The Purple Martin Project
The Dunkard Creek Watershed Assn. Inc.(DCWA) is taking care of the Purple Martin colony at Mason-Dixon Historical Park, the public park with the big red barn, on Buckeye Road just off Route 7 west.
Several years ago the colony was started by providing good housing
for the birds in a suitable location. Purple Martins depend on humans
to provide housing and help them look after their babies, believe it or
not! Purple Martin nests become infested by blowflies and fleas, which
suck blood from the baby birds. If humans don't clean out the nests and
provide fresh material, the parasites can weaken or kill the nestlings.
Mid-June
2008: Our 14-apartment T-14 purple martin house is fully
occupied by 26 adult martins. As of June 16, three of the nests have
six eggs each and the other 11 nests have five eggs each, for a total
of 73 eggs. We have a second house that was not checked, which appears
to be occupied by two nesting pairs. In Blacksville a landlord reports
having 22 or 23 pairs and 100 eggs!
As of June 29, we have 59 baby
purple martins thriving!
In 2005, it was necessary to install a new, appropriate house for the
Martins. They had been using houses for the past couple of years that
could not be lowered and cleaned. So the DCWA, with donations and grant
funds, purchased a new T-14, a house with 14 apartments, and became
Purple Martin landlords. This house and accessories cost about $500. A
volunteer built nesting trays for the apartments.
These photographs were taken in our three nest checks, on June 26, July 1, and July 7. Each time we emptied all the nests and put white pine needles in them, a coarse material purchased from suppliers. Many parasites were present, some biting the nestlings.
In this process, the birdhouse is cranked down the pole, the apartments are opened one section at a time, each nest tray is slid out and the nestlings are taken out and inspected for parasites. Then the nest is emptied into a big box, making sure all the bugs are out. Next we put a small amount of pine needles in the nest tray, put the baby birds in their nest, and slide the tray into its apartment.
This is a surprisingly easy task. And it is amazing, each five to seven days when the nest check is done, to see how fast the babies develop. There they are, tiny pink things, and the next time they're twice as big and gray with feathers just starting, and the next time some of them hop out of the nest tray! They can't be bothered after the 20th day, because disturbance could make them leave the nest too soon.
While we inspected the 9 active nests with 33 healthy baby birds, the parent birds watched calmly from a nearby utility line. Next door the smaller birdhouse that could not be checked, with two bright red gourds hanging from it, was being used by several Purple Martins.
While nesting, the Purple Martins at Mason-Dixon Historical Park were busy hunting insects and feeding their young, which take off flying when they are 26 days old. They carry on a constant cheerful chatter. Their aerial acrobatics are unique and fun to watch. Through the middle of the day they're usually off looking for bugs and return in the early evenings. They are famous for eating mosquitos, but really that is a very small part of their diet, because mosquitos come out at night and Purple Martins are settled down by then. They actually eat ONLY flying insects that they catch as high as 200 feet. They like dragonflies, butterflies, and anything else they can catch. They don't usually land on the ground; they don't eat ground insects or seeds. They don't land to drink… but splash into the water on the fly. If the weather is below 50 degrees or raining constantly for 3 or 4 days in a row, Purple Martins will starve because there won't be enough flying insects. This spring we found 13 dead Martins, all starved, during a week of weather that always went above 50 during the day, but still there weren't enough insects.
We expect next year even more Purple Martins will set up housekeeping at the Park, because this year 33 healthy fledglings were raised in the T14 and an unknown number in the other, smaller house and gourds. Most or all of those who survive will return to this site to nest. They winter in South America, which can be a hazardous situation. Hopefully there will always be enough rain forest to keep their populations healthy.
In August Purple Martins respond to some ancient instinct and gather in certain locations called "roosts." After congregating there by the hundreds or thousands, there comes a day when they take off for their southern wintering grounds. In April, they will return.
The information from our Purple Martin nest checks is sent to the Purple Martin Conservation Assn., as part of Purple Martin Watch; they have participants all over the world. At www.purplemartin.org there is a wealth of information about the birds. Next year the Dunkard Creek Watershed Assn. will have a seminar and public notices about the continuing Purple Martin Project.
The following photographs speak for themselves, showing the birds at different ages, the house and nesting trays, and the old nesting material-it is unique because the birds put green leaves in their nests!
Thanks! to all who checked the nests: Eugene Lemley of Blacksville and Larry and Betty Wiley of Westover, with the help of several children, Tucker, Dylan, and Sydney Wiley and their mom, Melinda, of Core, and Anita Channing, the park caretaker, her daughter Tia and sons Hunter and Nate Binegar.
Contact Betty Wiley at 304-292-3946, or Vanessa Price at 304-879-5325, to ask about the Dunkard Creek Watershed Association and Purple Martin plans; call Anita at 304-879-4101 for information about Mason-Dixon Historical Park (public park with big red barn).
