Yes, last week the purple martin colony cam went online. What is the colony cam? Well, it is the exterior view of a portion of my purple martin colony. Located in Sunny South Florida (Loxahatchee, which is western palm beach county, to be exact) the colony consists of 2 gourd racks and 1 multipurpose pole. The camera is currently on the “numbered” purple martin gourd rack.

As of right now there is capacity for 33 pairs but a few more gourds will go up bumping up this years capacity to about 36 pairs of purple martins. Last year 131 purple martins fledged from this site and we hope to do as well this year.

As of this morning there appears to be 2 pairs of martins. More should be showing up soon. Since migration appeared to have been delayed due to weather, the time between the ASY or adult purple martins arrival and the SY or sub adults arrival may be shorter than usual. So be prepared and get your houses up. If you live in the northern portion of the purple martins range and don’t expect them till later in the year, feel free to watch them on the web cam which should be running 24 hours a day, 7 days a week…barring any technical issues which sometimes arise.

A few European Starlings keep making early morning visits but will not enter my nest trap. The first day they arrived the starlings tried to enter the trap which was stuck and since then they seem in no hurry to enter it again. Of course, it is working now but as my luck would have it, they wont even look at it again. Instead the starlings will sit and watch from atop the gourd rack and do that drawn out backwards wolf whistle that makes my hair stand up. Like fingernails on a chalk board. Normally the repeating nestbox trap also known as a S&S trap would do the trick and trap them like a charm but alas, you can lead a horse to water…  For easy to build step by step plans on how to make your own S&S trap click on the photo above or this link:  Repeating Sparrow and Starling nestbox trap plans. But in essence the trap has a clever teeter totter type mechanism that automatically resets itself after depositing the trapped bird (UNHARMED) in a cage below. A great tool for those that manage bluebird trails as well. Our native birds need all the help they can get!

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.

Art:copyright www.PurpleMartinArt.com-”PurpleMartin Lake”

My martins have been gone for over a month. Reading the posts from the Purple Martin Forums, as far north as Canada, the final martins are heading towards their premigratory roosts. Within a week or two, they will all be gone.

Down south I have noticed some other departures and some new arrivals. The Swallow tailed Kites have all left. They leave shortly after the martins do, also forming premigratory roosts. Though their numbers are far less, their size and beauty makes them no less inspiring and amazing to see. I have begun to notice large flocks of barn swallows feeding silently as they zip back and forth, fairly low to the ground. Their rust colored necks and bellies in varying shades of cream and rust are a dead give away. Around the house, 15 Miles away by the Super Target, and many points in between I see them in groups of 10 to 50 birds. I would guess there must be thousands of these birds spread out all over south Florida in such a fashion. I will have to wait for the first cold snap up north to bring the large flocks of Robins that come every year. I am fortunate to live near a large wetland preserve and there are always large numbers of birds that fly to and from the preserve. Robins always coming and going to the preserve, En Mass. Some other winter time visitors to my yard make illusive appearances such as the pair of Eastern Phoebes that come every winter. 

I will shortly begin planning next season in earnest. Another pole, Predator protection, a bat house and more gourds of course. I strive to give my neighbors something to laugh at. If they only knew the joy these birds can bring.

A Purple Martin Landlords life is a dicotomy. Your life is seperated not by weekdays and weekends, not by day and night but by martin season or not martin season. And life is OH SO DIFFERENT when they are not around. The martins fly to Brazil for their vacation and I get mine too. No hawk patrols. No nest checks. No worries! A nice time to relax-take a vacation. Why not, it’s not like I have to be home to make sure they are all accounted for. But much like a day away from your kids…soon the memories of tantrums and fights fade and you long for the sweet torture again. And that is life now. Sweet torture. Glancing out at the housing AT LEAST every hour. Sometimes while in conversations. I guess guys have been positioning their mates so that they still have a view of the ball game. So while the martins are here I do it too. “No, thats my seat. It has got the view of both poles.”

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