For some reason the purple martins this year to be a lot more vocal than usual. In past years they seem to trickle in a few here and there and then they keep a low profile. Staying away feeding for much of the day. Not wanting to draw too much attention while their numbers are low. This year seems a bit different. Maybe its because our colony here in Loxahatchee, Florida is now firmly established as we enter our 6th year, or perhaps its just the size of the colony, now offering over 45 compartments. It just seems like the birds are hanging around, chortling, sitting in the entrances of their gourds staking their claim. They were a few days late this year but they seem to have arrived in greater numbers. I counted 15 in the air but I am sure there were some in the gourds.

I have a few final finishing touches to complete to the colony site. Putting up 2″ x 4″ hardware cloth on the 2 aluminum martin houses on the MPP, is on the to-do list. Also changing out some access caps with the new Heavy Duty caps that won’t stretch and pop off. Also the BirdCam is being worked on and though it is proving to be a bit more troublesome this year, I am sure the live streaming cam will be up soon.

The MPP is a Multi Purpose Pole that lets you hang 2 houses on 1 pole and plus hang gourds below. The picture shows not only the MPP pole at our colony but the same pole we sell at our site, BTW. I added even more gourds to this set-up by adding a set of Universal Gourd Hanging Arms to the houses themselves. So The pole has 12 house compartments and 8 gourds for the martins to choose from. Though you could in theory add more gourds, I  usually don’t recommend going more than 18 compartments/gourds on any 1pole. Remember, the problem isn’t with the weight, per sea, but with the time it takes to check on so many compartments. Inevitably what happens is that you will end up not being able to check nests because of the variation in nest ages and then you have to worry about scaring babies that are close to fledge age. It can get a little tricky and if you don’t keep up on nest checks, you end up with a cluster! For those that want to offer houses and gourds and have limited backyard space, the MPP is a wonderful thing.

YEAH! It is official. The purple martin season has begun! I am happy to report the arrival of 2 ASY purple martin females. They are chortling and sticking heads in compartments and even entering a few gourds. They seem none the worse for wear and happy to be home. I will take photos and be posting them asap. Also I am in the midst of getting 4 new cams up and working. STAY TUNED!

Its official. All Troyer Horizontal and Troyer Vertical gourds (with SREH) are now featuring Anti-Wing Entrapment tunnels AND new thicker Heavy Duty access caps that WON’T pop off! We are proud to offer the Troyer Horizontal Gourds and Troyer Vertical gourds and we use them ourselves in our own colony.

Off course you can buy these HD Caps separately to upgrade and improve your current selection of Troyer Gourds, Supergourds and Excluder gourds. These caps are opaque (so light won’t leak in), are stronger (so they won’t stretch out and pop off), have a ribbed grip and have 4 purple martins embossed on the top to boot!

All Starling Resistant Entrance Holes (SREH) on Troyer Gourds will now feature an anti-entrapment Guard on the interior of the tunnel. We have written several post in the past on wing entrapment and any SREH is susceptible to having this happen. If a bird becomes entrapped and it goes unnoticed the bird and any trapped behind it will perish. These new guards will cut down on this risk. Read more about wing entrapment at PurpleMartins-R-Us and also on this Blog. The guards are molded into the tunnel and are trap compatible with the Troyer-Haskell Tunnel Trap. Perfect for trapping S&S (Invasive House Sparrows & European Starlings) or even can be used to safely capture purple martins for banding/research purposes.

The season is almost upon us and the martins will be arriving in South Florida within the next few weeks. So stay tuned for an increase in posts here on MyPurpleMartinBlog.com and follow us on Twitter for martin Scout reports. (We are “PurpleMartinArt” on Twitter) Also we are working again on our webcam to get it up and running for our birds return.

In closing we wish you all a relaxing Joyful Holiday and a Healthy New Year!

Bluebird trails, Tree swallow boxes and purple martin landlords can all benefit from using snake netting (actually bird netting) on your poles. Snakes can climb up any pole and can even thwart many predator guards. Since no predator guard is 100% fool proof, this quick and easy tip can further decrease the chances of one of these critters from slinking their way up your martin pole.

