Purple Martin (PUMA) house at the Biocore Prairie - 2022
August 14. Both David Liebl and Seth McGee declare the PUMA house vacated for this season. The team will meet at the PUMA house on August 25 to organize the closing of this year and plan for 2023.
Click HERE for season records 2022 (PDF). JEPG file
PMCA summary sheet for 2022
53 eggs
41 young
33 fledged
Click HERE for season records 2022 (PDF). JEPG file
PMCA summary sheet for 2022
53 eggs
41 young
33 fledged
August 14, 2022. All young have fledged and 19 PUMAs are gathering around the house. Photo David Liebl.
August 14. David Liebl reports: 19 Purple martins around the house.
All nests appear to have fledged. Gourds C and D had fledglings outside the entrances. The total number of fledglings in 2022 is 33 young martins.
All nests appear to have fledged. Gourds C and D had fledglings outside the entrances. The total number of fledglings in 2022 is 33 young martins.
Friends Prairie Partner Interns monitoring with Seth McGee, Biocore lab manager. Photo McGee
July 26-28.
On July 26, a beautiful sunny day, David Liebl, Gisela Kutzbach and Chuck Henrickson and his grandchildren counted eggs, nestlings and fledged purple martins. The Martin were swarming above – watching our group lowering the house, inspecting each gourd and nest box, photographing, and winching up the house again, all in 15 minutes. The parents were ready to feed their young with dragonflies and other tasty insects.
On July 28, Seth McGee and his group of the Prairie Partner interns supported by the Friends monitored a second time within a week, in awe of the almost fully grown nestlings, ready to fledge. View the table below to see the progression of PUMA development from eggs to nestlings to fledged. The complete table from May to end of July can be viewed HERE.
On July 26, a beautiful sunny day, David Liebl, Gisela Kutzbach and Chuck Henrickson and his grandchildren counted eggs, nestlings and fledged purple martins. The Martin were swarming above – watching our group lowering the house, inspecting each gourd and nest box, photographing, and winching up the house again, all in 15 minutes. The parents were ready to feed their young with dragonflies and other tasty insects.
On July 28, Seth McGee and his group of the Prairie Partner interns supported by the Friends monitored a second time within a week, in awe of the almost fully grown nestlings, ready to fledge. View the table below to see the progression of PUMA development from eggs to nestlings to fledged. The complete table from May to end of July can be viewed HERE.
David Liebl shows Chuck's grandchildren and Gisela purple martin eggs. Photo Chuck Henrikson
July 16.
Four alert , well-fed nestlings in Gourd A have retreated from the entrance to the nest during monitoring and are eying the photographer. Also visible is one non-viable egg. Photo David Liebl
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July 16
David Liebl reports: "Two of us were at the PUMA house between 9:45 and 10:15 today. There were twelve birds visible on the house when we arrived. The only nest where fledglings were seen at the entrance was box #7. We had the house down for about fifteen minutes for a quick check. There was very little agitation during the check with about twenty five birds in the air above. All the fledglings had moved to the rear of their nests and were motionless. After the inspection, seventeen birds were perched on the raised house, and entering the nests normally (pic). No other species were seen on or around the house." Frequent monitoring at this time is critical as it provides us with an accurate count of martins fledged. As Seth anticipated on July 11, birds in Gourd C just hatched while birds in Gourd D fledged during the last 5 days. On average, it takes 26-32 days for young nestlings to fledge. Young fletchings receive care from both parents for 1-2 two weeks after fledging. This explains the large number of martins circling the house when David & Co were monitoring. |
!7 martins at the PUMA house after monitoring. Photo David Liebl
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July 11.
Seth McGee reports: " Some of the hatchlings are so large that I didn't feel like disturbing them. I didn't see nestlings poking their heads out of the holes yet but I suspect some of them will soon. Once I saw how mature the babies were, I wrapped up my inspection quickly and raised the house back up. Thus, the data isn't as complete as usual. I hurried the process because adults that were returning from foraging were vocalizing as they passed by the house and the nestlings were calling in response. There's a large gap in oldest to youngest this year. Gourd C birds might be hatching when Gourd D birds are fledging. There's a peculiar egg in nest Gourd A. I wish I would have taken the time to get a better photo. Perhaps it's an old egg that isn't viable. It doesn't look like a fresh PUMA egg. Two young students who were participating in Biocore's Summer Science Camp. They loved seeing the nestlings and eggs and were a big help with data collection." |
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From top left, clockwise, Gourd A - D. Photos Seth McGee
July 1.
