"I come into the peace of wild things who do not tax their lives with forethought of grief.
For a time I rest in the grace of the world, and am free." ~Wendell Berry


Monday, June 23, 2014

Purple Martin Post Fledging Behavior

When I asked this question last week on the Purple Martin Conservation Assoc. (PMCA) page,

One of the most-often-repeated discussions that Mr. Freeze and I have every year about this time when the fledges are spreading their wings and taking flight is, "why do the adults (sometimes their own parents) often push them down when they start to fly?" There always seems to be one or two that are 'bumping' the new fledge or seemingly trying to ground him.
We speculate a lot that they're trying to get the new fledge to practice his evasive maneuvers right out of the gate or just trying to keep him from going too high, especially since hawks are in the area.
Are there any more-educated guesses on this practice by the adults? Is it just a matter of, "only the strong that survive the initial flights, will survive migration, so they're being tested"?
This was the answer provided by Louise Chambers, PMCA:

Here is an older publication about post-fledging behavior; comments about harassment in the later pages (384-385): http://sora.unm.edu/.../wilson/v090n03/p0376-p0385.pdf.





I thoroughly enjoyed the article and thought my readers might enjoy it as well.

Sunday, June 22, 2014

An Ozarks Mason Bee Project - Part 1

I’ve been reading a lot about the plight of the honey bees for years now and wondering what I could do to help them.  Some people, like our local friend Andy, have setup honeybee hives on their property.  I had thought about doing that, but after listening to Andy’s experiences, now I’m glad I didn’t.  I hate getting stung by any flying or crawling insects and apparently, even with protective suits, sometimes you still get stung.  The costs of getting started with honey bees really weren’t very appealing to me either.
My desire to help the honey bees became even stronger this past year after watching several documentaries about the problems they’re encountering.  This “TED” talk by Marla Spivak was very interesting, well done and enlightening. The solutions she talks about are so obvious and simple, it makes you wonder why more people haven’t already put them into practice.

http://www.ted.com/talks/marla_spivak_why_bees_are_disappearing.html

Nevertheless, the honey bees are not the only bees that are in trouble.  My problem for the last 2 years has been dealing with the question of, “where do I start and how could I really make an impact”?  Turns out, the impact I can make starts in my own backyard.  I learned last year that there are actually more benefits and less costs involved when raising Orchard Mason Bees.  One of the benefits delighted me; Mason bees are actually more docile than honey bees and are less likely to sting!  Woohoo – I can dig that!
Orchard Mason Bees are also supposed to be better pollinators than honey bees.  They will work in cooler and damper weather as well.  Why are they better pollinators? They carry pollen on the underside of their abdomen and then scrape the pollen off within their nesting hole. Because the pollen is carried dry on their hair, it is more easily transferred, resulting in significantly more pollinated flowers than their cousin, the honey bee, who wet the pollen they carry on their legs.

http://www.crownbees.com/what-makes-mason-bees-such-good-pollinators/

http://www.citygirlfarming.com/Bees/MasonBeeInfo.html

http://www.citygirlfarming.com/Bees/BeeKeeping.html

Step 1 is to plant food to attract the bees - native wildflowers. The native wildflower project has been ongoing since 2007 and am loving the results.  But I had to smile to myself as I had uncovered yet another hobby where I would have the challenge of providing food for something I was inviting to my backyard. 
Step 2 is to provide shelter and housing. 
In researching mason bees I found that there are many simple ways to attract and provide housing for them.  If you search the internet, you will find tons of cool pictures of logs and various other natural things that can be drilled out and placed together to make visually attractive housing for them.

However attractive they are though, to my disappointment, I learned these structures are not very practical or safe for the bees as they allow various parasites to also take up residence and kill the hibernating bees.  And the housing is not very easy to clean.
I realize these natural cavities are where 99% of the mason bees lay their eggs and somehow, some percentage of them survive.  At some point, I will probably grab a bunch of hardwood, reeds and other materials and build one of these beautiful structures and just burn the materials and start over with fresh-drilled wood, reeds, etc. every year.
While I'm talking about making your own housing, here is a fun project you can do with your kids to build your own bee housing.
http://www.nwf.org/How-to-Help/Garden-for-Wildlife/Gardening-Tips/Build-a-Bee-House.aspx

But for now, I wanted to be able to see this evolution of life and I elected to try artificial housing.
I finally found a really good source for housing and ordered 4 of these blocks.
http://www.masonbeehomes.com/pro-bee-block
Mason bees usually work within a 300 foot radius of their home, so I placed these 4 blocks in strategic places around my property.
4 houses - sides & top are cut from cedar boards and the roof overhangs almost 2".