Bird netting can be found at just about any garden center, home improvement center and is used to keep birds from eating the fruit and veggies in your garden. It can be found in either rolls or flat packaging, and comes in several sizes. We recommend using 2 sizes to protect against larger and smaller snakes. 1/4 inch and 1/2 inch.

The exact way to attach the netting to your poles is unimportant. The netting needs to be held out and away from the pole to both prevent ground predators from using the net to circumvent any other predator guards in place (such as a stovepipe type)  and to make the snake go through the net rather than up and around it. Thus the exact way to layer the netting is  a debatable issue. Many different techniques have been used successfully. The main idea is for it to be above your predator guard to serve as a last “hail Mary” of protection. The netting should be full and hang loosely. Think of a big fluffy skirt under your housing.

The image of the Krueger Snake Net above will take you to the website of Audubon-omaha.org page on how to make your own snake netting.

The Nanaimo News Bulletin in BC Canada featured another article on our Western purple martins a few days ago. It’s hard to believe that the season is still winding down for our Canadian neighbors. As the final day of summer approaches, it’s almost a “last hurrah” of sorts for us here in the extreme Southern range of the Eastern species.

It is nice to hear that despite the poor weather they still managed to have a good year and some 585 pairs that managed to produce some 2,200 baby martins. 110 of those pairs within the Nanaimo area itself.

Of course you can read the entire article by clicking on the picture or visit www.georgiabasin.ca or www.saveourmartins.org.

Well, it’s official. According to the August 2011 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Climatic Data Center, Texas had the hottest summer since they have been keeping records. And to compound the issue according to the website http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/sotc/national/, “analysis of Texas statewide tree-ring records dating back to 1550 indicates that the summer 2011 drought in Texas is matched by only one summer (1789) in the 429-year tree-ring record, indicating that the summer 2011 drought appears to be unusual even in the context of the multi-century tree-ring record.”

wikipedia 1930 DustBowl

All of the data that NOAA has accumulated seems to explain the record complaints of purple martin landlords, not only in Texas but in many States. Nestlings starving from drought, record heat causing nest fatalities and “jumpers”. Even Florida, Louisiana and South Carolina all experienced their warmest March-August recorded yet. Though Texas has not exceeded its record of the length of drought conditions, already the severity exceed those of the 1930′s “Dust Bowl”.

Unfortunately, nothing can be done about the weather, except perhaps, to wait it out.  Taking the few steps we recommend to help your martins can perhaps help you to feel less helpless but even those steps can only help so much. Things like making sure your martin houses are well ventilated, using purple martin houses that utilize larger nest compartments and perhaps installing a misting system, are the only things that can help. So until next year, pray for more accommodating weather.

Now that my season is over I like to herald in the fall by placing my egg shell collection container on my kitchen counter. True, it is not the most decorative touch but it reminds me to continue to save egg shells and build up my stores for the next season. In reality it is nothing more than an old Folgers coffee container with holes poked in the top to allow air circulation and my husband always seems to be trying to hide it away, under the sink. But one could decorate it nice if you were concerned over the aesthetics of it all. What’s the big deal? Plenty, if you want the most from your purple martins nesting efforts.

Some folks get it all done and over with by going to a local diner or restaurant and just asking the cook/chef/manager for their egg shells from breakfast service. It sure would make my counter look nicer without the old Folgers can. Of course the best way (as recommended by the Purple Martin Conservation Association) is to actually purchase a bag of Oyster Shell. But however you do it, supplemental Calcium has been a staple of the bird business for as long as folks have been breeding birds.

The actual preparation of egg shells is pretty easy. And “yes”, you do have to prepare the egg shells. It is quite easy and just following these instructions on “Preparing Egg Shells” at our parent site, gives an easy recipe, of sorts.

As mentioned earlier, the PMCA actually recommends using Oyster Shell which is sold as a chicken supplement. It is easily found at any feed store, grain store or the like. Not all are created equal, however. Look for the “pullet sized” which are bigger pieces meant for supplementing chickens as some calcium supplements are in a powder form and way to fine for supplemental feeding. If it is too fine, it will just blow off your elevated feeder. If the oyster shells in the bag you purchase are too fine, just make note and don’t buy that brand again. The only thing the dust version of the Oyster Shell is good for is for your garden, in some cases, to ‘sweeten’ the soil. And if you see “Coral” anywhere on the ingredients, beware- you may end up with a bag of coral dust.

