"In the early 1860's, on a farm in southern Indiana, my maternal grandfather, Thomas Baynes, would run to the woods when he saw that a wandering flock of Passenger Pigeons was landing nearby. There would be so many pigeons in the air that they darkened the sky, and the noise of their wings was so intense that Thomas could not hear his younger sister's shouts of excitement, even when she was standing right at his side. That once most numerous of birds is gone forever from this earth."

"I hope that we do not have to see any more species now on earth vanish forever. Our concern with Purple Martins has to do with helping encourage Purple Martin landlords to ensure the continuing survival of this marvelous migratory bird, by finding ways to maximize its reproductive success, and the survivability of the individual birds."

"Banding studies allow us to learn about the migration routes, breeding and social behavior of the species, and the longevity of individual birds. Better management of the breeding colonies in North America, and the nonbreeding flocks in South America, is essential if our descendants are to feel the thrill of seeing that first spring scout, or hear the melodious chatter of a Purple Martin colony on a summer evening. In the words of naturalist C. William Beebe, "when the last individual of a race of living things breeds no more, another heaven and earth must pass before such a one can be again."" The philosophy of Tom Dellinger, as noted by Maria and Rebecca Dellinger.

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Tom and Maria Dellinger banding adult Purple Martins in Duncanville, Texas. The Dellingers' eighteen years of banding have yielded valuable information on martins.

The PMCA is pleased to honor Dr. Thomas Baynes Dellinger as its 1995 Landlord of the Year. Tom joins previous PMCA Landlords of the Year, Charles McEwen (1992), Andy Troyer (1993), and Terry Anne Suchma (1994). Each of these individuals has made valuable contributions toward the conservation of Purple Martins. Tom Dellinger's many contributions make him highly deserving of this award. Tom has banded over 10,000 Purple Martins, and almost 5% of the Bird Banding Lab's recovery data on martins comes from birds Tom banded. He has made substantial contributions to the improvement of martin housing systems, based on his observations from 18 years of banding. Dozens of articles and letters drawn from his experiences and observations have been published in the Nature Society News and the Purple Martin Update. Perhaps because of his professional background, Tom is a thorough compiler of data, keeping detailed records, observations, and measurements of various phenomena that pique his interest. Because of years of banding at many locations, Tom is in touch with over 170 landlords in his area, and is generous with his time and knowledge in helping newcomers along. Through assisting his wife, Maria, during her years as a permitted wildlife rehabilitator, he has also accumulated much practical knowledge of Purple Martin biology. His well-rounded approach to the field, and his example of involvement, learning, and application stand as an excellent model for a martin landlord and conservationist. Turning 70 years of age in January, 1996, Tom is always looking for ways to improve martin housing, increase nesting and fledging success, and to learn more about these purple swallows that have fascinated him for so many years. This interest has led to his many contributions to both the scientific and practical side of Purple Martin management and research.

Born in Craw-fordsville, Indiana, Tom grew up on a farm where martins were part of his life from a very early age. In those days, a homemade wooden house was put up in the spring, and cleaned out at season's end; this was the standard practice and extent of management at the time. Six of his seven siblings have been martin landlords, as well. After serving in the U.S. Army Air Corps during World War II, Tom graduated from Purdue University with a degree in Chemical Engineering. Tom lived and worked in Venezuela from 1948-59, and married Maria De La Garza in 1949. They have four living children and two grandchildren. On returning to the United States, Tom earned two advanced degrees (an M.S. and Ph.D.) in Petroleum Engineering from the University of Tulsa. He holds 23 U.S. patents, plus dozens of foreign patents, and has authored numerous professional publications in the petroleum field. In 1990, Tom was the "Drilling Engineer of the Year" for the Society of Petroleum Engineers. He retired in 1988, after working in the petroleum industry 40 years, the last 18 with Mobil Research & Development Corporation.

Tom's enthusiasm for Purple Martins, and the efforts he has put into their conservation, are shared by his entire family. His wife, Maria, assists with the extensive record keeping that is a task in itself. "Maria tolerates me and all my bird work," says Tom. "She gets involved, too. She helps me in the recording of data, and spent years as a wildlife rehabilitator, though she is not now an official rehaber." Daughters, Meg and Becky, and sons, Tad and Joe, all take some part in Tom's and Maria's work with Purple Martins. Three of the four Dellinger offspring are subpermitees under Tom's master bird-banding permit. Becky has also been a wildlife rehabilitator. Tad and Meg both maintain active colony sites for martins at their own homes. Joe, a resident of Tulsa, Oklahoma, helps out as his work schedule allows.