This one was hung in front of the orchard on 4/28/2014 where cherry trees, elderberries and blackberries grow.
This one is located under a tree limb, facing south as required by the instructions, overlooking a large grove of black hawthorn (viburnum).
This one was hung in front of our Viburnum forest on 4/28/2014 that blooms om early spring.
I was afraid that I had put out my Mason bee homes way too late for our region, but I was hopeful that I might pick up some stragglers.  After all, the plum trees (our first early spring bloomer in this region) and the viburnum were still blooming!  Maybe I would get lucky my first year, but I'd have to wait and see.

Wednesday, June 18, 2014

Sharing the Passion

Old Paul and his wife Sharon live here in Missouri and they are hopelessly in love with purple martins.  They are part of my group of proteges that I mentor here in Missouri.  Of course, according to Paul's latest update, he doesn't need mentoring anymore.  He is now doing some mentoring of his own.

I was delighted to receive Paul's pictures a couple of days ago, but I was even more delighted to see that he is sharing his love and passion for these birds with these beautiful girls.

Paul wrote:
"Took our neighbor girls, Allie and Libby,  to the cabin to see the baby Purple Martins. They were elated to get to hold a baby. It was a nice experience for them.


I am very pleased with our population this year. We have 16 nesting pairs, an increase from last year's six nesting pairs. We will do one more nest check this weekend to get a final count of babies. Please note the open glide area and pond. They love to drop down to get their drinks. Come fledging time it's going to get pretty busy and noisy at our colony. The photo only shows one gourd rack, just to the west is another pole with two metal houses with 2-room condos and four gourds below those houses.


If you get these photo OK, you are welcome to use them in your "Birds & Bees".


I have enjoyed our PMs more this year than ever before.
Old Paul and Sharon"


Check out the smiles!

Future purple martin landlords!

Teach them the importance and benefit of a winch system!  :)

Beautiful site, beautiful girls and a wise Old Paul.





It's hard to tell who is happier in this picture!
Thanks Paul & Sharon for the wonderful pictures and sharing your colony with 2 lovely girls!

Sunday, June 1, 2014

Handy, Dandy Nest Check Tool Box

I've been conducting nest checks since early May.  But now, with babies hatching, it's time to get serious!  So that my nest checks can go quickly, I prefer to be prepared with everything that I might need.  Especially when there are lots of babies and parents are trying to feed their young, I try to move quickly and that means having everything right there when I need it.
In 2011, I put together a Nest-Check Tool Kit.  It's easy to carry and I don't have to run back & forth for things I may have forgotten. It pays to get organized with 84 nest cavities to check!
I have a Harley Davidson tool belt (stolen from Mr. Freeze- ssshhhhh!) where I put the following for easy access:
- voice recorder (has a strap that gets pinned to my shirt for easy access and clear voice recording, especially when it's windy).  I bought this handy little recorder at Walmart for about $25 and it has a great microphone in it and easy buttons that allow me to record each nest check, then replay it back at a more convenient time to record into my nest check logbook. 

- marker - for refreshing numbers on the gourd lids
- small phillips screw driver - to tighten or move the decoys
- electrical tape - securing decoys after moving
- wire cutters - cutting the zip ties that secure the rods on which the decoys are mounted
- telescoping automotive mirror - helps to see the eggs in the back of the Trendsetter house nests
- zip ties - securing the dowel rods the decoys are mounted on.
- baggie with cards safety-pinned to the tool belt - I record the gourd / house numbers that contain the oldest nestlings before I go out. I can grab the baggie & quickly see which nests I need to plug without fouling the card.

Tool Box:
Serves as a step stool with the lid closed, for checking the higher nests, tool box and a chair.  It contains:
- nest plugs (see upper right of picture) which are basically old socks & pieces of sweat pants with long string wrapped around them (there are more under the tray)
- large flathead screwdriver (don't know what it's for, but I have it if I need it!) LOL
- forceps - yeah, I don't know why I have those in there either
- large ziploc bag with 10 or so folded paper towels soaked in 90% rubbing alcohol in case I encounter large populations of mites! 

