The Incredible, Edible Egg Shell

After finding my purple martins raiding my compost pile two years ago and picking out the egg shells, I decided to start using egg shells instead of the crushed oyster shell that I had been offering for years.  With a 75-pair colony, I now save egg shells year round.  I sometimes feel like Forest Gump when I'm deciding what's for breakfast; fried eggs, boiled eggs, poached eggs, eggs Benedict and so on.  Regardless of the form they take, we love them and nothing goes to waste here in the Ozarks!  During the spring and summer, our local barn swallows, tree swallows, purple martins, blue birds and sometimes I think every other bird in the county comes to my egg shell trays to partake of the remains of my breakfasts!

The first year I started using egg shells, I visited one of our local restaurants to ask them to save a few buckets of egg shells from their morning breakfasts.  I live in the country, so the local breakfast joints are very small and full of old-timers.  I got some very strange looks and a lot of questions when I was asking them to save the egg shells for me and I noticed some of them looking at each other with a knowing glance as if to say, "she's feeding egg shells to birds?".  If you're not afraid of being categorized as *special*, your local restaurants are certainly a good source of a large supply of egg shells to get you started.

Eggshells are an excellent source of grit and calcium, but chicken eggs may harbor the salmonella bacteria so, I always wash and prepare the egg shells according to the PMCA guidelines here.  One of the most frequently-asked question this time of year is "When should I put out the eggshells for the birds"?  The answer is, "As soon as they arrive".

Left - my Tupperware freezer container; Right - 1 gallon Ziploc baggie full of egg shells.  After preparing the egg shells, I store them in the freezer all year just to make sure no bacteria can grow on them.

Why do birds need calcium?
Every female mother in every species on earth experiences calcium depletion of her body when giving birth.  It's no different for purple martins.  The female martins already have a tougher time than the males, often experiencing multiple copulations, egg-laying and finally, brooding the eggs for hours and days on end.  All of this will sap her energy and her own calcium storage in her bones.  The crystalline layer of her eggs (the shell), which is responsible for its mechanical strength, consists of more than 90% calcium in the form of calcium carbonate.  Calcium is absorbed from the food in the intestine.  Thus, you can see why she needs replacement calcium to help properly both form and strengthen her eggs and keep her own bones strong.  I've also observed my purple martins, males and females alike, taking crushed egg shells in to feed their young.

Providing birds with supplemental calcium helps them produce stronger egg shells and nestlings.

According to this reference:  "The diet of a particular species of bird may play a role in determining whether the species will seek supplemental calcium. For example, insects are low in calcium; therefore, birds such as swallows that eat primarily insects probably need to find additional sources of calcium. BCaP results suggest this is true. Although they’re not typical feeder visitors, 10 percent of the swallows that came to yards took shells."

How to Offer Supplemental Calcium:
You can offer calcium in either a platform feeding tray or spread out on the ground.  This site recommends the following: "The Lab's Birds and Calcium Project determines we should offer calcium on the ground and on platform feeders".
I tend to agree.  I prefer to offer them in a platform feeder for my martins as I once had a hawk attack a female that was on the ground eating egg shells.  He grabbed her before she could take off.  Fortunately, he dropped her when I ran across the yard and scared the heck out of him, but my lesson that day was to move their calcium up to a height where they could more quickly take off if attacked by a predator.

My tray is simply a drip tray from a plastic planter that I purchased at Lowe's.  I drilled multiple small holes around the bottom edges so that water can drain out.  Then I mounted a shelter over the tray so the rain wouldn't wash all the shells out.

Here's a video of my purple martins using the egg shells mixed with crushed oyster shells.

Egg shells are not the only source of calcium that you can offer.  You can also purchase 50 lb. bags of crushed oyster shell here in Missouri at your local MFA stores.  My last bag lasted me almost 3 years, but as I mentioned, my martins show a distinct preference for the egg shells.
Offering calcium to purple martins is listed as one of the potential attraction techniques.  Having a ready-supply of calcium nearby certainly can't hurt your chances of attracting them and it's a cheap and easy thing to do, so why not try it? 

