Birds in January

[John Pearson]

Purple martins made an early appearance
By GARY CLARK
Jan. 22, 2010, 3:44PM



Kathy Adams Clark
Purple martin scouts are beginning to arrive in Texas. Now is the time to put out a new nest box and clean out old boxes.

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HOMES FOR MARTINS
Purple martins (Progne subis) are arriving throughout Texas to locate nest boxes for spring breeding.

How to be a martin landlord:

• Install a martin house right away if you don't already have one.

• Use preconstructed aluminum or gourd-style martin houses available at nature stores such as Wild Birds Unlimited or at feed and hardware stores.

• Be wary of painted wooden boxes because the paint can be toxic to martins.

• Place the martin house on a pole about 12 to 14 feet high in a clearing that provides martins an unobstructed flight path to the nest box.

• Evict invading sparrows or starlings by wiping out their nests.

Martin diet:

• Martins feed almost entirely on diverse flying insects, especially dragonflies, damselflies, butterflies, wasps, bees and flying ants.

• Contrary to myth, martins rarely if ever dine on mosquitoes.

For more martin information, contact:

• The Purple Martin Conservation Association at purplemartin.org

• The Greater Houston Area Purple Martin Association; call Tim Sebesta at 281-290-3918 or e-mail him at tim.sebesta@lonestar.edu.
My elation on New Year's Eve came not from libations but from the sight of two purple martins flying over Lake Woodlands north of Houston in the late afternoon.

Purple martins normally begin arriving as scouts in mid- to late January to search out nesting boxes. I was therefore surprised to see two adult male scouts on the last day of December.

So astonishing was the sight that I quickly tried to prove myself wrong. I have a habit of mind that goes into an internal argument over an unusual bird. I say, “Why is it not ____” and then fill in the blank with an alternative bird.

I asked myself why the birds weren't European starlings, which can resemble martins in appearance and flight. Like martins, starlings have a dark blue-black hue and often fly in a flap-flap-glide pattern.

But unlike martins, starlings have chunky bodies and sport iridescent, spangled plumage. They fly with short, squared-off tails and have long, slender beaks that turn yellow by spring even though brownish-gray in fall.

The birds I saw were flying in fluid, graceful, swallowlike patterns not characteristic of starlings. They were lean and elegantly adorned in a deep, steel-toned blue-black color with heads showing short, wide, black beaks and tails that were long and forked. No starlings these birds — they were purple martins.

Quite a sight to see martins on New Year's Eve. They had journeyed some 3,300 miles to Texas from their winter home in Brazil in order to stake out their spring homesite, a martin house provided by people.

Martins have a long-standing relationship with people. American Indians installed hollowed-out gourds at their villages to attract martins because the birds consumed pesky flying insects and chased off crows and vultures. In return, martins got spacious housing relatively safe from predators.

European settlers adopted the Indian tradition and began building martin houses near their own communities, a tradition that continues today.

Although I was excited with the New Year's Eve martins scouting for nest boxes, I feared for them. Martins arriving too early often starve because they feed on flying insects, which are stilled by continuous days of harsh freezes and rain.

To contact Lone Star College Vice President Gary Clark or photographer Kathy Adams Clark, visit their Web site at www.texasbirder.net.




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