Tom and Maria have been martin landlords since 1959, first in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and from 1970 in Duncanville, Texas. Starting with a wooden house, they first added metal houses in 1972, and Tom began banding martins in 1978. A wooden house is still part of the Dellinger martin sanctuary, but today, Tom primarily uses modified TG-12 aluminum houses equipped with starling-proof entrances, extra perches, and nest cups filled with dried pine needles. His houses are supplied with mesh subfloors, and modified to raise and lower more quietly. Homemade owl guards were used before remodeling the TG-12's made them unnecessary.

To give PMCA members an idea of a typical martin season for the Dellingers, in 1995, Tom banded 701 martins (26 adults and 110 young at his own colony, and 565 young at other colonies). This brings his total number banded to 10,305 martins. He also recaught 25 previously-banded birds at his own site. Housing for the season consisted of eight TG-12's and two TW-12's, each modified by connecting two 6" compartments to create one dual-room nest compartment. For each nest site there is an entry compartment and a nesting compartment. The martins accept the double rooms quite well and always build in the second compartment. Tom is satisfied that this is an improvement over the conventional 6" x 6" compartments; there are no wet nests after heavy rains, nests are further from the reach of predators, and they are easier for him to monitor. During his banding activities at other sites, he had previously noted that the center compartments of TG-12's were not productive, and that corner compartments were used over center compartments, five to one. To convert to the two-room system, two 6" compartments are connected by a 2&1/4" square opening, cut through the connecting wall. The nesting compartment has its door plugged shut; birds will enter through the first, or entry, compartment. In a TG-12, Tom uses the four center compartments as entryways for four corner compartments. For the two remaining sites, the entry and nest compartments will be connected corner compartments. Each floor of the converted house will end up with two side-by-side connected compartments, and one set of connected corner compartments. Only one porch divider is needed for each porch. The subfloors that come with the house can remain in place. For monitoring, the nest compartment door can be raised, and birds or eggs easily counted. He also adds a 2" lip or wall to the subfloor, on the side abutting the exterior door, to keep nest material from spilling out onto the porch when the compartment is opened for monitoring. Otherwise, nest material spills out each time the door is opened, and clogs around the latch, making it difficult to fasten the door clip correctly, and the doors can pop open. By pairing the 6" x 6" rooms, rather than changing to one 6" x 12" room, starling problems should not increase, but if starlings do become a threat, he has confirmed that converting to the special starling-excluder opening will take care of the problem.

Mounted in clusters, Tom's inexpensive mailbox martin houses are equipped with plastic nest cups (right) and recessed, starling-proof entrance holes (left). The mailbox door permits easy checking of martin nests.

With the new compartment layout, Tom believes that fewer young end up out on the porches waiting to be fed, and none were observed to crawl (or fall) out onto the porches and die. Tom feels that the extra space inside seems to keep the young within their compartments. When houses are lowered for nest checks, some nesting females stay on their nests rather than flushing out the hole. Tom has seen this before, but feels it occurs more often now with the dual-room compartments than with single-room compartments. For monitoring, the nest in the cup is right at the flip-up doorway; he doesn't have to reach over a mud wall.

Tom used the starling-resistant opening (1&3/16" high) on most of his houses in 1995. He noted that the martins had trouble entering for a while, but not for long, and soon learned to enter and exit with just an extra little flip of the tail. No starlings were observed entering these openings, nor was any evidence of starling nest building found after the openings were in place. Because he was concerned that some martins might not be able to enter the new openings, Tom had originally left several full-size round openings positioned so that he could carefully observe any starling activities. The starlings started several nests in these compartments, but were never permitted to complete one. House Sparrows, being smaller than martins, naturally entered the special doors with ease. It is Tom's impression that the sparrows did less damage to the martins with the dual-room nestings, but he has not accumulated enough hard data on this. In any case, the starling-proof entrance hole takes care of the starling problem, leaving only House Sparrows to be dealt with. He feels that, in general, sparrows do more damage to martins than starlings do.

