Sandhill cranes were just a few feet from the window of my car. I happened to have my camera and this is one of the shots I got. They were eating corn from a plate left out for them by well meaning humans. Remember, there are people that hunt Sandhill cranes. Why would we want them to trust us?
It really is amazing how fast the year is going. All over reports of migration have been well underway and the quiet lull before the winter “storms” are upon us. A few weeks ago I saw a large group of about 15 or so NightHawks pass through. The gourd racks have been still and quiet for months now. I am waiting for the arrival of the neighborhood winter visitors with the usual boredom that ensues at this time of year. As fast as all my nesting birds have left it takes a while before the winter visitors arrive and the time in between draws out, agonizingly slow.
What a great year it was. Looking at the calender, I find it hard to believe we are now in Autumn. All the roosts are done and the painful purple martin season that many had can now be called just a bad memory. We can all breathe a collective sigh of relief as our losses could have always been worse and our successes are always a gift from God.
A very interesting find by Veronica G. a fellow PMCA forumite. At the Tulsa, Oklahoma roost she spotted a leucistic purple martin. Check out the fabulous photos taken by Omar Landeros. Talk about finding a needle in a hay stack!
These purple martins are absolutely stunning and though they are often times destined an early fate, sometimes they seem to adapt and be accepted.
Here is a link to a tragic story, back in 2007, of 2 albino purple martins that fledged at Mr. Steve Kroenke colony in Logansport, Louisiana.
Some landlords have had leucistic purple martins return year after year and I rejoice for them. I hope this beauty returns safe and sound to his or her home in the spring.
What is the difference between Albino and Leucistic? In short, an Albino lacks all pigment so that even the eyes appear pink, and beak and feet are “horn” colored. Leucistic birds have varying amounts of white feathers but still have the areas of “normal” pigmentation.
Will these leucistic birds have leucistic babies? Usually not. Being a recessive trait the offspring may inherit the recessive gene but not exhibit it. It will only show in the offspring if one of the parents is leucistic and the other parent carries the recessive gene for it. Even then there is only a chance they will inherit the trait. Sometimes they only inherit the gene but appear normally colored. Cool, huh?
Many thanks to Veronica and Omar for the great pictures.
You see, it is NOT just me. In a recent Audubon magazine article, Ted Williams points out the flaws, misconceptions and outright lies of the Trap, Neuter, Release (TNR) philosophy.
Many organizations such as the American Bird Conservancy (ABC) tread very softly on the issue of feral cats. Cat lovers are a strong and vocal group with deep ties to multiple “animal rights groups”. Organizations such as the Animal Liberation Front (ALF) support TNR programs. Some of these organizations are considered as fringe groups with some radical, even borderline terrorist aspects. Even People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA)has come under fire recently for “caring about animals more than people.”
But none the less these groups are strong vocal advocates for “Cats rights” and have blocked many efforts by birders to protect native endangered birds from free roaming and feral cats.
I highly encourage you to read Mr.Williams Article and forward it to all you know. It is sobering information.
And I can’t stress CatBibs enough. If you love your cats and love birds too please consider placing one of these harmless catbibs on your pet to save countless lives.
You can read our previous post on the damage done by cats to our native wildlife HERE.
Is it really possible? I saw the ad for this entrance hole in an issue of “Feathers and Friends” and I was immediately interested. An entrance hole that touts itself as 100% starling proof is a pretty amazing discovery…if true.
As you may know, the advent of the original Starling RESISTANT Entrance Hole (SREH) by the late Charles McEwen was revolutionary for purple martin landlords. The fact that purple martins could be protected from the destructive European Starlings was a huge development. Some purple martin house manufacturers went so far as to make these SREH standard equipment on their houses and countless martins are now, for the most part, safe from these pests.
Almost immediately after the SREH was placed into use, it seems that the search for the elusive, perfect and 100% Starling Proof entrance was on. Many landlords have been actively developing different entrance shapes trying to keep out the occasional smaller sized starlings. Some folks have even hypothesized that in using SREH, that we are in essence been breeding down the size of starlings. If that happens the purple martins will have no protection from these invasive birds that are choking out our native cavity nesting birds.
