http://www.purplemartins.com/RTC/ The Purple Martin Society, NA is a nationally recognized birding organization of Purple Martin Landlords whose purpose is to educate the public by stimulating their interest to learn and to care about the conservation of these birds and their behavior. en Sun, 20 May 2012 06:48:18 GMT vBulletin 60 http://www.purplemartins.org/RTC/images/misc/rss.jpg http://www.purplemartins.com/RTC/ http://www.purplemartins.com/RTC/showthread.php?t=6755&goto=newpost Sun, 13 May 2012 13:03:29 GMT It looks like we are starting to see some new arrivals this Mother's Day as a SY female shows a glimmer of hope for the bachelor male martins. They get so excited when these young females arrive. There soon should be more coming in. ]]> Essex County Purple Martin Association Conference John Balga http://www.purplemartins.com/RTC/showthread.php?t=6755 http://www.purplemartins.com/RTC/showthread.php?t=6754&goto=newpost Thu, 03 May 2012 13:47:33 GMT The warm temperatures over the last few days have really increased the Martin activity as many of the paired couple are busy building nests. There... The warm temperatures over the last few days have really increased the Martin activity as many of the paired couple are busy building nests. There has also been a noticeable increase in new females arriving at the colony. Over 75 martins are now here with subaduLts yet to arrive. ]]> Essex County Purple Martin Association Conference John Balga http://www.purplemartins.com/RTC/showthread.php?t=6754 http://www.purplemartins.com/RTC/showthread.php?t=6753&goto=newpost Sat, 28 Apr 2012 14:10:11 GMT Posted at: BluebirdMonitors@yahoogroups.com

I am envying Evelyn's dearth of House Sparrows (HOSP) in her neck of the woods (she has had only three males on her trail and they seem to be dumb as a stump) as I have been dealing with them since Day 1, and there are a lot of them here in the City of Powell. They are also on my trails in rural areas such as a camp near Ashley and an organic farm south of Delaware.

When I head out into the field, I come back with average of 4 to 7 of them each time and I am getting rather good at it. Today, I set four traps and caught 4 male HOSP. Only one of those boxes had any HOSP nesting material in it. I now know how to listen, watch their behavior, and read what is going on in a box. Tools and tricks - here are some.

• Install Van Ert mount screws in all your boxes during construction or before putting them up IF you have HOSP in your area.
• Listen as you approach box. If you hear a male HOSP singing, he has almost certainly claimed a box nearby.
• Approach box unsuspiciously. Don't look at him. Pretend you don't see him. If you glance out of the corner of your eye, you will observe him watching you closely.
• If you saw the HOSP on the box, see HOSP feces in the box, or see HOSP nest material in the box, set a Van Ert trap.
• Hide the trap from his view and insert it quickly.
• leave (or add) about 1 inch of nest material
• Add a couple of plastic bird eggs that look like HOSP eggs or chickadee eggs. Put them in back of box where he can easily see them when he looks in..
• If the HOSP already has its own eggs, leave those in there on the sparse nest you created so they can see them.
• Close it up and walk away without looking at him. Don't linger at all.
• Come back in hour or two. Often, you will hear the "snap" of the trap as you walk away or get back to your car, especially if he was singing.
• Watch activity of other HOSP in area. If they seem interested in box or are near it when you remove the first HOSP, go ahead and reset it and see if you get lucky.
• If there was a substantial nest, male has found a mate so reset and try to catch her.
• If you catch female first, reset and you will usually easily catch male.
One of the boxes I trapped in today had an old Chickadee nest in it. Unfortunately, the Chickadee was killed by a HOSP just before I could get a hole reducer on the box, but I left her nest after I caught the first male. For past couple weeks, I have seen and heard HOSP in the pine trees here, but they have not gone in the box. Today I put two fake Chickadee eggs in there and in he went. Interesting...