Purple Martin Banding in Missouri - 2014

Since 2011, Missouri River Bird Observatory (MRBO) has banded over 3300 Purple Martins across Missouri, including St. Louis-Forest Park, Marshall, etc.  Of those 3300, 725 were banded at my site here in Licking.  While that number includes a few adults, the majority of the bands were placed on 11 to 24 day-old nestlings.  To date, I have resighted approximately 24 of those banded adults and returning juveniles as SY (sub-adult) birds at my site, along with one at a friend's site 6 miles north and one at my aunt's site located about 8-9 miles north.

One of many nestlings banded in 2013

Of those 24 resightings, some were seen again only one following season while a smaller number of them were seen at my site for multiple seasons now.  This year, due to multiple factors beyond our control, we have decided to not band any nestlings at my colony.  The good news however, is that I am now a licensed bander, sub-permitted under Dana Ripper at MRBO and I am planning a 2014 project to do some educational outreach and travel to some of the landlords' colonies whom I mentor around this area to band their nestlings.

As the martin flies, my aunt's place is approximately 8-9 miles from my site.

I think it would be interesting to find out how many of your birds are returning to your colony each year and how many are dispersing to other surrounding sites, such as mine.  There are some requirements that need to be met in order for me to accomplish this though and I will need your help and commitment if you are interested in having your birds banded.

It could take awhile for the bird to land in just the right position, but if a good quality photograph could be taken, it could be blown up on the computer to try to get a band reading.

First and foremost, I need to know if you will be willing to resight birds during the next martin season.  I will be honest with you and tell you up front that it does take some time.  The birds aren't always cooperative when you're trying to read their bands and many times, you find yourself in an awkward position in your yard (like standing-on-your-head-awkward) and chasing a bird around your site to get the reading.  But it can be quite fun and exciting when you realize this was one of *your* kids from last year.  I find it quite fun and relaxing to settle into a comfortable chair with a good quality pair of binoculars right smack in the middle of my colony and watch for bands (a good hat is a must-have for obvious reasons).  A spotting scope is a bonus and makes it even easier.  For landlords that are quite close to me, I would be willing to bring my spotting scope over to read the numbers on the band, once you have identified a banded bird at your colony.

Prerequisites for Banding:
1. You must have housing that can be vertically raised and lowered and opened so that you can perform weekly nest checks and which would allow us to safely get the nestlings down for banding.
2. You must perform weekly nest checks from the start of egg-laying.  Two reasons for this:  1) we'd be able to tentatively schedule the banding day by knowing when your first eggs would hatch and estimating when the nestlings would be at least 11 days old or older and; 2) we would know the location and expected number of nestlings in your colony that we could band.
3. As mentioned above, a willingness to watch your colony for bands in the 2015 season is required.

Please feel free to contact me at purplemartin@centurytel.net and let me know if you're a Missouri landlord who is interested in having your purple martins banded!

Severe Weather Ahead for Missouri Landlords Tonight

Today as the first of many thunderstorms rolled through, I checked on my stump fire.  The barrel and the lid that I used to contain the fire were gone and I was a little worried that increasingly glowing-hot embers were going to start a forest & field fire, even with the rain.  I wondered briefly if I'd be able to blame it on lightning. 
Wow, was today intense or what?  Luckily, I had gone out to lower my gourd racks and housing before the winds arrived.  I have no idea yet what the speed was of those winds, but when I tried to open my front door, I couldn't because of the very strong vacuum.  I'm guessing our 80-100 mph winds, reminiscent of the tornado of May 2011 that settled over Licking and did untold amounts of damage.
As I watched my poles on my racks bend to & fro, I was reminded of why I go to the trouble to lower them.  It's better to be safe than sorry.  And tonight, we're under more threats of severe weather, specifically tornadoes --> http://forecast.weather.gov/showsigwx.php?warnzone=MOZ082&warncounty=MOC215&firewxzone=MOZ082&local_place1=&product1=Tornado+Watch#.Uz3pN1fdCkE

I managed to get the barrel and lid back around my stump fire before it caused any trouble and in anticipation of the severe weather tonight, I lowered my racks and housing a little further.