Tom has found that using a nest-cup insert helps in nest checking and maintenance. He conveniently makes nest bowls for his Trio aluminum houses from the bottoms of a one-gallon plastic milk bottles. The sides of the bottle are cut to provide a 2" deep cup, with an entry notch cut to match the compartment entry hole (for a standard 6" x 6" aluminum house compartment). The bottoms of the cups were perforated for drainage, then modified by removing the center ridge. He finishes the cups by covering the floor area with mesh material, stapled into place. The nylon mesh is to provide traction for the nestlings, which can develop splayed legs on smooth metal floors and subfloors.

Tom places dried pine needles in each nest compartment before the martins arrive. The needles are cut into 3-inch lengths and formed into a loose nest in each compartment. Tom feels that cedar shavings are too lightweight and fine, and are easily kicked out of the nest by the movements of the young. He has observed that martin nests incorporating dried pine needles seem to retain their shape better than nests that contain just straw, hay, or grass. Tom finds that nest mites are most often a problem in late nests in houses that have already fledged some young. The mites move from the old, vacated nests, to the newer nests where they wreak havoc on the younger babies. Nest replacement, using these nest cups and new nest material (pine needles) is now his method of parasite control.

Tom believes that extra perching areas on and near the housing are an added attraction for martins. He has added perches at the lower level of the houses, placed 4&1/2" out from the porch railings. The martins use the perches when entering both the upper and lower levels of the houses. He also replaces the aluminum roof perch with a wooden perch. All his added perches measure 5/8" by 4 feet long; he has previously determined that the martins prefer 5/8" diameter wooden dowels for perches, over smaller diameters. He places his housing in groups of three or four houses, and for each cluster provides a separate perch, 20 feet high. The top of the perch tower, which resembles a TV antenna, holds four wooden dowels, each 5/8" by 4 feet long. The martins gather on the perch tower to rest, socialize, and preen. The martins really like the extra perches he provides.

One of Tom's modified TG-12's, with dual-room nest compartments, starling-proof entrances, and extra perches. Porch dividers, one per porch, and owl guards, are also part of his management strategy.

Innovator: Befitting his background as an engineer, Tom has spent time studying existing housing systems and accessories in an effort to improve their function and suitability for landlords and martins. He has taken a special interest in improving deficits in commercial house designs that could be harmful to martins. In banding thousands of birds, mostly nestlings, at hundreds of different sites and houses, Tom became aware of a problem that he had never seen reported; nestlings on bare metal floors or subfloors sometimes developed abnormally, with permanently splayed legs. Whether due to an inadequate amount of nest material, or due to the normal activities of healthy, active nestlings, the young birds were working down through the nest material to end up on the slippery, bare floors. Unable to maintain their normal posture, some developed with this permanent and disabling deformity. As a result, all subfloors in Tom's housing have had nylon mesh added, which will prevent leg splay. Another problem for young, unfeathered nestlings on bare metal floors is heat loss, which can cause fatal hypothermia when temperatures are substantially less than the body heat of the young (102 degrees F.). The mesh floor covering will keep nestlings out of direct contact with the bare metal. Tom routinely does "maintenance" activities when banding at other sites, adding nest material, floor coverings, etc., as necessary.

Although he has preached now for several years about floor coverings to landlords when he bands their birds, he has found that most do not make the extra effort to install the mesh. Where he finds birds worked down to the bare metal, he provides his own subfloor with mesh covering, and exchanges it for their bare subfloors. To entice landlords to get the subfloors covered, Tom feels a product is needed that can be purchased with the house, or very easily installed as an after-market product. He has been using a material called Shade Cloth, available from greenhouse suppliers, and recently found a material called Plastic Canvas, available at craft stores, that is stiff enough to stay in place, easy to find, and costs about 17¢ per 6-inch compartment. Any sharp protrusions, left from the manufacturing process, can be quickly removed with a few swipes from a piece of sandpaper. Either type of covering should be fastened in place with ties, or several dots of glue. It's a simple, easy, and effective solution; no more birds doomed to unnecessary suffering and death, due to bare floors, heat loss, or deformed legs!