The immediate benefits of SREH still outweigh any other risks involved. (Risks such as wing entrapment can be serious and deadly- read about wing entrapment HERE. Consider that European starlings are even displacing red bellied woodpeckers in order to take over the nesting cavity. Countless woodpeckers are now being forced to excavate several cavities and nest later in the season in order to deflect the pressure of the starlings. Late clutches are usually not as productive. So not only are the secondary cavity nesters in peril but the primary excavators are also at risk. Habitat loss due to urban sprawl and deforestation, in time the starlings will impact woodpecker populations. It would seem that would decrease the amount of natural nest cavities available to secondary cavity nesters such as flycatchers, screech owls and even wood ducks, just to name a few. Human supplied bird boxes or nest boxes will become even more vital in saving our native birds. Perhaps then more emphasis be placed on active control and even local eradication of European Starlings.
Back to the question of this “100% starling proof” entrance. We will have to wait for those of you that use it to let the rest of you know. I do not have a heavy starling area but I may very well get a few of these just out of curiosity. In appearance it is very similar to the Clubhouse entrance (or Conley #2) only more narrow. The Clubhouse entrance is the SREH on the current Troyer Horizontal gourds and was named after the Purple Martin “Clubhouse” forumites that developed it.
For purchasing information contact “Nature Unlimited” at (260)593-2624 ext 1. This is an Amish run country store so a voice mail should be left and they will call you back. Entrance plates are $1.95 each and are 4 -1/2 inches x 3 -1/4 inches. PLEASE let me know if they work for you.
The American Bird Conservation Association / Feathers and Friends can be contacted via phone at (260) 768-8095 x:5 Subscription rates are $18 for 1 year. Tell them Susan from PurpleMartins-R-Us sent you!
I was torn between relief and despair when I found out on Aug 26 that the last remaining purple martin at the Busch Wildlife Center was released at some point.
I had forwarded some information to the folks at Busch Wildlife Center regarding some of the latest, cutting edge information on the releasing of rehabilitated fledgelings. It was on the post Update On Late Nest Martins at Rehabber. In short, the preliminary data highlighted the dismal survival rate of purple martins released without benefit of the post fledging instruction period given by the parent purple martins. The same info also pointed out a potential revolutionary approach to their release. Last year 3 martins were released AFTER being taught (in a flight cage) how to catch flying insects and 1 of the 3 returned to the natal colony this year. This information is groundbreaking and could give new hope to fledgling purple martins released after rehabilitation.
I am unsure if this martin that was released had the benefit of being “taught” the basic survival skill of feeding or even if it was released with other martins which is what is recommended by the PMCA.
I do know that if the bird was released without any other purple martins around that it is dead. Purple Martins, unlike some birds, seem to require a period of post fledgeing instruction
As of this time, I have not received any reply to my email to Busch Wildlife .
On another birding note, a large group of about 15+ nighthawks was moving south bound through the area. Tons of barn swallows feeding in the orange groves nearby also. Fall migration is in full swing.
In a recent post I wrote about a strange case of apparent Blowfly infestations in ADULT purple martins. You can read about it HERE.
The latest issue of “Feathers and Friends” had an interesting interview with Willie Conley, a well known and prominent purple martin landlord in Indiana. Some excerpts of the article follow:
“Willie… hosts around 250 pairs annually. This year he had 251 pair. …He first had this problem with this parasitic infestation back in 2004 already, but this year was exceptionally bad. This year Willie treated around 70 martins in his own colony that were infested, and they all survived. Though he did find 2 untreated martins that had died of the sickness.
An infested martin starts growing a big pink bubble right at its under tail coverts. In this bubble there are tiny little holes in which there are up to four white little white maggots per hole. Usually just two. Willie has found as many as 23 maggots in ONE martin. These maggots grow bigger and bigger until the martin dies.
Willie saved a dead martin that died of this parasitic infestation to see what the maggots would do. He put the (dead) martin in a sealed jar. The maggots turned into white pupal cases (cocoons) , which later turned to a dark brownish color.”
courtesy of Feathers and Friends
After a couple of weeks this is what had emerged.