Weight added to the burn barrel - think it will stay put tonight?

Racks and housing lowered to half mast.

Middle and West racks lowered to half mast.

There's still time for you to go out before your martins get home and lower your housing.  Please consider doing so - a tornado could quickly wipe out your martin colony.
Stay safe tonight friends and maybe try Bow's approach (Bow is cool!)- protest the thunder and severe weather and maybe the worst of it will go away!

Lending a Helping Hand

It has been getting dark here around 7:40 - 7:50 PM for the last few weeks.  Friday evening it was raining and I decided I better do a quick scan of the colony with the binoculars before it got too dark to see.  Sure enough, a female martin was stuck in the entrance on her back, beak pointing straight up to the skies, just lying there squirming. It had been raining for almost an hour.  I hate lowering the racks late in the evening, as it takes a while for the colony to settle back down and hawks or owls will quickly take advantage of the low light and try to snag dinner.  Fortunately, her wings were still inside, so I anticipated a quick, easy release. 
As I lowered the rack, I saw a female martin land on the ground in front of me.  She was soaking wet and unable to fly.  She tried to get airborne, but could not - it was the stuck martin that had gotten free and flopped out. After chasing her around the yard, I capture her and wrapped her in a towel, then raised the rack and everyone re-entered safely for the night.
She stayed in the garage overnight where it was 60 degrees, in a box with some old hand towels. 


Saturday morning, after a quick health check, I decided she was good to go, so I gave her a parting gift.  She became the new owner of MO Band # E818.  With her new jewelry securely attached, I released her.  She circled 4 times around the colony and landed on her rack, refreshed from her warm overnight stay and ready to do battle for *her* gourd once again.

My newly-banded female - E818, back on *her* gourd ready to fiercely defend her territory.

I was reminded once again that it is always a good idea to do a quick scan of your housing as your martins come in in the evenings.  They are fighting for territory and it's very easy for one of them to get sideways and even upside-down in an entrance-way, with a wing or both stuck and unable to free themselves.  This little girl was lucky that I found her that night.  At the same time, I'm feeling pretty lucky that she's at my site and has chosen me to look out for her.


As the day warmed up, I kept a close eye on that rack and I discovered that she had paired up with the male that was my first arrival this season.  Remember him?  First arrival at my colony in Licking. 

Now what were the odds of that?

Showing off her new jewelry to her new mate.  They now have matching jewelry!

Die Fescue, Die!

Well, we were almost there yesterday.  The rains last week had managed to make my field too wet to burn over the weekend.  By yesterday, the winds and dry air had dried the field almost enough to burn.  We thought we'd be able to burn this evening, but rain once again inconveniently struck and doused my hopes of getting it finally done.  So now, we wait for more wind and dry air to help dry out the field again.

A friend and her husband recently did a prescribed burn on their small farm here in Missouri.  After seeing her pictures, I wish I could have been there!  After killing the fescue, spotted knapweed and other invasives, the next step was to burn off all the dead matter, so that natives were free to grow unhindered.  The only way for the natives to flourish is to kill the invasives and burn them off, to allow the sun to touch the seeds and let Mother Nature spring forth!

Fire, fire, fire!  Beautiful flames scarify the seeds and rid the earth of detritus, exposing untold amounts of beauty, yet to come.  Note the drip-torch in the picture.  I so want one of these!

They disced some nice fire breaks around the areas they wanted to burn to ensure containment, then waited for the right conditions for burning.  Then waited some more. 