Another situation where Tom's observations brought attention to a problem involves the Spare-o-Door (SD-1), a commercial sparrow trap for use on Trio aluminum martin houses. It is a very useful accessory, but, like any dangerous item, it must be used correctly. The trap has been manufactured for a number of years, with some variations in its design. Devised to admit House Sparrows while excluding the larger Purple Martin, an earlier version had a 1&1/2" opening. Unfortunately, some martins were able to enter the 1&1/2" opening and become trapped. If not found and released promptly, they would later be found dead in the trap. The operating instructions specify that frequent monitoring is required to allow the prompt release of native birds, such as House Wrens, chickadees, bluebirds, and Tree Swallows. But some landlords, assuming no harm will result, are careless, and do not monitor the trap as frequently as recommended. The manufacturer has redesigned the trap with a smaller 1&3/8" opening to prevent accidental trapping of martins. However, as Tom has pointed out, other small birds, such as wrens, Tree Swallows, and smaller, porch-wandering martin nestlings, can enter the smaller opening and become trapped. Therefore, it is imperative that both versions of the trap be monitored frequently to prevent the deaths of birds other than House Sparrows. Tom is concerned about the thousands of existing, older SD-1 traps in use, manufactured with 1&1/2" entrance holes. He has found it possible to disassemble the trap, drill out the rivets, and then use a hammer to stretch and peen the edges of the opening, reducing it to 1&3/8"; the edges are then smoothed and the trap reassembled. Or, an excluder hole, measuring 1&3/8", can be cemented over the existing 1&1/2" hole, on the exterior, where it will not interfere with the trap's mechanisms. How many landlords, he wonders, find dead martins, or other species, in these traps each season? Most would feel badly and probably keep quiet about it. Across the country, there may be hundreds of deaths each year. His advice to landlords using either trap is, be extra careful not to neglect a fallen shutter - you may have captured a martin or other nontarget species.

Another idea developed by Tom includes a modification for TG-12 houses to correct the problem of excessive metal-to-metal noise and vibration (when raising and lowering the house) that sometimes scares young birds close to fledging age into jumping from the house. He has also developed a successful house made from modified mailboxes, that is equipped with starling-proof openings, a deep sheltered porch for protection from weather and predators, and oversized compartments that are easy to monitor and maintain. One pair of martins nested in a modified mail box house in 1995, and raised five young.

When he previously tried the commercial owl guard manufactured by Nature House, Tom found it interfered with opening compartment doors for nest checks [Nature House has eliminated this problem on its latest owl guard design]. Using wire mesh with 2" x 3" openings, Tom fabricated a homemade owl guard for his TG-12 houses. With the removal of just four spring-loaded binder clips, his homemade guards can be removed completely for nest checks. Nature House's revised owl guards now cost $24.95 per pair (plus shipping; available through the PMCA), Tom's guards cost him about $1 each, so all 10 houses can be fitted with guards for less than the cost of one commercial guard. He can make and install a guard in less time than required to assemble and attach a commercial guard. Since converting to deeper, dual-room nesting compartments, he has not found it necessary to use external owl guards.

A close-up view of a modified TG-12 house, showing extra perches and a homemade owl guard. The guard is fashioned from hardware cloth with a 2" x 3" mesh, and is held in place by four binder clips.

Bander: Since 1978, Tom has banded 10,305 Purple Martins. Most of these were nestlings, but quite a few were adults, as well. The data gained from banding is unique, and not obtainable in any other way. The National Biological Survey's Bird Banding Lab, headquartered in Laurel, Maryland, has over 1149 recovery records listed for Purple Martins, from 1921 through March of 1994. "Recovery records" are data compiled by the Bird Banding Lab on birds that are recovered, dead or alive, outside the 10-minute latitude/longitude block where they were banded. Of the 1149 Purple Martin recovery records, more than 50, or 4.4% of the total recoveries are from birds banded by Tom Dellinger. Most of the BBL's recoveries are for North America, but there are 21 martin recoveries from south of the U.S. border, (one from Mexico, three in Central America, three from Colombia, one from Venezuela, ten from Brazil, and three from Bolivia). Of these, three were birds banded in Texas by Tom - two recoveries from Brazil, and one from Colombia (see the detailed article on pages 24-25). Tom also has records on about 300 local returns (i.e., "recoveries" within the same 10-minute latitude/longitude block where they were banded); some returning year after year. A male martin banded as a nestling at his colony site in 1988 was then recaught six times in 1989, three times in just one day. The bird was recaught once in 1990, twice in 1991, and again in 1992. During night trapping, this male was found in compartments with three different females.

