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he Purple Martin is unique in that east of the Rocky Mountains it is the only bird species that is entirely

dependent on man for nesting cavities. This association with man is the result of a tradition-shift begun by eastern and southeastern native peoples whom hosted them in their villages long before the first European settlers stepped foot on our soils. They had learned long ago that this species would nest in hollowed-out gourds, placed on cut saplings and other such structures in the midst of the village.

Not only is hosting this species an excellent opportunity for citizens —urban or rural, alike— to participate in wildlife management, hosting or attempting to host Purple Martins is also an excellent

opportunity for learning life lessons – several life lessons, of which any could have been the subtitle for this article.

In my particular case, I learned a number of these lessons in trying to attract this bird and then, once accomplished, my management rapidly resulted in the building of a strong colony that is now helping to “seed” new colonies in the area. Involved, were moves, near-misses, trial and error, hardships, and then rapid advancement to perhaps the largest colony of Purple Martins in the Texas Panhandle. My story takes place in a low density area for Purple Martins, one that only recently was added to the literature as being in their range of distribution. (All photos by Susan K. Ray)

From Rags to Riches with Purple Martins—Good Things Come to Those Who Wait

James D. RayCanyon, TX

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Never Just Sit & Dream—Chase the Dream!

Like the other thousands of Americans that serve as “landlords” for the Purple Martin, when I fell for this bird, I fell hard. I was a graduate student living in Brookings, South Dakota, and a friend showed me his colony of martins. One or two visits were all that that it took – I was hooked!

Over the next 15 years, I lived in four residences in two states, erecting housing at each. I experimented with various types of housing, different sized cavities, different shaped entrances, played martin sounds, and tried all kinds of published and “word-of-mouth” recommendations to get that first pair to call my place home. The Purple Martin Conservation Association, now headquartered in Erie, Pennsylvania, became my mentors. I tried everything. I chased my dream.

Patience is a Virtue

In my area, colonies of Purple Martins are few and far between. Those that had martins often added cavities each year, or cavities remained available due to low fledging rates caused by House Sparrows (Passer domesticus) and European Starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) nesting in compartments within their colony. In some years, heat and drought contributed to low productivity, and on occasion, adults were lost in the early spring due to prolonged cool weather which reduced flying insect availability. During several years I helped pick up martins that did not make it through cold spells.

Purple Martins are social birds, choosing to nest with others of their kind. Thus, it is difficult to attract martins to new housing when cavities are available where other martins nest. Through the years, I watched as visiting martins checked my housing out, hung around, advertised, but it always turned out to be just that – visitors, or young males that could not gain approval of the nesting site by females that they worked so hard to attract or get to follow them. Finally, in 2002, after twelve years of trying, a pair arrived and nested in my backyard, but one night during the winds of a thunderstorm the housing came crashing down to the ground, and I endured the 2003 and 2004 seasons with dashed hopes, and no martin tenants. This further tested my patience, my resolve.

On two other occasions I had unoccupied martin housing come crashing to the ground during

thunderstorms. In any location or in any year, I could have given up. But, I persevered. I continued to manage, kept competing species from nesting in the housing, added cavities, and incorporated new techniques as I learned them.

A Watched Pot Never Boils

I busied myself with learning as much as I could about the species, how to attract them, and how to help them prosper. I introduced myself to martin enthusiasts throughout the region, managed the colony at the Palo Duro Retirement Cooperative in Canyon, and started a banding program. I guess –in this way– any martins that I came in contact with, I could claim them as, at least, being partially mine.

By the time I hosted my first martins, for real, in 2005, I had written two editions of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department’s booklet, The Purple Martin and Its Management in Texas, banded over 4,000 Purple Martins, published five articles on the species, and frequently gave presentations to interested groups. I’m quite sure that my obsession with the species and these endeavors lead to the “jinxing” that kept me from getting them.