As Mr. Freeze frequently points out, finding the right time to burn a field here in Missouri is very tricky.  I tease him relentlessly when I'm wanting to go "burn something", because I'm a very impatient, back-seat driver.  Are we there yet?  But his abundance of caution does keep me out of trouble; chomping at the bit, but out of trouble.

The wind, humidity, ground moisture and all other conditions really must be as close to possible to perfect, or you could end up being named on the Police Report page of the local newspaper.  The wind is pretty unpredictable here.  You can start out in the morning with dead calm and by noon have the wind coming in from the north, changing over to any variety of directions on the compass and you could end up chasing a fire into the next county, or worse.  We had started a back-burn in one of our fields last year and when the wind suddenly shifted from the southwest to dead-on from the north, we suddenly had a head-fire and it jumped 10 feet across our fire break.  After much running, stomping, spraying with water, we decided to quit and live to fight another day.  

One of our brave fire-setters, diligently watching the destruction.  Note the water pack on the back, strategically placed so it won't get in the way if he has to break into a run to stop the fire.

Someday soon, I'll have some pictures of my own fire to post.  For now, these wonderful pictures were shared by my friend who shares my love of fire and nature; two perfect partners in crime conspiring to create beauty in our world.

 

The smoldering remains.  I hope Gail shares some pictures of what arises out of the ashes!

Purple Martin Numbers are Increasing in Southern Missouri

What a gloomy, gloomy day!
As I drove into my driveway at 5:30 PM Monday night , I noticed a flock of birds circling my site.  As I came closer, I noticed they were all purple martins.  I jumped out of the car to verify and to my delight, I was greeted with purple martin chatter as they started to dive down into the housing.

Over the next 10 minutes, I counted them as they dropped like rain and dove straight into housing compartments, their feet barely touching the porches.  I managed to count 35 martins, but I'm sure there were more.  Some of them - whether on purpose or accidentally - went into already-occupied housing and from there, hilarity ensued.  Invading, third-wheel females are treated no kinder than the extra males that accidentally enter a gourd where a paired couple has established residence for the year.  The growling inside a gourd indicated that a bird was about to be ejected and as the skies darkened, I carefully watched the shaking, swinging gourds to make sure a wing didn't get sideways in the entrance causing me to have to quickly lower the racks and help them free themselves before nightfall.

Some of the older residents of my colony will occupy the house first.

I observed 2 females and 3 males being thrown out on their ear and while their pride was wounded, physically they were okay and they eventually found an empty gourd where they could rest and stay warm. 

On Tuesday and Wednesday, some of the martins made their way to my "feeding tray" (which is really a piece of 1x10 lumber laid across the end of my deck rails) indicating that they wanted some food.  I put out crickets, but after taking only a few, they flew off.  That was very good news as it indicated to me that they were getting some food, even though the weather has not been that great.

My martins have learned that during cold, rainy weather when bugs won't be flying, they can count on the crazy Bird Lady of Licking to provide them with scrambled eggs and crickets.

Wednesday afternoon I stuffed 16 more gourds with Eastern White Pine needles and put them out on the racks.  I like to keep the number of cavities to a minimum at this point in migration, just in case the weather turns lethal and I need to put hand warmers in the cavities where birds are staying, but after seeing the additional birds arriving Monday night, I thought I should get more out on the racks.

As I lowered the East rack, I heard the familiar growling and saw a gourd shaking.  Since no one flew out when I lowered the rack, I carefully shielded the exit hole as I walked in front of that gourd and opened the lid.  There were 2 females, both in a defensive position, but neither was willing to budge from the gourd.  I had to wonder how terrific the male was that could cause these 2 ladies to become so embroiled in a brawl that they wouldn't voluntarily leave the gourd.  I carefully removed each one from the gourd and after doing a once-over to check for injuries and bands (there were none), I released them both.  One of the females was definitely older than the other, as indicated by how dark her coverts were.  She wasn't about to easily surrender her territory to the younger, pretty girl that was making moves on her man.