The data gathered from banding contributes to our knowledge of birds in many ways. For example, there is one amazing case of a 13-year-old Purple Martin from the Banding Lab's records. There are records of several seven-year-old birds, too. One martin that Tom banded as nestling in 1987 in the Dallas suburb of Grapevine was recovered in Dallas in 1994. Banding recoveries tell us about distances traveled, as when an adult female martin Tom banded in Texas in April of 1983 was found over a year later, in Lyons, Kansas. Over the years, Tom has been in contact with over 170 different colony sites, and banded at many of them. Unfortunately, Tom informs us that many of these colonies are now useless for martins, due to landlord inattentiveness, tree encroachment, House Sparrow occupation, or other types of neglect.

Rehabilitator: In cooperation with a local, licensed wildlife rehabilitator, Purple Martins being rehabbed were allowed to exercise by flying round and round through four interconnecting rooms in the Dellinger house. The exercise is an important part of helping birds rebuild their strength so they can be released. On one occasion, a flash unit was setup at strategic points along the flying route. As the bird approached or flew by, pictures were taken. Tom said, "We missed many shots, but did get a few reasonable pictures showing wings in various positions of flight. The rooms for the flight had to be carefully prepared, by curtaining off windows, to make sure the bird would not fly into them."

Left: Strengthening its wings during a supervised exercise period, a martin is prepared for release after recovering from injuries. Working with licensed wildlife rehabilitators, Tom was able to take a sequence of photos of the bird in flight. Right: An unusual photo of a rehabbed Purple Martin that has learned to drink out of a bowl.

Author, Educator, and Photographer: Tom has kept detailed records of all his work with martins and has published articles in several journals and periodicals. His black & white photograph sequence documenting the growth rate of nestling martins has been published in three books, as well as in the Purple Martin Update and Nature Society News. Also in the News he has published eight articles, and numerous letters. The Purple Martin Update has printed seven contributions from Tom, starting with the premier issue of the Update in 1988. His photographs, articles, and observations are always aimed at educating landlords, with the ultimate goal of aiding Purple Martins. Included among the topics of some of his articles are observations of snag-nesting Purple Martins in Utah, and reports on Purple Martin roosts in Texas. Back in his days as a petroleum drilling engineer, Tom published an article, along with ornithologist Warren Pulich, on his observations of birds on an offshore drilling rig. Tom and Maria translated Carlyle Rogillio's martin rehabilitation manual into Spanish for the Hispanic community of southern Texas.

One of the most unique stories he played a role in, came from his participation in a joint project of the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and the Brazilian Association for the Preservation of Wildlife. In January of 1985, wintering flocks of Purple Martins in São Paulo state, Brazil, were sprayed with an invisible material containing microdots of paint, visible only under ultraviolet light. Four colors of paint were used, one in each region of São Paulo state; a very fine mist of spray was applied as the flocks circled their roosts at night. The process and materials were harmless, and the marking paint would adhere to the birds' feathers for eight months. When the martins returned to North America that spring, selected banders were equipped with ultraviolet lights by the USFWS, and through night trapping, examined martins in search of the microdots of paint. The first marked bird was found by Tom Dellinger, just six weeks after the marking project was carried out, the second a few days later, and he found several more that year.

Tom is generous with his know-how and experience; he holds an informal "open house" each summer for the staff of the nearby Fort Worth Zoo, allowing them a chance to become familiar with the demands of monitoring and managing a wild bird species. He has fostered six new banders as subpermitees, to help them gain the experience that will hopefully qualify them for their own permits. Wherever he goes to band martins, he talks to the landlords, giving them feedback on their martin colony site, their housing, and what's going on in the nests. His enthusiasm is contagious, and Tom, Maria, and the Dellinger family are ideal ambassadors for the Purple Martin. The PMCA is honored to have Tom Dellinger as its 1995 Landlord of the Year.

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