Chuck Henrikson, David Liebl, Gisela Kutzbach. Selfie
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July 1.
Monitors Chuck Henrikson, Gisela Kutzbach and David Liebl met at the house at noon, a less active period of the day, to check nests. On this gloriously sunny day with a light breeze, we registered 23 nestlings from just two days to more than two weeks old, and 16 eggs, with some ready to hatch and others laid only within the last few days. The data since May 26 are listed in the table below. The temperature measurements by Seth McGee of June 15 indicate that the house compartments on a very hot day were only 1-1.5 degrees F higher than the surrounding air temperature. The wind provided good ventilation. With David, our most efficient team member, in charge of lowering the house and opening compartments, the entire monitoring process was completed in about 20 minutes. Once the house was winched up again, PUMAs were immediately swarming it, with flies and other delicacies ready to feed to their young. |
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Preening in progress.
Video by Chuck Henrikson June 23, 2022 |
4 nestlings in Gourd D. Photo David Liebl
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June 23, 2022. Puma nest check
David Liebl ventured to the Biocore Prairie on this beautiful summer day. David winched down the house and counted an astonishing 19 eggs and 22 young nestlings. He also removed one dead nestling. Although the overall count was almost the same as two weeks ago, comparison of the data shows considerable changes from box to box. The number of active nests increased from 8 to 9. Comparing with the previous count, Gourd A and B lost a total of 4 eggs, and Gourds C lost all 6 eggs. Of the 5 eggs in Gourd D, 4 hatched. Box 2 now has 4 eggs. In Box 4, 4 of 5 eggs have hatched. Boxes 7, 8 and 11 kept their count, with all but two eggs now hatched. Box 14, still empty two weeks ago, now has 5 eggs. |
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Photos Seth McGee
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June 9, 2022 PUMA nest check - 44 eggs!
Today Seth McGee made the PUMA house round and counted an astonishing 44 eggs in 8 nests. In addition, there were two nests still still empty and one nest with a discarded egg. We can infer from the number nests that 10-11 pairs of Purple Martins are occupying the house this year. The recent warmer weather promises plenty of food. PMCA reports that a study of Martin poop at the Forsman Lab at the University of Central Florida shows that the Martin diet relies heavily on flies. These include crane flies, hover flies, midges, and cluster flies. Not surprisingly, martins also consume dragonflies and damselflies in large quantities, as well as butterflies and moths. They also prey on beetles, bees, ants and occasionally a tick. Most of the fecal material studied was from nestlings. (The Purple Martin Update, Vol. 31, 2) |
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May 26
Seth reports: Good news PUMA fans. Richard and I met at the house today and found that some of the nests have eggs in them. Six in total. Data below. One nest had some green string in it, which Richard noted looked like a blade of brome grass in a nearby nest. A black-headed cowbird sat on the house for a while and the martins didn’t seem to be bothered. Cowbirds don't often parasitize cavity nests in this region but that might be something to keep an eye out for. It would be interesting to note if it happens. Also notable is how much the entryway modifications (for European starlings) and competitor deterrence efforts (for house sparrows) have made a difference this season. Knock on wood.
If you’re stuck inside and need some bird calls to liven things up, here’s a quick video from today at the house (poor lighting and mower in the background included). https://youtube/CI1NZ06fjUE
PUMA House May 26, 2022
Gourd A – No signs of nesting activity
Gourd B – 2 eggs
Gourd C – Very tall nest, no eggs
Gourd D – 1 egg
Box 4 – 3 eggs
Box 7 – Green leaves
Box 11 – Green leaves
Box 13 – Entrance closed. Missing box.
Box 14 – Extra large nest.
Seth reports: Good news PUMA fans. Richard and I met at the house today and found that some of the nests have eggs in them. Six in total. Data below. One nest had some green string in it, which Richard noted looked like a blade of brome grass in a nearby nest. A black-headed cowbird sat on the house for a while and the martins didn’t seem to be bothered. Cowbirds don't often parasitize cavity nests in this region but that might be something to keep an eye out for. It would be interesting to note if it happens. Also notable is how much the entryway modifications (for European starlings) and competitor deterrence efforts (for house sparrows) have made a difference this season. Knock on wood.
If you’re stuck inside and need some bird calls to liven things up, here’s a quick video from today at the house (poor lighting and mower in the background included). https://youtube/CI1NZ06fjUE
PUMA House May 26, 2022
Gourd A – No signs of nesting activity
Gourd B – 2 eggs
Gourd C – Very tall nest, no eggs
Gourd D – 1 egg
Box 4 – 3 eggs
Box 7 – Green leaves
Box 11 – Green leaves
Box 13 – Entrance closed. Missing box.