(The house fly on the left is for size reference)
According to Dr.Terry L. Whitworth, Owner and Operator, Whitworth Pest Solutions, Inc., and Washington State University Adjunct Professor in Entomology; these photos are Sarcophagidae -flesh flies. They normally only feed on dead nestlings, though occasionally they can infest living tissue, usually via a wound or injury.
Dr.Whitworth brings up an important point though. That since these maggots were from a bird that was found dead that these flesh flies could have deposited the larvae on the dead bird and not necessarily have been the cause of death. Really the only way to be sure is to examine the larvae that are directly removed from the living bird.
So we are left with more questions and still have a mystery. If you have any information that may help us is solving the riddle, please let us know. You can contact us at susan(at)purplemartins-r-us(dot)com or use the contact us page to the right.
The American Bird Conservation Association / Feathers and Friends can be contacted via phone at (260) 768-8095 x:5 Subscription rates are $18 for 1 year. Tell them Susan from PurpleMartins-R-Us sent you!
When I first saw this photo, it took me a moment to realize that it was not a real person. I guess my thought about scarecrows is the old fashioned Wizard of Oz type. Up in the middle of the field (or yard) with a stick up its backside with arms stretched out to the sides and crows laughing as they feast on corn.
But when it comes to purple martins, scarecrows are quite handy and when I looked at this one posted by Ray Gingerich, a fellow PMCA forumite, I said, “Now THAT’S a scarecrow!”
Ray describes his use of his scarecrow:
“As an experiment I put this fellow on duty all summer (24 hour duty and not one complaint from him). He didn’t have much affect on sparrows but seemed to have some affect on starlings and hawks. I had a few starlings this spring before placing Joe on duty but none afterwards, when I placed him near my barn and partially hidden from the sky I had a few low fly bys from hawks, if I placed him out in the open near the bird houses the hawks seemed to pass by at a greater distance. I kept moving him to different locations in my yard and repositioning his arms & legs.
Couldn’t get keep him awake though, wonder if the sparrows could tell.”
I thought being in the South that I was safe from Blow Flies (Protocalliphora sialia) but alas after talking to a few folks and doing some research I am sure I have experienced a more sinister type of Blow Fly here at my colony.
A few weeks ago I posted about a nestling that had some sort of “lump” or cyst on its abdomen. The nestling died soon thereafter. Since then I have been doing a little digging into what it actually was. When I found the dead nestling it was quite apparent that the mass had opened and since I saw no other injuries or obvious issues with the nestling, that very well may be what killed the bird.
This led me on a quest to find out what may have been the cause. At first I thought they were Bot Flies. What is a Bot fly? Well, in short it is an insect that’s larvae lives as a parasite within the tissues of a living organism. Horses commonly get them as do other mammals. I have since come to learn that there is a type of subcutaneous BlowFly (Trypocalliphora braueri) or a type of Housefly (Philornis sp) that may be to blame.
I realized it wasn’t just me when I was reading my latest issue of “Feathers and Friends” (a magazine published by “The American Bird Conservation Association”) I read about several landlords reporting birds with “bubbles” that are “caused by an insect that laid eggs there and the eggs hatch into little worms” When I read this, It sure sounded like a BotFly.
I spoke with Mr.Terry Whitworth, PhD, who is the Adjunct Professor of Entomology for Washington State University. A portion of his email to me was as follows, ” There are two possible culprits in Florida, one is Trypocalliphora braueri, a subcutaneous blow fly. The other is Philornis, a Muscidae (a type of house fly) that occurs in Florida. By the time the larva comes to the surface where the bump can be seen the damage is done. Removing it or killing it at that point will not change things much for the nestlings. Neither pest is always lethal, it depends on the number of larvae that develop and where they burrow. I once took 25 mature Trypocalliphora larvae off a nestling junco and it survived long enough to fledge.”