- plastic gloves to be used in case of really yucky, nasty stuff in the nest that needs to be removed.  I avoid latex as I'm allergic to it, and figure it can't be good for the birds that I handle either.

When it comes time to start doing nest replacements, I also fill my wheelbarrow with fresh pine needles and take 2 empty 5-gallon buckets with me.  In one I dump the nasty, old nests, and in the other I have fresh pine needles where I temporarily move the babies while doing a nest replacement.

Monday, May 19, 2014

The Night Belongs to Thee

I have been a busy purple martin landlord lately and not in a good way.  Between erecting owl guards and preparing for my presentation at the Missouri Department of Conservation in Houston, MO last week, I haven't had much time to write about it.  But now that the adrenaline is subsiding and the fear is alleviated with the installation of the guards, I now have some time to share.

Ever since mid April, I felt something was wrong in my colony.  I had found a Great Horned Owl feather in my driveway, but really wasn't too worried as it was over 200' from my colony and I wasn't seeing the classic signs that everyone talks about (plucked feathers, martins leaving the site right before it gets dark, etc.) 
 
What I was seeing were very few martins in my Trendsetter-12 house.  This was unusual because my oldest martins always took up residence in my Trendsetter first.  Afterall, it was my first *official* purple martin housing.  But something felt off and not quite right with my colony.  So, I ordered a Browning Recon game camera and put it out on April 21st.  Every day I would retrieve the SD card from the camera and find nothing recorded on it, except the daytime activities of the martins.
I got lazy and around May 3rd or 4th, I quit the daily retrieval of the card thinking that I was just being paranoid and silly and had read too many posts about owl attacks.  On Friday, May 9th, I decided that I really needed to check that card and I pulled it.  But I still didn't review its contents until just before bedtime that night.  As I opened the card and saw the timestamps on some of the pictures, my throat began to tighten.
Then as I started opening the pictures, I thought, "This can't be.  Everything was fine up until now, so why am I suddenly seeing timestamps for pictures at 4:23 A.M. for May 6th?"  As I viewed the pictures and my brain processed what had happened the night of May 6th (3 days prior), I felt something tighten around my waist and I couldn't swallow - I thought I was going to be sick.  I couldn't believe that a Great Horned Owl was attacking my housing.  The whole reason I had bought the Trendsetter was so that an owl can't reach into the cavity and pull martins out.  What he can do though as I was informed that night, was exactly what this Wise Old Owl was doing - he was beating his wings against the house, attempting to get the martins to flush, right into his talons.
Great Horned owl attack on my Trendsetter-12 housing.  Note the time. Dawnsinging starts about this time every morning at my colony, so it is likely that the owl heard the martins and was drawn to the housing.





The terror that had arrived at my colony on the morning of May 6th could have been enough to frighten the purple martins into abandoning that house.  And who could blame them?  I would certainly pack my stuff & go if I were them!  I wasn't as much worried about them abandoning though as I was about keeping the remaining ones safe.  I couldn't justify serving up a buffet to the owls.

I hastily made a post on the PMCA forum with the pictures and was rather surprised to see how many people were still awake and willing to help, advise and provide empathy at such a late hour.  I was willing to do whatever needed to be done to protect my colony.  It had been 3 days since that attack and there were no guards on any of the housing or gourds and there was no telling when he would be back.  I was frantic.  What if he came back that very night?  Was he successful on the night of May 6th?  I had no way of knowing.  Lots of good suggestions came rolling in, but there was only one reality - I needed to stay up and protect my colony that night and figure out how to get guards installed on all my housing the next day.
It was quite an experience staying up all night with my martin colony.  Owls hunt by sound and I can see why he was attracted to my colony.  My martins are noisy!!  By 3:30 A.M. the next morning, I could hear a Barred Owl on the east side of my colony and the Great Horned Owl (GHO) on the northwest side of my colony.  Hoot, hoot, hooting away.  I was happy as long as I could hear them calling, but when they became silent was when I became worried and started scanning my colony with my spotlight to make sure they weren't visiting.  Fortunately, they weren't.
I had always read that a GHO would displace a Barred owl, but as frequently happens here, my site is often the exception I guess.  By 4:30 A.M., I could hear my martins in the sky singing their dawnsong.  What an awesome experience.  It was a very strange feeling to hear martins in the black, velvety sky but only be able to see the stars.  I wouldn't trade that experience for anything.  It was one of the most beautiful things in the world.  Dawnsinging, the darkness of the night, stars and owls.  I have never felt more alive.
By Saturday afternoon, I had driven my husband crazy and we finally deployed the cage on my Trendsetter.
It took about an hour for my martins to adjust and trust it, but they finally did.  We used "Welded Wire Fabric", 2x4" from Orscheln's Farm Store and cut out a couple of wires to make 4x4" openings in front of each of the house entrances.  I have also added tubing over each of the entrances to make a more bulky landing spot for each of the martins.  I am happy to report that the house has martins and eggs in every cavity, except one.  That's a pretty good occupancy rate, given the circumstances.