Patience and Fortitude Conquer All Things—

You Reap What You Sow

My luck changed in 2005. That year, a pair of martins moved into one of 30 cavities I had available at our new house north of Canyon. I ended up with two pair that year and this grew to 43 pair over the next six years (see table).

“Patience is waiting. Not passively waiting. That is laziness. But to keep going when the

going is hard and slow— that is patience.”

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Actually, in 2010 my colony achieved 100% occupancy until a pair of House Sparrows ran off a pair of martins fairly late in the nesting cycle.

In 2011 and 2012, my colony built up quickly to 100% occupancy. A neighbor down the street reaped the benefit of my over-flow, and I still had birds fighting for cavities! Consequently, I placed two single-compartment boxes on our basketball goal and also two on a huge swing-set-like contraption that served as a trainer for my two sons that participated in pole vault during track season. The magnitude of my “riches” really struck home when pairs of martins moved into two of these four boxes; one pair on the goal and one on the trainer. In high density areas, Purple Martins are known to occupy unusual situations, even breaking the rules of normal martin nestsite selection or the do’s and don’ts of martin management. But, one would never think of having a chance of hosting martins in such situations in the north or in low density areas such as the Texas Panhandle! I certainly didn’t picture that scenario seven or eight years ago!

From the Start, Do Things Right

Purple Martins will teach you a lot of life lessons. The most enjoyable lessons are the one ones that pay off in positive ways. In the case of the Purple Martin, the outcome you want is to host ¬this wonderful, and needy bird in your own backyard and, perhaps, without all the trials that I had to go through to get them. Thusly, I’ll share my prescription for success:

Year # of Pairs2005 22006 112007 232008 312009 372010 412011 432012 372013 ?

Prescription for Success

1. Learn all you can about the species, including by becoming a member of the Purple Martin Conservation Association (http://purplemartin.org).2. Offer a variety of housing types, but seek information on quality of housing before purchasing.3. Only erect housing that has capability for vertical-raising and -lowering, capability for trapping House Sparrows and European Starlings, and that have compartments that open, for ease of management.4. Use starling-resistant entrances, although you might start with a few non-resistant holes until you have martins nesting.5. Offer an abundance of cavities.6. Erect housing in the open; no more than 100 feet from human housing or constant activity (such as near your barn, or at a park or golf course), or no closer than 40-feet from bushes or trees. If you already have martins, don’t move all your housing to a better situation in your yard at once. Leave one occupied house in place for one season or until the newly located or added housing has occupants.7. Trap House Sparrows and starlings.8. Learn about Dawn Song, and play it until the first pairs of Purple Martins are building nests. In addition to the pre-dawn hours, play the recording all day long!

Getting off on the right foot with trying to attract Purple Martins will go a long way in increasing your chances of hosting them in your yard. But, still, I’m betting through your experiences, you will be able to list more life lessons than I have. Here’s wishing you the best Purple Martin season for 2013!

Jim Ray is the Wildlife Biologist for Babcock and Wilcox Technical Services Pantex, LLC, at the U.S. Department of Energy/National Nuclear Security Administration’s Pantex Plant, Amarillo.

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PuRPLE MARTIN U•P•D•A•T•E

The Quarterly journal of the

Purple Martin Conservation Association

Volume 22(2), Spring 2013 The Purple Martin Conservation Association is an international, non-profit, tax-exempt

organization ded icated to the conservation of the Purple Martin (Progne subis) through

scien tific research, state-of-the-art wildlife management techniques, and public

education. It is supported solely by membership contri butions and product sa les.