Paula Z
Powell (central) Ohio ]]> Louisiana Bayou Bluebird Society Evelyn Cooper http://www.purplemartins.com/RTC/showthread.php?t=6753 http://www.purplemartins.com/RTC/showthread.php?t=6752&goto=newpost Sat, 28 Apr 2012 13:02:22 GMT I can not get my MSS-12 to go all the way to the roof cap. When I pull on the rope, no matter how I try to angle the house, the house stops about... I can not get my MSS-12 to go all the way to the roof cap. When I pull on the rope, no matter how I try to angle the house, the house stops about two inches from the roof cap - maybe 3 inches. I know there is a bolt there that must line up with the two slots in the hardware on the top of the house but I just can not seem to get the bolt into those slots.

Does anyone have any experience with this problem? I need some suggestions. I am afraid that if it rains the rain will get down that center "tunnel" and get the nests wet. There are no martins yet living in the house as I just put the house up last week.

Carl ]]> (Main) Round Table Conference Carlton http://www.purplemartins.com/RTC/showthread.php?t=6752 http://www.purplemartins.com/RTC/showthread.php?t=6751&goto=newpost Thu, 26 Apr 2012 23:28:24 GMT For those of you all with re-curing House Sparrow problems just go ahead and make fake Van Ert House Sparrow traps and LEAVE the fake traps in the... For those of you all with re-curing House Sparrow problems just go ahead and make fake Van Ert House Sparrow traps and LEAVE the fake traps in the boxes all of the time. These can be made with scraps of the black "felt paper" that builders use under roofing shingles. The 30# weight or thickness works the best, attach these inside the nesting boxes with thumb tacks. The native birds will go up and over these.

Do male House Sparrows incubate eggs? Short answer is no as they do not have a brood patch so they cannot transfer heat from their body to the eggs and neither can they warm up or brood baby birds.

BUT House Sparrows evolved with 7 DIFFERENT species of Starlings in Europe and Asia. The male House Sparrows will guard their nesting boxes from these larger and more aggressive starlings, male House Sparrows seldom leave sight of their nesting box especially when there are eggs and or young birds in it. They evolved to constantly be aware of what is coming near their nesting boxes which makes trapping them harder as they SEE YOU watching them with binoculars:-))

They also are better at guarding their eggs from House Wrens for as soon as the female House Sparrow leaves the box for a food or bathroom break the male enters the box and stays inside the box the whole time the female is gone on her break. THAT is WHY you can go out and hand trap a female sparrow at NIGHT, set a Van Ert Sparrow Trap and catch the male right after first light. Wild birds are awake and singing at LEAST an hour before sunrise!

When you all trap a female sparrow, flip them over and blow on their breast and belly area. You will see that they have pulled out ALL of the belly feathers exposing their breast muscles or the muscles that power their wings or the largest muscle mass on their entire body. When sitting at rest, a female bird that is incubating or laying eggs will have feathers that appear to be covering up their whole breast and belly. This is an illusion as they begin to settle down over their eggs they spread out the feathers and bare skin will be in compete contact with the 4 to 8 eggs depending on clutch size.

Male House Sparrows really do NOT have a harem of females out there. BUT female House Sparrows when preparing to lay eggs and while they are laying eggs WILL breed with as many male House Sparrows as there are in the area. VERY often they will breed with as many as 6 different males in as many minutes. This will continue all during egg laying. This way there is a greater chance of having a higher percentage of their eggs hatch out as this eliminates the chance of her mating with a male that is sterile, where ALL of her eggs would be infertile IF she were monogamous and her mate were sterile. You VERY seldom EVER see a group of House Sparrows fighting among one another EXCEPT when they are establishing or enforcing their "Pecking Order". Keith Kridler Mt. Pleasant, Texas
__._,_.___ ]]> Branded Bluebirder Evelyn Cooper http://www.purplemartins.com/RTC/showthread.php?t=6751 http://www.purplemartins.com/RTC/showthread.php?t=6750&goto=newpost Thu, 26 Apr 2012 11:52:42 GMT There are all sorts of diseases that we humans carry around on our finger tips and our cell phones that we carry in our pockets are NOW one the best... There are all sorts of diseases that we humans carry around on our finger tips and our cell phones that we carry in our pockets are NOW one the best places for doctors to scan for various strains of salmonella, E. coli and the other REALLY nasty strains of germs:-))

Baby or young ducks and turkeys are especially susceptible to a disease commonly called "Limber Neck" but this is caused by various strains of botulism. As birds get older they are mostly immune to these germs, partly because those that lack immunity have already died off when they were very young.....

