Purple Martin Landlords

Duties Of A Landlord

2008-05-15T11:58:00.004-04:00

While watching the Purple Martins the other afternoon Shirley noticed a baby on the ground near the base of a housing pole. This means that the baby was too young to fly (Fledge) and would die if not returned to its nest. Because we do nest checks every 5 to 7 days and Shirley keeps meticulous records we were able to correct the situation.

We captured the baby, placed it in a bucket with some nest material and covered the bucket with a lid. The lid has a 2" hole along one edge so that the bird is in an environment that looks, from the inside, like its home.

Using growth images of developing Purple Martins, purchased from the Purple Martin Association, we were able to determine that the baby was about 20 days old.

Checking Shirley's logs of recent nest checks, she was able to determine which nest was the likely candidate to be the baby's home nest (babies of the same age).

Next we lowered the pole with the candidate nest. Then we counted the number of remaining babies in the nest. That nest had one baby missing from the count.

We replaced the baby in the nest, raised the pole and monitored the feeding of the babies for a day.

The little guys are doing well.

Whew!

2008-04-28T11:21:00.004-04:00

Sandie,

To find an excellent set of articles on choosing housing and attracting Purple Martins, just visit the Purple Martin Association’s web site:
Purple Martin Association

The Purple Martin Association offers several varieties of housing that meet the rules of your housing association.
Too see what they have to offer visit their on-line shop:
Purple Martin Association Shop

On the right is a photo of a typical Purple Martin House:

If you decide to use a different source for your housing, please make sure the nesting cavities are at least 6 inches by 6 inches. Too often the housing offered by the “Home Centers” is made by companies that just want your hard earned money and do not build their houses that are actually used by the Purple Martins.

Here in Central Florida our Purple Marin season is from middle January until the end of June, so tropical storms and hurricanes are not usually a factor while the birds are nesting.

What we do is leave our housing up until the end of September before we take it down for the season. This allows this year’s babies from other nest sites to see our housing and may use it next season.

If a very large storm is predicted, while we have it up, we just lower the poles to help protect the housing. If we are awaiting a hurricane we take it completely down early as long as the birds have fledged.

One of the responsibilities of a Purple Martin Landlord is to perform nest checks every five to seven days until the last bird fledges (leaves the nest). This is best done by telescopic poles or pole fitted with a pulley and winch system that allows the landlord to easily raise and lower the housing for checks and maintenance.

During one of early nest checks this season, we discovered a nest of six with four dead chicks. If we had not removed the dead chicks, cleaned replaced nest and returned the two remaining babies we would probably have lost all six. When there is a failed nest the parents will not usually return to the nest next year.

Our last two nest checks show the two remaining babies in that nest are doing just fine.

I hope this helps.
Thank you for your interest in Purple Martins and for visiting the Central Florida Bird Watchers web site.

Here is what Sandie wrote:

I would like to have a PM house for my front yard. A gourd would not pass with neighborhood restrictions.Which ones would you suggest as being most successful?

I also am concerned about Hurricane warnings and do not want to lose my investment
due to high winds.
Telescopic Pole the answer?
Cleaning and maintenance- Frequency and methods?
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Today's Nest Check 24-APR-08

2008-04-24T17:57:00.004-04:00

Shirley and I performed a nest check this afternoon. The two chicks are doing just fine in the gourd where we had found four dead last nest check.

Our numbers for this nest check were:
1) Total nests 28 in 28 gourds
2) Total eggs: 147
3) Eggs Hatched: 99

There were no noticeable mites in any of the nests.
All of the youngsters appear to doing fine.

We typically lower only one pole at a time for inspections. The parents were right there each time we raised the back to its normal height.

We will do another nest check in about 5 days.

Nest check 18-APR-2008

2008-04-18T12:55:00.008-04:00

Shirley and I did our nest check yesterday. We discovered 4 dead chicks in one gourd with two live chicks remaining. We removed the dead birds and put the live guys in a small bucket, while we removed all of the old nest materials. Then cleaned and disinfected the gourd. When the gourd had dried, we put in new nest materials and replaced the live birds. We were happy to see both parents return to the gourd and begin feeding the kids. If we had not done the nest check we could have lost all 6 babies, and the parents probably would have not returned to our site next year.

NEST CHECK PROCESS

The (Purple Martin Association) recommends each landlord perform nest checks every 5 to 7 days during the season. During the nest checks, we check nest and bird conditions, count and record the number of nests, eggs, hatchings, and the number of birds that fledge (leave the nest). At the end of the season the counts are tallied and forwarded to the Purple Martin Association (PM Assoc). The PM Assoc receives these reports from a large number of their members and uses the data for research purposes.

Count Results

Our Counts for yesterday were:
Total available nesting houses (gourds) = 28
Total number of nests = 26
Total eggs laid = 143
Total eggs hatched = 70