Founder & Executive Director Emeritus:

]ames R. Hill, III

Executive Director: John Tautin

Director of Operations: Ellen Brockwell

Editor: Louise Chambers

Associate Editor: Tara Dodge

Webmaster: Tara Dodge

Affiliate Organizations: Bird Conservation Alliance Camrose Wildlife Stewardship Society Eastern Wisconsin Purple Martin Association Lakeland Area Purple Martin Association Manitoba Purple Martin Club Menunkatuck Audubon Society Minnesota Purple Martin Working Group Missouri River Bird Observatory New York State Purple Martin Project New York State Bluebird Society North America n Bluebird Society North Carolina Purple Martin Society Ontario Purple Martin Association Portage Lakes Purple Martin Association Purple Martin Association of the Dakotas Purple Martin Landlords of North Texas Purple Martin Preservation Alliance Purple Martin Society of Collier County Purple Martin Society, NA

Board of Directors: Louise Chambers Keith jones jonathan D'Silva Craig Kern

Larry Melcher james D. Ray

Donald Snyder john Tautin

Membership & Editorial Information: The Purple Martin Update (lSSN 1077-416S) is published four times a year and

is sent free to members of the Purple Martin Conservation Association. Annua l

membership is $24.00 for students, sen iors and educators and $30.00 for basic

membership. A Canadian membership is $30.00 in U.S. funds. We welcome

editorial, photographic, scientific, and artistic con tributions. We especially wel­

come letters and photos from martin landlords sha ring their martin experiences.

Purple Martin Conservation Association Tom Ridge Environmental Center

301 Peninsula Dr., Ste. 6 Erie, PA 16505 U.S.A.

Phone (814-833-7656) Fax (814-833-2451) E-mail info@purplemartin.org

www.purplemartin.org facebook.com/PlirpleMartinConservationAssociation

The Purple Martin Corzservatiou Association works in cooperation with the Edinboro Un iversity

of Permsylvania, which provides logistical support. The Edinboro University of Permsylvania is a

member of the State System of Higher Education.

© 2013 by Purple Martin Conservation Association. All rights reserved.

From the Editor's Perch

The spring issue has a good mix, we think, of helpful and informative articles for our members, we hope you'll enjoy them and put some of the practical ideas to work in your colonies. There's an updated martin identification guide and a nest check guide to help new landlords, too. We have more information from ongoing geolocator studies on pg. 4-the maps and accompanying summaries are fascinating and will lead to new opportunities for martin conservation.

Thanks to everyone who contributed articles, letters, and photos-we enjoy sharing your stories. Regular Update features complete this issue-be sure to check events and affiliate links online as the season progresses. And thanks to our members, whose support enables us to keep working to ensure the future of Purple Martins.

Louise Chambers, Editor

Table of Contents News from the PMCA & Affiliate Organizations ..... 1 Passing it on: Teaching the Kids

about Purple Martins ........................................ .. 3 Geolocators & Migration ........................................ .4

Purple Martin ID ...................................................... 6 The Doctor's House Calls ................. .................... .... 8 From Rags to Riches with Purple Martins-

Good Things Come to Those Who Wait.. ........ ll Landlord Letters .......................... .. ........... ... ....... .... 14 A Nest Check Guide .... ...................... .................. ... 18 The Walpole Island Purple Martin Project ............. 20 Purple Martins All Year Long ........ ... ................... ... 23 Suggestions to benefit Purple Martins,

Bluebirds, & Tree Swallows ............................... 24 The Handy Landlord:

Easy-to-make Hawk Guards .............................. 27 Got Owls? Quick Cage Guards ...................... .... .. .. 28

Front Cover: Carolyn Schlueter photographed these martins in

June 2010 at the public colony maintained by fohn Miller in Forest

Park, St. Louis, MO. <http://www.carolynschlueter.com/>. Back Cover: Dennis Capaz's martin silo, Brooksville, FL.

The Update is produced on paper that contains recycled content and is printed with 1 00% green inks that do not contain solvents and are free of volati le or­ganic compounds (VOC).

The Purple Martin Conservation Associt:~tion is a registered, tax-exempt charity headquartered in Pennsylvania. A copy of the official registration and financial information may be obtained from the Pennsylvania Department of State by calling

1-800-732-0999 toll free within the state, or 1-717-783-1720 from elsewhere. Or write to: PA Deportment of State, Bureau of Charitable Organizations, 308 North Office Building, Harrisburg, PA 1 7120. Registration does not imply endorsement.