By Sunday afternoon, we had erected some temporary guards on the gourd racks as well.  In thinking about how the owl had approached the housing and the wing span on the GHO (39 to 43 inches), the idea with these guards is to interrupt his wing space.  Pretty funny looking, eh?

I had always read about landlords erecting their owl guards and their martins seem to relax after installing them.  I thought, "how would you know"?  But now I have experienced it - you know.  Somehow you know, you feel it and you hear it in their song and see it in their activities.  They are safe and they know it.  Fortunately, the owl has not been back since that night.  I'm hoping it stays that way, but I'm no longer naive enough to believe that.
We are working on a plan for more permanent owl guards - something that won't interfere with our view during the off-martin season (can be removed), something that won't need a 20' ladder to install, something that won't interfere with storage, and will be user-friendly for nest checks.  My husband is brilliant and has come up with some ideas to fit our particular situation.
I am much more comfortable with knowing my martins are safe now.  But I have learned a few things.  First, trust your intuition and act on it.  And do it before something really bad occurs.  Apparently, we all live within the range of a barred owl or a GHO.  Don't get lazy.
Lastly, 3:30 A.M. is a special time with a purple martin colony, especially when dawnsinging starts.  It is wild; it was an ethereal experience and it is Mother Nature in her purest form.  I loved it.  I'll be up a few times every year now to enjoy it.  For that, I am thankful to the owl for the rude awakening.  I will remember you are out there always and you sir, YOU own the night.

Thursday, May 15, 2014

No, There's No Silence In The Night

While out watching over my purple martin colony last weekend, I carried my video camera around with me.  As I listened to the frogs in our smaller pond I had to work hard to suppress my laughter as I didn't want to scare them into silence while I was recording them.  They seemed to be competing for the title of "Loudest, Most Obnoxious Noisemaker".



I may be revealing my age, but one of my favorite Red Skelton shows was one in which he recited his poem, "Frogs". He was right - "there's no silence in the night"!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=haZ2bNNxdJo

Monday, May 12, 2014

The Goldilocks Colony

Since I have started mentoring purple martin landlords in Missouri, there are two questions I'm frequently asked; 1) "what is the minimum number of cavities I should offer?"; and 2) "how large should I grow my colony?".  Too small a colony and a single catastrophic event can wipe it out.  Too large a colony and problems can go undetected until it's too late to correct them.  With migration still underway in this 2014 season, now is a good time to start addressing those questions and determine for yourself whether you'd like to stick with a smaller colony or plan for a larger colony.

