The History of Yellow #572
James R. Hill, III, Louise Chambers, & Ken Kostka
Purple Martin Conservation Association
On July 20th, 1997, a US Geological Survey aluminum leg band with the number 1581-77072 was put around the left leg of one of the nestlings in Natural Gourd #23 at the tree encroached colony site of Jim Lengyel in the town of Conneaut in northeastern OH on the shore of Lake Erie. A yellow plastic leg band bearing the number 572 placed on its right leg. In fact, many martins were banded at the site that day as part of an ongoing study of martin dispersion and survival. Most are never seen again. But, about a month later, on August 23, 1997, this bird (hereafter referred to as “572”) was spotted in a dead tree snag at Presque Isle State Park, 28 miles Northeast of its birthplace. It’s color band was read from the ground with a high-power spotting scope by Jamie Hill on one of his many excursions to the Isle. 572 had come to join thousands of other martins at this premigratory roost. Within weeks, he would be heading for Brazil. The odds were that we would never spot him again, for less than half of all hatching year martins survive their first year of life.
Nine months later, on May 24th, 1998, at 7:30 AM, PMCA staffer Louise Chambers was just beginning her day, when she glanced out the window and noticed a martin on the TG-12 house in her backyard. Excited, since she had been trying to establish a colony for several years in the town of Venango, about 10 miles south of Edinboro, she rushed to get her binoculars to get a better look. He was a subadult male, and he had a yellow band on his right leg. She rushed to set up her spotting scope. (Binoculars aren’t powerful enough to read the band numbers.) It was 572! He had survived his journey to Brazil, and he had returned to North America.He was 25.7 miles SE of his natal colony site in Ohio. It was a thrill for Louise to host 572. He would reside at her site for the next 27 days and be seen there at least once a day, often in the company of other martins, which he attempted to recruit.
A few days later,on May 27th, and again on May 28th, 572 was spotted “snooping” around the colony site of Andy Troyer in Conneautville, PA, 8.9 miles west of Louise’s site in Venango. Perhaps he was trying to recruit a few Amish SY females to strike out with him to Venango. Although 572 escorted several SY females to the Venango site during the course of a month, he never succeeding in getting any to stay and breed. He was destined to be a bachelor his first year. On June 21st, 1998, Louise saw him for the last time in Venango. He was seen again August 20th at the Presque Isle martin roost. Where he spent the intervening time is a mystery. Would we ever see him again?
The following year, on June 22nd1999, PMCA staffers Ken Kostka and Jamie Hill took a trip to Warren, PA, a town along the Allegheny River, about 50 miles east of Edinboro. Our objective was to visit the colony site of a member whose nestlings we wished to band as part of our Presque Isle roost study. We band birds at many different locations in PA, OH, and NY in an attempt to determine whether birds from those colony sites visit the Presque Isle roost near Erie, PA at summer’s end. We took along our spotting scopes since we would also be looking for color bands on adult martins. When we arrived at the site, the first thing we did was to set up our scopes and begin looking at the legs of martins. The first martin I spotted at the site was an ASY male with a yellow band. As the number spun around, I saw that the last two digits were 72. Sure enough, it turned out to be yellow 572! He was in adult plumage and had found a mate. He was breeding successfully in a modified Coates aluminum house, 72 miles west of his birthplace and 51 miles west of the site he spent as a bachelor! On the van ride back to Edinboro, we discussed how we would convince Louise we weren’t pulling her leg, for she was sure to be skeptical. We could barely believe it ourselves.
Had 572 spent the better part of last season exploring a broad territory and in so doing discovered the Warren, PA site? Why had he chosen to nest in area over 50 miles away from the site he spent as an SY male, when there were several large colonies within 10 miles of Venango?
The PMCA has color banded thousands of martins over the past five years and spent hundreds of hours tracking the dispersion and movements of hundreds of color-banded martins. We’ve discovered some interesting things, and plan to share these findings in upcoming issues of the Purple Martin Update, so join now if you’re not already a member!