If you are wondering what the big deal is, you can read more here: EFFECTS OF SUPPLEMENTAL CALCIUM ON THE GROWTH RATE OF AN INSECTIVOROUS BIRD: THE PURPLE MARTIN (Progne subis) By Ray Poulin

The PMCA also has an article in their publication The Purple Martin Update Vol. 15 (2) on page 20 I believe that is an interesting read. Contact the PMCA for a back issue of that.

To paraphrase all and take from my own experiences with domestic birds; by providing supplemental calcium you will help your female purple martins in how many eggs are actually laid and the number of birds that actually hatch. Also the nestlings with supplemental calcium have longer feathers at the same age and better growth rates overall. Though the PMCA states that Oyster Shell is much better absorbed than eggshell, if you can’t get the Oyster Shell, Egg Shells are better than nothing.

In another display of bird lovers coming out to witness the spectacle of a Purple Martin premigratory roost, Shockoe Bottom (by Richmond) in Virginia had their annual “Gone to the Birds” festival. Not the largest roost but still mighty impressive at an estimated 25,000, a cluster of Bradford pear trees served as the center piece for the 4th festival at the 17th Street Farmers’ Market in Shockoe Bottom. The celebration featured purple creations of all sorts, from purple snow cones to purple martinis for the grown ups. To read the article and see a video of the birds coming in to roost, click on the photo.

For more info on this yearly event you can go to the website at  www.GoneToTheBirds.org for their blog, news and more.

Though the season here is done and I suspect our South Florida roosts are also done, up in North Carolina things are heating up. The William B. Umstead Bridge in Manns Harbor plays host to a huge purple martin premigratory roost. The Manns Harbor roost is swarming with martins at dusk. For about another month or two these birds will be roosting under the bridge in such large numbers that warning lights were installed to slow traffic as hundreds of birds were being struck and killed by cars at dawn and dusk.

As years past the Coastal Carolina Purple Martin Society (CCPMS) will be having boat tours and for $30 a person you will be witness to a spectacle of nature. You can read about the tour on a previous blog post from last year or go straight to their website to contact for reservations at Purple Martin Roost Boat Tour Information.

Know of a roost near you? Make sure you visit it before they are gone.

(c) 2011 S.Halpin PurpleMartins-R-Us

Every season seems to end the same for me, here in South Florida. The end of martin season coincides with the start of our rainy season. Each morning our colony would get a faithful dozen or so visitors that would sit on the housing and chatter at any remaining nests. Late in the morning they would leave to only to return again the next morning. But then when a few days of poor/rainy weather persists, they are gone. I wrote a post last year about how it is thought that birds are sensitive to changes in barometric pressures and the weather , could avoid bad weather by delaying migration to an area of poor weather or vice versa. I’ll repost it here:

According to Melvin L. Kreithen and William T. Keeton of the Division of Biological Sciences, Langmuir Laboratory, Cornell University in Ithaca, New York,(23 October 1973) Homing pigeons were able to to detect air pressure changes. As purple martin landlords can tell you, a purple martins homing ability is at the very least equal to that of a homing pigeon. So the correlation is fair.

By any account, my season is over here in South Florida and all martins have left.

The factors that affect a birds migration are complex and not completely understood. Click this article for Neotropical Migratory Bird Basics from the Smithsonian National Zoological Park. If you want to learn more about Neotropical Migratory Birds read this article on Birds Built-in Barometer.

Not that my birds need bad weather to end their party, migratory birds know when it is time to go based on known factors such as the length of day and for some types of birds, even star patterns. There is nothing to be done for purple martins (or any other migratory bird-for that matter) that linger on. Some folks will tell you to lower or remove housing, but don’t bother. Just like the old wives tales that persist that tell hummingbird aficionados to remove hummingbird feeders to push hummers to migrate, nothing needs to be done.

So keep the feeders full, leave the housing up till you feel like it. Birds have been migrating for a long time and the only thing we need to do for them is support them, by way of a beak full of nectar, a belly full of seed or perhaps a dry place to sleep at night.