Purple Martins

No pictures. Just wanted you to know that today three Purple Martins circled overhead, announcing spring. I heard them before I saw them. This is always one of my very favorite days of the year!! I just love those guys!!

They are beautiful. They are also a mosquito's best friend. DW and I both had West Nile last Summer from skeeter bites as our new neighbors put in several Martin houses, and they ate all our dragon flies.

Sorry I jumped on this negatively. Instant emotional memory kicked in. I should have thought first.

trois

Thats okay, I'm sure I wouldn't forget that either.

Trois, I just felt I had to respond. I've read where some people are concerned that they eat the dragon flies instead of mosquitoes, but you know what? I don't think it is completely true. Think about it. Mosquitoes tend to fly low - where their bloody food supply is - us and other warm blooded critters. And dragon flies, which eat mosquitoes, fly where their food supply is. Where do you see Purple Martins flying? Yes, they get some dragon flies. And a whole lot of other insects (including mosquitoes) too. I have dragon flies all over my yard - and Purple Martins flying high in the air. Since 1983 - and three different homes..

The risk for West Nile Virus is very low. Even in areas where the virus is circulating, very few mosquitoes are infected with the virus. Even if the mosquito is infected, less than 1% of people who get bitten and become infected will get severely ill. The chances you will become severely ill from any one mosquito bite are extremely small.

I am very sorry you got West Nile Virus. And I mean that most sincerely. But I don't think you can blame it on the Purple Martins.

Texas A & M has some interesting studies about that. It seems that the only mosquitoes are in the grasp of dragon flies.

An interesting article from Texas A&M
http://agnews.tamu.edu/dailynews/stories/ENTO/Jul1403a.htm
and Purdue
http://www.ecn.purdue.edu/SafeWater/Ponds/WQ-41-W.pdf

How is the migration going? Has anyone else spotted any Purple Martins?
DH hurried to put the house back up and within minutes it was covered with - English Sparrows! So we lowered it and put the covers on the openings for now. I don't think OUR Martins have arrived yet. But they will soon.

As far as I know, I've never seen them, but in my "Birds of the Puget Sound Region" it indicates they are often at Shilshole Bay which is where I take my mom quite often. So I will really be looking. They are smaller than I thought (don't know why I thought they were bigger!)

Have you ever seen any of the Purple Martin houses there, Murmur?

I know they sell them, but I don't know of anyone who has one (and I know quite a few birdwatchers). I'll check around more and see if it might work for me to get one . . . I was thinking I could put it on the property in back of me so it wouldn't be so close as to scare them off, but I could perhaps at least see them! Of course, the house sparrows would be a problem here, too.

Murmur - I got curious and did some research. Progne subis arboricola breeds along the Pacific coast of the United States and Canada, and in the Rocky Mountains. My species is different than yours....

Purple Martins spend the non-breeding season in Brazil then migrate to North America to nest. East of the Rockies they are totally dependent on human-supplied housing. West of the Rockies and in the deserts they largely nest in their ancestral ways, in abandoned woodpecker nest cavities. In the Pacific northwest, Martins are beginning to use gourds and clusters of single-unit boxes for nesting - but not multiple-room houses, like mine do.

This is a great site, just full of information:

http://purplemartin.org/main/mgt.html

Wow, Ceejay - thanks for the site! I just scanned it briefly this time and it is fascinating - I'll definitely read it thoroughly in the next day or two. Again, thanks for doing the research!

How are the martins doing as they migrate north? With all the cold and snowy weather this spring I have been wondering how the swallow family has been doing. Hoping to see them very soon.

David

I heard they had a lot of problems due to the late cold snaps and Noreaster we had.

Even here in the south, we have people who have been Martin landlords for years - still waiting for their Martins. Mine arrived early March, but not as many as usual. I think something else is hurting their population, too. But that nasty weather up there - poor babies. That will surely decimate them.