Provide Convenience Nesting Materials on a RAISED PLATFORM
From: Kent Justus - Little Rock, AR
Date: 4/6/00
Time: 12:57:55 PM
Comments
Dear Forum Readers:
An ample bed of dry pine needles, wood chips, coconut fiber, or (my favorite) wheat straw provides a nice and cozy roosting spot for weary martins after they arrive from migration, helping to keep them warm on cold nights. It also helps them out when they begin nest building because they don't have to collect nearly as much material to build a nest in a completely empty compartment. Therefore, they save their energy for the more important task of mating and egg laying. Also, the less time spent on the ground collecting materials to build a nest cuts down on the window of opportunity for predators to catch and kill your martins.
BENEFIT TO ADULT (ASY) PAIRS: Adult martins usually build a substantial nest with mud in the front so adding a good bed of wheat straw or dry pine needles before they arrive will cut down on the amount of material they have to gather when they initiate nest building. Less effort in building the nest will cause less stress to the birds when they begin egg laying, a definite benefit.
BENEFIT TO SUBADULT (SY) PAIRS: Subadult martins, unlike adults, usually build a much skimpier nest because they are A) inexperienced, and B) they are usually operating on a much shorter time frame, or "window of opportunity" to complete a breeding cycle; therefore, adding a good bed of wheat straw or dry pine needles will ensure that their young do not end up on the bare compartment floor which can lead to splayed legs (especially in aluminum housing), a deformity that eventually leads to the death of the nestling. Adding the material before subadults arrive will ensure a nice, thick padding of material for the young.
JUST AS A TIP: I buy a bale of wheat straw before the martins arrive and then place piles of straw on my elevated eggshell feeder for the martins to collect and use when they initiate nest building. This makes it easy for them to find material and by putting it on an elevated platform, it helps to cut down on their vulnerability to house cats and other ground predators that might try to catch them as they land on the ground. If you have a smaller colony and have loblolly or short-leafed pine trees nearby you can rake up the brown pine needles on the ground beneath the tree and use these. I store the extra needles in a lawn trash bag to keep them dry.
CAUTION: When offering convenience nesting materials for martins, PLEASE offer them on a RAISED PLATFORM, at least five to six feet above the ground. Martins cannot take off quickly from the ground and are extremely vulnerable to cat and accipiter hawk predation at this time. Please do your part as a good landlord and protect your martins by building a raised platform. Mine is just a large wooden tray (36" x 24") that I have nailed to a wooden post and put it in the ground in the midst of my colony and it's about 6 feet above the ground. The martins make regular runs to it during peak nest building and usually empty the tray of all straw or pine needles that I provide to them.
Good luck this year! - Kent Justus / Little Rock, AR
