A purple Martin landlord and wanna-be landlord gets as antsy an an expectant mother.
Here are some of the things to get you ready and calm your mind as you wait for that beautiful martin song to fill your back yard.
Don’t panic when purple dots fill the scout arrival map in your area. Even at established sites a scout can be reported weeks before arriving at another nearby established site.......
There can be several weeks between your first sighting and your first influx of martins. In 2020 my first martin (scout) returned on March 6. I saw this bird a couple of times, then not again until three birds arrived on March 19th.
After that numbers increased almost daily.
SY birds are 3-4 weeks later. In 2020 my first second year birds arrived around April 20.
Martins do not come on one bus. SY birds arrive for up to ten weeks. In my area ( southwest Virginia) I typically have a late nesting pair that lays its first egg mid June. So I consider mid June to be the closing of the window if trying to start a new colony in southwest Virginia. That is a three to four month window of opportunity. I hear of many landlord Wanna-be’s that get discouraged way too early in the season. More northerly sites have a much later window.
Most adult martins ( termed after second year ASY birds ) have homes they return to so don’t panic when your neighbors birds are back, and martins show little interest in your new setup. New setups are typically started by last year’s young, termed second year (SY) birds. Their arrival often starts 3-4 weeks after the first influx of older birds. In my case in 2020 the first SY birds arrived 6 weeks after my first scout. SY birds continue arriving and passing through for 6 to 8 weeks.
One pair is a great start for new sight. That’s all it takes to get a thriving colony started. Once you get that first pair your colony can grow exponentially each year. That pair will attract others. That first year is a fun experience watching the actions of other martins that may be lured to your site by the activity of your first pair.
It’s more difficult to attract that first pair the farther north you go. That’s because there are less martins that travel that far. Every martin that nests in US passes through a southern state. It only makes sense that they can attract martins easier. The further north the later the window of opportunity is open. It’s always important to notice the location of posts you read and their content. Many times southern landlords are posting of their martins leaving before the arrival of SY birds in the north. That does not mean you cannot still get your first pair.
When you do get martins that are interested in your site, they will not hang around all day. Often a quick visit in the morning is all you get. Even at my site that has had martins for 25 years It’s not unusual for the early birds to be away from the site for most or all of the day causing me to worry that they might have decided to abandon me. My concerns are erased around sundown as the birds return finally to roost for the night. As spring progresses and mid April rolls around the martins spend more and more time around the site until the nesting season begins with all its excitement. This usually coincides with the arrival of the second year birds. It’s a great time of the season as a purple Martin landlord.
Nest building may start in earnest, but may suddenly stop for a time especially it the weather sours. In 2020 my martins hit it hard then stopped several times due to sudden changes in the weather, usually cold snaps. While older birds will nest and raise young ahead of SY birds, in 2020 due the the stop and starting, all my 87 Pairs raised their young during the same time period with the first egg being laid May 24, at least three weeks later than normal. This resulted in all my birds fledging about the same time, a quite extraordinary season. Of the 87 active nests (an active nest is a nest with at least one egg laid) 79 successfully fledged 298 young. Older birds will have larger clutch sizes, better hatch rates and better fledge rates than younger birds.
One last thing to note. Once egg laying begins, at both established and especially new sites there is a strange silence at the site. With the nest being tended by the female, the pair may seem to have disappeared. At a young site with only one or two pair you may think you lost your martins. A quick check of the nest at this time is reassuring that all is well. Don't worry, it will not scare your martins away, even if you disturb the female that may be sitting on her eggs. I think they do not want to draw attention to the nest and they exit and enter quickly with little fanfare so as not to draw the attention of predators. They also have to take care of their feeding needs while tending the nest and have little time to rejoice. Once the eggs begin to hatch the fun really kicks in for the Martin landlord. Watch and enjoy.
one of my early birds from 2020