Small Colonies
I've done some research on the minimum number of martins required to sustain a colony throughout weather calamities and natural attrition and here is what I've found. First, the PMCA recommends that landlords should offer at least 24 total nesting compartments and strive to build their colonies to at least 12-15 breeding pairs.
Consider the following from the PMCA site: http://www.purplemartin.org/main/toptwelve.html
"Too many martin landlords offer just one 12-unit martin house. While this is enough to start a colony, it is not enough to ensure long-term colony site survival.  Landlords should offer multiple houses and/or at least 24 total nesting compartments. They should strive to build their colonies to at least 12-15 breeding pairs. Because conventionally-designed martin houses rarely have active nests in more than 50 - 60% of their rooms (due to male porch domination), this means a landlord should be offering at least 24-30 total compartments. Don’t put ‘all of your eggs in one basket.’ If you have only one house and a summer storm blows it to the ground, smashing the eggs and killing the nestlings, you could be out of the martin business. Landlords with single houses (and thus smaller colonies) run a much higher risk of losing all their birds from a weather calamity, or from one year to the next due to natural attrition — approximately half of all adult martins die each year, and about 75% of the fledglings. Give your martins a diversity of nesting choices: try adding some gourds to your housing set-up. "
Luther & Fonda's small, but very well-managed colony.  Luther uses Troyer Vertical gourds with the Conley II entrance.  He conducts nest checks and eliminates any house sparrows checking out his housing (note the repeating house sparrow trap attached to the pole).
**Note that the article refers to the "conventionally-designed houses" when talking about the 50-60% occupancy.  One landlord I know offered a 12-cavity house for many years and was only able to get 5-6 pair to nest. Last year after adding another 12-room house they were able to get 10 pair to nest, effectively doubling their colony.  The article also states that martins are far more productive in gourds. I would submit that besides the obvious reason of more room offered in gourds, there is also less porch domination with gourds, especially when staggered, which will increase your occupancy rate.
Large Colonies
Some landlords strive to achieve the label of "super colony" for their sites.  A de facto super colony is one that offers 100 nest cavities.  I have visited a couple of these super colonies and talked with their owners.  Most are retired and management of purple martins is their sole hobby for the summer.
Photo provided by Jonathan Spangler.  Large colonies need an abundant food supply both for the adults and for the fast-growing new fledges.  ASY female with Cicada breakfast for the kids.
Consider some of the points below by Mr. Jamie Hill-founder of the PMCA - below: http://www.purplemartin.org/forumarchives/archive/q&awith.htm
21. Q: Some martin enthusiasts become so addicted to the hobby that their main goal each year is to attract more martins than the previous year until they have built up a "super colony" of over 100 pairs of martins. Do you think martin colonies can be too large?
A:  Yes. Large colonies become giant predator magnets. I know of no martin colony over 75 pairs that doesn't have hawk and owl problems. One site we know with over 300 pairs is hit repeatedly each day by aerial predators. With such high levels of predation, the breeding success of martins in such colonies is probably depressed. The level of aggressive fighting among martins is also greater in larger colonies, as is the spread of disease and parasites. Competition for food is also increased, forcing martins to fly farther from their housing to find food for their nestlings. This causes life-shortening stress on parents and increases the time between feedings for the nestlings, slowing their growth.

While Mr. Hill makes some good general points, you would need to take into account your own circumstances when growing your colony.  For example, Jerry in Troy, MO experienced frequent owl attacks in 2012 with only 38 nesting pair in residence and had to install owl guards to protect his colony in 2013.  An awareness of the resident predators in your area will help give you an idea of the challenges you will face with increasing the size of your colony.

Jerry's colony in Troy, MO offering 44 Troyer gourds with Conley II entrances in 2012.
Just Right?
I urge anyone that desires to grow their colony to go slowly.  Going slowly allows to you observe your colony, deal with challenges along the way and make adjustments quickly.  You will know when you've reached the "sweet spot" when you still have time to enjoy your martins, rather than being constantly frustrated and having to address issues.
More from Mr. Hill's interview:
22. Q:  What do you feel is the "ideal" martin colony size that can be properly managed?

A:  The answer to this question depends on how much time the landlord has to devote to the hobby. A colony should only be as big as a landlord can properly manage. During the breeding season, a nest check of 100 nesting compartments can take about 30 minutes, if you move fast (as you should). This needs to be done every four days during the egg-laying period and every 5-7 days during the nestling period. A landlord should also walk underneath his housing once or twice each day to look for evidence of problems. Trapping and shooting House Sparrows and starlings is another factor determining how many cavities should be offered. No more than what the landlord can keep 100% starling and sparrow free. And don't forget annual maintenance. Housing needs to be taken down, nests cleaned out, housing washed off, repainted (if necessary), stored for the winter, and put back up in spring. Only build your colony to the size you can manage. For some people this is one 12-unit house. For others, it's several hundred gourds or a dozen multi-room houses.
An example of a medium-sized colony.  Mark & Teresa, Brandon, SD - photo taken 7/24/2013.  24-gourd system:  first year, 2012 - 8 nesting pair, 2013-21 nesting pair.  Mark & Teresa also have another 16 gourd rack system with 15 out of the 16 Super Gourds occupied every year.

