Well I guess that's what happens when you're told to stay inside.
On a side note. My first ever pair was a real trip. The stuff I found in their nest as nesting material was crazy. They had a zip tie, a twisty tie, a ticket stub, and all kinds of weird stuff. Your nest in the photo reminded me of that. I also recognize those pine needles.
Congrats on the eggs. Looking forward to seeing the babies.
Keep an eye on them and send photos.
Coolwhips
2016 - late to put up, many visitors
2017 - 1 pair, 3 fledged
2018- 2 pair, 12 fledged
2019 - 4 pair, 21 fledged
2020 - 15 pair, 67 fledged
Well I guess that's what happens when you're told to stay inside.
On a side note. My first ever pair was a real trip. The stuff I found in their nest as nesting material was crazy. They had a zip tie, a twisty tie, a ticket stub, and all kinds of weird stuff. Your nest in the photo reminded me of that. I also recognize those pine needles.
Congrats on the eggs. Looking forward to seeing the babies.
Crazy birds, lol!!! Congrats on your first pair. I always help my SY martins out a little trying to ensure success. I would help them build a little better nest, put some leaves under the eggs and build the nest up a little to keep them together, so they don’t roll around, they won’t mind the help. I’ve been doing that for about six years now and it seems to work.
Good luck!!!
Martin Colony History: In 2020, 60 pair with 285 fledged youngsters. 83 total cavities available, 58 Troyer Horizontal gourds and 4 modified deep trio metal house units, 1 fallout shelter, owl cages around all units. Martin educator and speaker. President and founder of the Iowa Purple Martin Organization. Please visit www.iamartin.org and join.
Hi T-Bird,
The SY young pairs will sometimes make shotty nests with little effort. You will see nests of SY pair with a single egg. The older ASY pairs will sometimes make very well constructed nests and some include mud dams near the front of the nest. I suppose as they age they get better at nest building.
Mite control, heat venting, predator protection and additional feeding during bad weather add up to success.
Well, 2 eggs quickly turned to 4. And after checking the nest just a couple of days ago to still find eggs, I checked again today, and wouldn’t you know?
It is interesting though. Those guys are just a couple of days old and I have 4 or 6 gourds about to fledge and we are 20 minutes apart as the crow flies.
Coolwhips.
2016 - late to put up, many visitors
2017 - 1 pair, 3 fledged
2018- 2 pair, 12 fledged
2019 - 4 pair, 21 fledged
2020 - 15 pair, 67 fledged
Martin Colony History: In 2020, 60 pair with 285 fledged youngsters. 83 total cavities available, 58 Troyer Horizontal gourds and 4 modified deep trio metal house units, 1 fallout shelter, owl cages around all units. Martin educator and speaker. President and founder of the Iowa Purple Martin Organization. Please visit www.iamartin.org and join.
Hi T bird. Those are some great pics. Just remeber to not do nest checks when the babies are 20 days old or older. After 20 days of age, you run the risk of the babies trying to fledge too early and it is very hard to get them to stay in a cavity once they have jumped out. Take a look on the PMCA website as to what a 20 day old would look like.
Mite control, heat venting, predator protection and additional feeding during bad weather add up to success.
Hi T bird. Those are some great pics. Just remeber to not do nest checks when the babies are 20 days old or older. After 20 days of age, you run the risk of the babies trying to fledge too early and it is very hard to get them to stay in a cavity once they have jumped out. Take a look on the PMCA website as to what a 20 day old would look like.
Thank you for bringing that up. As a first time landlord, I hadn’t thought of that, but makes perfect sense.
Martin Colony History: In 2020, 60 pair with 285 fledged youngsters. 83 total cavities available, 58 Troyer Horizontal gourds and 4 modified deep trio metal house units, 1 fallout shelter, owl cages around all units. Martin educator and speaker. President and founder of the Iowa Purple Martin Organization. Please visit www.iamartin.org and join.
Martin Colony History: • • Tried to attract PMs since 2004; began a more ernest attempt in 2014.
2018 — 3 pairs: 1 ASY pair & 1 SY pair in the Trio; 1 SY pair in a supergourd on the gourd multi-rack.
2019 — 6 pairs
2020 — In progress
Current housing consists of two modified Trio M12Ks at 20' and a round gourd rack at 20'.
We've also provided housing for bluebirds, Carolina wrens, house wrens, Carolina chickadees, tufted titmice, great-crested flycatchers and northern flickers for ~15 years.
If that is a piece of landscape fabric, aka weed cloth, and it is still in the nest I'd recommend removing it. It tends to unravel and can get wrapped around toes, wings, and legs.