Last night, as I ate dinner I wandered over to the window and watched the martins returning.  By 6:40 PM, the resident female in the same gourd where I had released them earlier, had the younger female on her back with her right wing sticking out of the gourd.  Seriously, this male must be a prince or something as these 2 females were just not giving up their claim to that gourd!  I knew the younger girl wouldn't be able to pull her wing back in and extricate herself before nightfall so, I rushed out to help her.  A martin stuck in an entrance of a cavity can become owl-food or freeze to death during the night, so there was no doubt in my mind that I would have to run the risk of flushing the whole colony from their cavities that late in the evening so I could release this very determined, yet defeated little lady. 

After releasing the 2 females again, I was able to count all the martins as they returned to their nests.  I was able to confirm there are now 41 martins here as of last night.  With very warm weather predicted for this weekend, there will probably be many more arrivals as they start to push northward.  I'll be in my driveway with bags of pine needles and fill the remaining 33 gourds on Saturday and Sunday.  Anyone want to stop by and help? 

Protecting Your Purple Martins from Owl and Hawk Attacks

Every year many purple martin colonies have to deal with the inevitable hawk and owl attacks and the losses of their martins.  Hawks and owls are both protected by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act therefore, only passive measures can be used to protect your colony.  Shooting, harassing or any activities that cause harm to these species is illegal.  

As colonies grow, so does the noise level as the martins sit out in the warm sun and socialize - loudly - with each other.  The pandemonium of 150 chattering birds competing for mates will inevitably draw the attention of any airborne predators in the area.  Placing your colony in the most wide-open area with trees at least 40 feet away, will help your martins escape most attacks.  However, the further the trees are from your colony, the better their chances of reaching safety quickly.

Dealing with Hawk Attacks

During the early spring, my colony is frequently attacked by a very fast, hypersonic Sharp-shinned hawk.  Many people find it difficult to distinguish between a Sharpie and a Cooper's hawk, but once you have observed both of them in your backyard, you will be able to quickly tell the difference between the two.  When my local Cooper's hawk arrives, she will claim the territory for herself and the Sharpie will leave.  That will present its own set of problems, but at least the Cooper's hawk is only capable of supersonic speed.  One year, the Sharpie attacks were happening so frequently that I decided I better come up with a solution before she inflicted too much damage on my colony.  

While watching my birds at the feeder one day, I noticed all the birds suddenly flush into the nearby brush piles and shrubs for cover.  I held my breath as my Sharpie executed a blistering attack, but still came up empty-clawed and landed on the branch of my dead cedar tree to regain her composure.

Sharp shinned hawk - December, 2012

Overcome with joy that she had missed breakfast, I opened the window, blew her a big raspberry and snapped her photo as she gave me the evil stink-eye.  As I watched her perching there, I realized that all the attacks on my colony had come from the tree lines on three sides of my property.  Even though the trees are over 150 feet away on all sides, she was still trying every trick she knew to grab a martin, coming in very low then suddenly popping up or under a tree to attack the colony.

Since the birds at my feeders tend to be much more watchful for predators than my noisy martins who sometimes get rather caught up in their social gatherings, I decided to setup bird feeders on the north, west and east sides of my property, right in the hawks' attack paths, between the tree lines and my martin housing.  The idea of this strategy was that the birds at the feeders would attract the attention of the hawk as he/she came through and would be distracted just long enough for the martins to hear the alarm and escape. 

As doves are purported to be a Cooper Hawk's favorite meal, I also attached dove decoys to the tops of each feeder and added shrubbery and brush piles nearby so the birds at my decoy feeders had plenty of cover to dive into, if a hawk attacked.  My plan worked.  The Sharpie and the Cooper's were both attracted to the activities at the feeders as they executed their attacks and since my dove decoys couldn't fly, they were attacked relentlessly. 