Personal Perspective:
Based on Mr. Hill's recommendation of 30 minutes to conduct a nest check of 100 compartments, I can see that I need to work on my nest check timing!  I currently offer a total of 84 cavities - 72 Troyer gourds and 12 cavities in my Trendsetter house - and it is taking me about 45 minutes.  I have found that 84 cavities is all that I want to manage at this time, along with my full-time job.  At the end of each season, when I'm hauling all my cleaning gear out and staring at all my housing I have to clean up, anticipating the inevitable week of back pain afterwards, I just can't fathom the idea of adding more housing at this time.  Of course, once I retire, all bets are off and I reserve the right to change my mind (insert loud laughter from my husband here).  Ha!

Who wouldn't love a rack full of martins?
Full management of a large colony takes a lot of time, planning, money and effort.  So, based on the above information, here are some questions to ask yourself when trying to decide the correct size colony for you:
1. How involved do you want to be with your colony? Do you want to do weekly nest checks and record their progress? If so, you will need to consider how much time that will take and weigh it against how much available time you have to devote to those activities.
2. If you're not very involved, do you have frequent predator or nest-site competitor problems that keep you busy? As Mr. Hill states, hawks are drawn to the noise made by a large colony but on the flip side of that, I have found that a larger colony such as mine usually has more eyes in the sky that can watch out for hawk attacks. Hawk attacks can also be minimized through a few other strategies mentioned in an earlier article.
If you're using SREH, then you should have minimum problems with starlings.  By the way, we just have to face it; English House Sparrows will always be a problem, but the problem is manageable with traps and frequent shooting / elimination.  As far as other predators, with the proper guards installed, you can prevent snake and raccoon attacks and also reduce the impact an owl can have on your colony (updated since this article was written - I'll be sharing some recent owl attack experiences).
3. Is there enough food around to support a larger colony at your site?  One of the reasons I've become so interested in native wildflowers and ponds was because I was concerned about there being an ample supply of bugs to support my large colony.  Increased numbers of martins require increased numbers of insects, not only for the adults, but also for the young they would raise here.  So as not to cause them to have to fly further to find that food, I've learned to attract that food to my backyard through native wildflower plantings and a large pond.
Native wildflower plantings help draw in many insects that not only provide pollination benefits, but also provide food for your martin colony.
Of course, not everyone has the land for these things. But you can certainly increase your insect populations through native wildflower plantings which will attract thousands of beneficial bugs (yes, including bees), to your area. An interesting side-note:  Purple Martins (and other insect-eating birds) will not eat the Monarch butterfly as their host milkweed plant causes them to taste bitter to all birds.  However, they will eat the numerous other butterflies, moths, wasps, bees, cicadas, butterflies and dragonflies that are drawn to the wildflowers and any water features (ponds included) that you may add to your yard.
Common Green Darner dragonfly is found near water sources.

So, for those of you that would like to keep a small colony, the minimum number of cavities offered should be at least 24. Beyond that, it is strictly up to you and what you feel comfortable managing. My plan for my martins when I retire is still up in the air. I love martins. I am extremely passionate about them. My heart wants to setup purple martin gourd racks as far as my boundaries permit, but my head knows better. So, I will probably negotiate a compromise between the two someday. Maybe after ensuring that many of the landlords I am mentoring have well-established colonies, I might choose to setup 1 or 2 more racks and after that, do further public outreach.
Photo provided by Jonathan Spangler.  ASY male providing a Common Green Darner to the kids.

To me, there is nothing better than sitting out on your porch, enjoying the raucous vocalizations and chatter of over 150+ purple martins and laughing at their antics throughout the various stages of their breeding cycle and rearing of their young.  Even the young fledglings provide me with enormous amounts of entertainment and I delight in their shenanigans.  Regardless of the stresses they face, whether being chased by hawks, awakened by an owl knocking in the middle of the night, or fighting off house sparrows and starlings, the indomitable, determined spirit of the martin persists and he surges forth with his delightful chatter against all odds with one thing in mind. To further his bloodline, against all odds.
We can increase his odds of being more successful.  It is easy to get caught up on the romantic idea of a larger colony.  But you will do the purple martin more harm than good if you become frustrated with difficult issues and neglect, or worse, decide to remove your housing.  There is nothing sadder than seeing a flock of martins return to a site whose housing has been removed.
Whether you have a small or a large, well-managed colony, make sure that you are able to manage it in such a way that keeps both you and your purple martins happy while helping them increase their numbers, despite the odds.