Purple Martin Page

The Purple Martin Project
For further information, contact the Purple Martin Committee Chairs - John McDonald  jcmcd@earthlink.net , Paul Carson paulrcarson@comcast.net

     This is an update for 2007 to keep KAS members current on our progress with Purple Martins in Kitsap County.  

Brownsville Marina
Kitsap Audubon Society put up 22 nest boxes at the Brownsville Marina this year. All were used.
John Mc Donald also found six sites we did not install. Purple Martins were at the Brownsville Marina before we started our program. The birds nested under the caps on the pilings and are still active.
A boat owner has also put up four more boxes within the marina, but only two were used. He estimates
there 30 active pairs in the area. We usually estimate 3.5 to 4 hatchlings per active pair, so more than 100 chicks have probably fledged here. We have found unhatched eggs and some dead birds in nest boxes this year. Brownsville had seven dead chicks–one box had three and four had one each. We also found two unhatched eggs. John is trying something new this year. He and his crew cleaned all the
boxes and put them right back where they were. We do not know how they will weather, but they will be in place when the birds arrive. Some birds are already here and appear as soon as we put the boxes up.

Seabeck Marina
Seabeck is still a problem area. The Ark, an original box put up at the Seabeck Marina, has had many chicks fledge over the years. The Ark was moved this year to a different site on land and only one pair used it. Kitsap Audubon put up 14 gourds and one wooden box. They were used by 13 active pairs. Seabeck also had dead birds, one each in three different gourds. 13 active pairs times 3.5 chicks equals 46 chicks, minus three dead chicks equals 43 chicks.

Poulsbo Oyster Plant Park
We operated from the dock again this year, a very welcome change from a boat, and put up 14 boxes–a mixture of gourds, tube nests and wooden bird houses. The eight gourds yielded five nest sites and three unused gourds. The unused gourds had a little straw in them, but were abandoned for some reason. Three of the tubes were heavily used, the other unused and clean. It faced north, which I think is
why it was not used. The two wooden bird houses were both heavily used. Ten boxes yielded 38 chicks and one unhatched egg.

Silverdale Marina
Philip Bangs and I used the boat again this year. There is some talk of removing the piling in Dyes Inlet
because they are saturated with creosote which leaches into the water. We hope they do not remove them all so we can continue to put up boxes over water. We put up ten gourds and eight were used. We also found one unhatched egg and one dead bird. Eight boxes times 3.5 minus two equals 26 chicks.

Private sites
Bill Matchett has four boxes on his dock on south Hood Canal. Three were used, so we estimate they
produced ten chicks. Larry Millman who is north of Seabeck on Hood Canal put up five gourds and a condo house. The five gourds were used, but the house was not. Five boxes times 3.5 equals 17 chicks.
Paul McDonald found ten old wooden boxes and placed them on Bainbridge Island in Eagle Harbor. He
is happy to report they all got used. Ten boxes times 3.5 equals 35 chicks.
Dave and Jane Ritchey of Driftwood Key report they had nine nesting pairs. Nine boxes times 3.5
equals 31 chicks. Ed and Charlotte Roe on north Hood Canal had three nesting pairs this year. Three times 3.5 equals ten chicks.
Gene Daniels reported he had one pair that fledged three chicks.
 

The grand total is 306 chicks.
 

Photos below from Paul Carson - KAS member and committee chair for the Purple Martin Project.

Martin over nest box attached to piling.	Martin in old wooden boat "Noah's Ark" nest box in Seabeck, WA	Martin feeding nestling in wooden nest box.
Nestling Martins in plastic gourd - in Brownsville, WA	Purple Martins on Tube nest boxes in Seabeck, WA	Female Martin feeding nestling in wooden nest box.

 

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Purple Martin Web Links:

Purple Martin Conservation Society: www.purplemartin.org

The Purple Martin Society: www.purplemartins.com

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Wilcox House Photographs and Web Link:

Wilcox House Bed and Breakfast: www.wilcoxhouse.com

Located between Seattle and the Olympic Peninsula, on the Kitsap Peninsula on Puget Sound, the Willcox House Country Inn is surrounded by a natural paradise, including several families of Purple Martins.  

2390 Tekiu Road NW
Seabeck, WA 98380

(360) 830-4492
(800) 725-9477

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