Purple Martin Page

The Purple Martin Project- 2009 update
For further information, contact the Purple Martin Committee Chairs - John McDonald  jcmcd@earthlink.net , Paul Carson paulrcarson@comcast.net

 It is another difficult year for our Purple Martins, though not the cold of last year that killed babies andsome adults. I feel the returning adult population is less than we normally get. The birds were late in coming this year because of the cold spring. We were able to get the bird boxes installed before the birds showed up in numbers. They started nesting shortly after they arrived. Most of our bird boxes are placed on or close to water and that has helped keep unwanted birds from nesting in our specially designed Purple Martin boxes. We have placed nest boxes around the county and have good coverage for birds that want to nest here. We have colonies in Brownsville, Poulsbo, Seabeck, and Bainbridge, plus a small area in Driftwood Keys. I watched the boxes after the nesting started and got the feeling our numbers were short as I could count less than ten birds in my area at any one time. I made several trips to count the birds and still could not find a large number of adults. I also live close to the Poulsbo site and could see Purple Martins flying over my house from time to time. The last time I went to count the birds was after the young were hatched. I still got a low number. I was watching at sundown, which is the best time for me to see them. I was about to give up when someone in the boat harbor dropped something that made a loud noise. I looked up to see a cloud of Purple Martins explode into the air and some of them came toward me so I could get a good look. There were about 50 birds in the flock, which is the usual number of birds that make the flight to their winter grounds. The birds had been gathering for their trip and were all together on one of the sail boats. They gather before they leave, and that is what I found. I knew then that we are in good shape for next year because there are enough birds to make it.

BROWNSVILLE: Twenty gourds were installed and checked on July 19. John McDonald and crew found 37 chicks and 16 eggs. They checked again in October and found four dead babies and six eggs. We estimate that there were 2.5 chicks per active nest box for a total of 45 young fledged.

SEABECK: Billy Mills put up eight boxes and got nests in three of them, for an estimated eight babies. The main count by John McDonald and crew at the marina was 14 gourds and two wooden boxes. All the gourds and one box were used. No dead bodies were found and just two eggs failed to hatch, giving us an estimated 37 chicks fledged.

BAINBRIDGE: Richard Barbieri put up five gourds and two were used, for an estimated five birds fledged. Sam Nichols had four gourds used for an estimate ten chicks fledged. Judy Willott reported nine of the ten boxed put up by Paul McDonald yielded 22 birds fledged Ed Roe put up two boxes and one box was used, for a estimated three birds fledged.

POULSBO: Phillip Bangs and Paul Carson put up ten boxes in Poulsbo at the Oyster Plant. Three of the ten were not used. We found two dead babies and one egg. The seven boxes that were used produced an estimated 20 babies.

SILVERDALE: We put up 12 boxes in Silverdale and had some heavy losses. We found seven dead babies and seven eggs in the boxes that were used. The good news is we estimate that 18 fledglings hatched. Sandy and Robert Pavey are two new people who have volunteered to co-chair responsibility for some of the areas that John McDonald and Paul Carson have held since 1998. Sandy Pavey helped me clean the nest boxes for Poulsbo and Silverdale. She also helped in the clean-up in Brownsville earlier. We welcome their involvement in this good cause.

The total count this year is 168 new birds fledged.　

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.

 

 

 

 

 

Purple Martins photographed in 2008

---

Purple Martin Web Links:

Purple Martin Conservation Society: www.purplemartin.org

The Purple Martin Society: www.purplemartins.com

---

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

---