One of my dove decoys stationed on top of a bird feeder.  This feeder is 100' to the west of my racks and the tree line is 125' more feet to the west of it.  Nope, nothing fancy here - just a piece of wood, some electrical tape and a hapless dove decoy bracing himself for the next attack.

As an added bonus, the alarm calls of the birds at the feeders caused my martins to launch themselves into the air - a much safer place for them to be during an attack.

For added protection, I also added 14 purple martin decoys to the perches around my colony and I move them around to different positions when I conduct nest checks.  These decoys and the strategically placed feeders have helped immensely with protecting my colony.

Dealing with Owl Attacks

Owls are another challenge that Purple Martin Landlords frequently have to deal with.  Owls find martin colonies by hearing the martins vocalizing and making other noises at night in their nests. Owl guards must be placed on houses and gourds to keep owls from spooking martins from their nests or from actually reaching inside and grabbing a martin.  A Great Horned Owl (GHO) can have an 8-12 inch reach and quickly devastate your colony in a matter of 2-3 nights.  As a first line of defense, landlords can add tunnels to the entrances of each nest.  Larger cavities and/or extending the entrances will also help protect your martins from other aerial predators such as accipiter hawks, falcons, crows and even Blue Jays.  Check out this article on how to modify your housing if you are experiencing owl attacks on your colony.
http://www.purplemartin.org/forumarchives/archive/Owlreach.htm
You can also add hardware cloth cages to any housing or gourd racks.  Ideas and pictures are described in these linked posts / articles:
http://www.purplemartin.org/update/Mod.html
And more pictures and ideas from the PMCA Forum:
http://purplemartin.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=21912&highlight=aprils+owl+guards

After losing 20+ birds to owl predation in 2012, Jerry, one of my landlord friends here in Missouri, got very creative and came up with his own homemade ideas and has offered to share his pictures and the descriptions of his materials in his creations below.

In 2012, Jerry Heitman in Troy, MO lost 20+ birds due to owls. In 2013 he estimated that he only lost 1 bird, after installing the owl guards pictured here.

These guards are made of # 9 fence wire and a 3" piece if 1/2" electrical conduit smashed around the wire.

Jerry's site with the owl guards installed

Everyone's colony will eventually experience a hawk, owl, snake, raccoon or other type of predator attack.  The best line of defense is to ensure that you've given your martins the best chance of survival and the ability to evade these predators.  A hungry hawk or owl can wreak havoc on your colony, so it is best to be prepared in advance and establish a safe nesting site for our friends.





Answers to the Trivia Questions asked here:
 http://kathyfreeze.blogspot.com/2014/03/attraction-techniques-for-new-sites.html

1.     c

2.     b – According to the PMCA site, the average age for martins is 2-5 years, with some living 6-7 years; the oldest martin on record lived to be 13 years and 10 months.

3.     a – In 2008, researchers, working in collaboration with the PMCA, equipped 20 purple martins with geolocators (tracking devices, small and light enough for songbirds to carry).  They mapped their round trip journey from Pennsylvania to the Amazon basin and back – a trip of about 9,300 miles.  The birds' travel speeds astounded them. All flew two to six times faster during their spring return journey than in fall. One female purple martin dashed back north in 13 days at a speed of about 358 miles a day, shattering previous estimates for songbirds of 93 miles a day.

4.     d

5.     a, c, d – It is an old wives’ tale that opening a birds’ nest and inspecting the young or eggs will cause the adult parents to abandon the nest.  In fact, conducting weekly nest checks of your birds’ nests will help you correct problems that may save many fledglings who otherwise might not have survived.

      As the English house sparrow is a ferocious nest site competitor, allowing it to nest in your housing will either prevent martins from establishing a colony at your site, or will cause them to eventually abandon.  Any devastating attacks on your colony such as a raccoon or snake attack can also lead to abandonment of your site.