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Re: Cooper's Hawk preys on Purple Martin colony

From:

Maddog

Reply-To:

Maddog

Date:

Thu, 18 Jun 2009 18:41:19 -0400

To All:

I have a similar situation. I have a Martin house with 7 to 8 sets of
Martins resident (and a couple of House Sparrows) and this has been status
quo.

However, I have several Bluebird boxes with Tree Sparrows nesting in them
(one has House Sparrows each year). Bluebirds start out every year in the
boxes,  but must be sort of practicing as they eventually leave and Tree
Swallows move in.

The local Great Horned Owl hauls the Tree Swallows out in the middle of the
night until all are gone. This has gone on the last two years (House
Sparrows are unaffected).

I could not figure out what was happening until I started checking in the
wee hours and saw the owl do this.  I am working on adding wire mesh around
the entrances.

Another owl problem, I believe, has been Killdeer predation. I am on a lot
split off a farm and Killdeers have abounded here until a couple of years
ago. Two years ago (same time as disappearance of swallows) we had 8 pairs
of resident Killdeers in the immediate area and I located four of the pairs'
nests.  At that time, one pair was nesting just off my driveway in the
grass. I checked the nest regularly and mowed around it and the Killdeers
had no problem.

Then, one morning after heavy rains for a couple of days, there was no trace
of the driveway Killdeers or any of the others. While I have no proof of, I
am convinced that the owl or owls took them.

One problem I had was with the rain when they went missing as I assumed the
killdeers would be easy picking on moonlight nights but maybe they were able
to see them coming and escape in moonlight but were vulnerable in the rain.
Killdeers are quite active on many nights and maybe this also have kept them
alive as even when sitting on eggs, one of a pair could see the owls coming.
So maybe the rain provided cover for the owl(s).

I am still holding my breath on the Martins. I believe that the particular
construction of my Martin house does not allow the owls to reach the
martins, at least a large one like Great Horned.

Mike O'Brien
Fairfield, Adams County, PA




On Thu, Jun 18, 2009 at 8:49 AM, Carol McCollough <> wrote:

> Our Cooper's Hawk predation has apparently resulted in Purple Martin colony
> abandonment.  Lee reports that we are now down to one pair of martins, from
> a colony that originally occupied 3 houses.
>
> We are wondering if the hawk has learned well enough to seek out nearby
> martin colonies for further easy meals.
>
> Carol McCollough
> St. Michaels & Marion Station
>