Botulism grows in a wide range of food sources but meat (insect) and dairy products can be breeding grounds for various strains of botulism. Human infants can also be very susceptible to poisoning from some of these strains. Even raw honey can be a breeding source for some of these. Dried cat and dog food that gets moist and then sits out for even a day can be deadly to baby ducks and turkeys.

They call this disease "Limber Neck" because a severe poisoning will cause partial paralysis and in ducks the young ducks cannot control the muscles in their necks or really the rest of their body. BUT with baby ducks you see them struggling to keep their heads and beaks up and out of pond water so these baby birds will actually drown as their limber neck won't hold up
their heads....Antibiotics are used to prevent massive losses in a large flock of chickens and or turkeys.

BUT in a small nest of say bluebirds that are fed insects from a contaminated food source then the entire brood of young will die within a 24 hour period. Insects are "meat/protein" and again once they die all sorts of organisms quickly begin to break down the proteins in these dead insects. Some of these can be deadly to other living creatures.

A female bluebird that bathes in the water coming out of a septic system will carry germs back into her nest. Egg shells are porous and germs and air and moisture easily pass through these shells that look more like window screen under a microscope. Google egg shell photos with a microscope sometime.

Anyway if both adult bluebirds die of any cause then their young will die in a few days. There are ALL kinds of VERY common germs that the adults will be immune to but that are deadly to their young. So when a whole brood of young die in a nest you are not going to be able to say for sure what killed them or what they died from.

Normally when you read about or see dead birds laying around in an area then you can guess that "something" is really wrong with the local water or food sources. For those who feed mealworms I would disinfect these feeders from time to time, especially if you find young bluebirds dead in nearby nesting boxes of any cause. Do further research on this disease as it is really common in all parts of the country. Keith Kridler Mt. Pleasant, Texas ]]> Sticky Bluebird / FAQs Evelyn Cooper http://www.purplemartins.com/RTC/showthread.php?t=6750 http://www.purplemartins.com/RTC/showthread.php?t=6749&goto=newpost Wed, 25 Apr 2012 01:51:25 GMT Completed our second season nest check today. We got our first young. They were born yesterday morning. So far we have 44 active nests, with the four... Completed our second season nest check today. We got our first young. They were born yesterday morning. So far we have 44 active nests, with the four young and 222 eggs. Just hope the weather does not get too hot again, like last year.
I also spotted a hawk, but with this many Martins, they spotted him before I did. So the alarm went out and no one got caught off guard.
It's been a long time (probably (9) years) since I found mud in a nest. But todays check showed that one pair still remembers how to do it. It was in the mini-castle metal house.
Also spotted a SY male. I do not know when he arrived, since I was called from retirement to work a job of (14) days of 12 hours each and left and returned home, in the dark. I kind of felt like a vampire. But I am back to the continued retirement mode.
Hope the best for everyone.
Tim Hammonds
Boyd, Texas ]]> (Main) Round Table Conference Tim Hammonds http://www.purplemartins.com/RTC/showthread.php?t=6749 http://www.purplemartins.com/RTC/showthread.php?t=6748&goto=newpost Sun, 22 Apr 2012 03:25:25 GMT We are having a meeting of the PMS of Illinois for interested landlords and wannabes. The date is Sunday June 3rd, 2012 at Cantigny Golf Course. ... We are having a meeting of the PMS of Illinois for interested landlords and wannabes.
The date is Sunday June 3rd, 2012 at Cantigny Golf Course. The address
is 27 W 270 Mack Road, Wheaton, Illinois 60187. A buffet breakfast for those interested
may be purchased at the Golf Course Restaurant for $14.95 starting at 10:00AM. The meeting will start at 12:00 noon in the conference room.

At your liesure you may also visit the Purple Martin Colony at the Golf Course managed by Ray Feld.

For additional info and to help us with a head count please contact Larry Budrow or
Ray Feld at:
Lbudrow@comcast.net
Rcfeld@sbcglobal.net ]]> The Purple Martin Society of Illinois Larry Budrow http://www.purplemartins.com/RTC/showthread.php?t=6748