Box 14 – Extra large nest.
May 23
Seth reports: "I haven't lowered the house recently, but I checked on PUMA activity with binoculars yesterday. Most of the PUMAs were busy carrying green leaves into nest boxes. That includes males. This is the first time in 2 weeks that I've noticed males carrying material into a nest. As I talked about on Sunday's Field Trip, the gathering of green leaves is still somewhat of a mystery. BirdsOfTheWorld says that at least seven hypotheses have been offered to explain it and there seems to be few controlled studies investigating the role of green leaves. I'm going with "decorating the nursery" 😉 .
Seth reports: "I haven't lowered the house recently, but I checked on PUMA activity with binoculars yesterday. Most of the PUMAs were busy carrying green leaves into nest boxes. That includes males. This is the first time in 2 weeks that I've noticed males carrying material into a nest. As I talked about on Sunday's Field Trip, the gathering of green leaves is still somewhat of a mystery. BirdsOfTheWorld says that at least seven hypotheses have been offered to explain it and there seems to be few controlled studies investigating the role of green leaves. I'm going with "decorating the nursery" 😉 .
14 PUMAs observed at house on May 2. Photo Richard Ness
May 11. 11 martins at the house.
May 2.
What an exciting day! The chirp must have spread among the PUMAs. They kept appearing at the house in ever increasing numbers.
Seth Mcgee reported on May 1: "There were 2 Purple Martins flying over the prairie and vocalizing 2:30-3:00 on 5/1. One (maybe both) visited gourd C a couple of times. I was casting prairie seed and the Tree Swallows were swooping around me; perhaps thinking the airborne seeds were insects. One Barn Swallow was also in the vicinity. Maybe if spring ever arrives, the martins will follow."
On May 2, Richard Ness reported 2 Purple Martin pairs at the house at 2 pm.
David Liebl's report at 3:45 pm was "Here they come....3:45 pm" with 9 martins flying about the house.
When Richard returned at 4:30 pm he counted 14 PUMAs.
May 2.
What an exciting day! The chirp must have spread among the PUMAs. They kept appearing at the house in ever increasing numbers.
Seth Mcgee reported on May 1: "There were 2 Purple Martins flying over the prairie and vocalizing 2:30-3:00 on 5/1. One (maybe both) visited gourd C a couple of times. I was casting prairie seed and the Tree Swallows were swooping around me; perhaps thinking the airborne seeds were insects. One Barn Swallow was also in the vicinity. Maybe if spring ever arrives, the martins will follow."
On May 2, Richard Ness reported 2 Purple Martin pairs at the house at 2 pm.
David Liebl's report at 3:45 pm was "Here they come....3:45 pm" with 9 martins flying about the house.
When Richard returned at 4:30 pm he counted 14 PUMAs.
Photo David Liebl.
April 29
On his morning birding walk in the Preserve, David Liebl observed two male and female purple martins explore the house and showing interest in condo #10.
On his morning birding walk in the Preserve, David Liebl observed two male and female purple martins explore the house and showing interest in condo #10.
Photo David Liebl.
Photo April 11
This morning at 9 am Richard Ness observed two martins at the house, and later in the day. David Liebl also observed a martin at nest box 1.
April 8.
Richard Ness reports: In a snowstorm? Literally it is snowing here heavy, and I looked up and there's the first Martin of spring coming out of the snowstorm and making a bee line to the closest gourd. He landed there a minute, then took off and flew around and flew back straight into the house #4. It is 4:45pm Friday April 8th. Anyone beat me in seeing the first Martin?
This morning at 9 am Richard Ness observed two martins at the house, and later in the day. David Liebl also observed a martin at nest box 1.
April 8.
Richard Ness reports: In a snowstorm? Literally it is snowing here heavy, and I looked up and there's the first Martin of spring coming out of the snowstorm and making a bee line to the closest gourd. He landed there a minute, then took off and flew around and flew back straight into the house #4. It is 4:45pm Friday April 8th. Anyone beat me in seeing the first Martin?
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April 1: Grand opening of the Purple Martin house.
Seth McGee and David Liebl attached the gourds, oiled the winch, and installed the house boxes, with assistance of Gisela Kutzbach. Richard Ness joined the group. 
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Above: Seth McGee is winching up the house. Photo Liebl.
Left: Gisela Kutzbach is inserting a nest box Seth McGee, Rochard Ness, David Liebl. Photos McGee It was a beautiful spring day. |