Whether they be Blowflies, Houseflies or Botflies, whatever you call them, these nasty bugs can kill! Though not the same bug they are somewhat related. Some infest by way of laying their eggs or larvae into living tissue. Others crawl up through the nests and suck blood only to drop into the nest to grow then repeat the process. Getting larger and needing more blood each time. Usually a “Northern” plight, Blow flies can be controlled via nest changes as Sevin has NO affect on the larvae. A pair of forceps or tweezers can be used to pull these nasty things off of the nestlings. Once the Blowfly larvae are done feeding and growing in larval stages they form a pupal case in which they remain, dormant, until they are ready to emerge as an adult. Something like a caterpillar forming a cocoon before it emerges as a butterfly.
The typical BlowFly, can exsanguinate a nestling when present in large enough numbers but if caught early are controllable. These other guys (Philornis, Trypocalliphora and Botflies) however spell bigger trouble.
You think I am dreaming this all up? Read this article by The University of Northern British Columbia. (Be warned, if you don’t like bug pictures…don’t click) Basically it explains how death can result several ways. The Bot larvae move around and migrate in the soft tissue and can kill the bird, the wound itself can become infected and kill the bird, the Bot larvae will feed on the tissue and weaken the bird to the point of death, the Bot can damage the wings and thus, “produce an obvious awkwardness in locomotion, which may render them more susceptible to predation.” (that is a direct quote) In short the damage is severe and serious.
And talk about BiZzArRe? There is even a species of Bot Fly that lays its eggs on mosquitoes.When the mosquito bites the eggs are transferred. What does that mean? That means look out! Humans can get it too! Still don’t believe me? Just Google it. But that is another story.
What can be done about these subcutaneous (under the skin) Flies? Unfortunately, nest changes may not be helpful as once the adult Fly lays the eggs/larvae they crawl onto the bird and burrow into the skin. Another options is pretty gruesome and may not be legal. Also, it may cause more problems than it solves. Now, I could explain how the skin is cleaned with an antiseptic such as betadine prior to making a small incision from which the Bot Larvae is removed with a pair of forceps or tweezers but I wouldn’t want anyone with paranoia cutting holes in a purple martin with a wart. And legally, I think I could get in trouble for telling people to perform surgery on a federally protected bird without some sort of Veterinary license. All of this may be a mute point as once the larvae are large enough to cause the visible lump, the damage to the birds soft tissue is done. As www.kingsnake.com puts it, “They develop under the skin of some birds.The bird has died after…maggots have consumed much of its muscle tissues. Once their host is dead, the larvae leave it to pupate…”
In humans, the true Bot Fly wound (which is open so the larvae can breathe) could be covered with petroleum jelly or some other occlusive salve so that the larvae will emerge on its own, seeking air to breathe, after a day or so. I think that on a bird this course of treatment would not be successful. How could you place a dressing on a bird? We have the issue of a pretty dirty living environment (a nest) talk about infection! So, basically the wisest course of action would be to take the bird to a wildlife rehabber.
Of course we also have the problem of not really being sure which one of these 3 flies is the true culprit. Perhaps it is a combination of the 3, maybe some other. In order to find the true source of this problem I urge all that may witness this to photograph any lumps you may see on your nestlings and monitor them. Of course you can email them to me at the “Contact Us” section.
It is important to stress that with the classic and somewhat common Blow Fly infestations, that nest changes are by far the easiest and best treatment. Elevated subfloors help and nest trays make cleaning your purple martin bird houses super easy. Pulling off any Blow Fly larvae that are latched on to the nestlings with tweezers. For those of you that have questions regarding nest changes, this short video may help you overcome any trepidations that you may have.
Sources:
If you want to learn more about Blow Flies or help with blowfly research go to www.birdblowfly.com for some interesting facts.
The American Bird Conservation Association / Feathers and Friends can be contacted via phone at (260) 768-8095 x:5 Subscription rates are $18 for 1 year. Tell them Susan from PurpleMartins-R-Us sent you!
You may recall my occasional posts regarding a Screech Owl(s) that have called the Flicker nestbox next to my driveway home for several years now. Faithfully, every Spring, a pair of Screech Owls lays claim to the box and whether or not young have been raised there, I never really knew. I have found broken owl egg shells near the box and often see the owls exiting at dusk and just peeking out in the day. But recently the owls fate has become tragically known.
