Discover the World of Purple Martins
Late June is always a busy time for purple martins fulfilling their life cycles during Wisconsin’s summer. Activities of defending territories have transferred to egg laying, young hatching, feeding and a few young attaining flights. Come join us on June 24 to celebrate our 6th Purple Martin Festival near Waupun and the Horicon Marsh discussing everything relating to martins. We will have an active purple martin colony of over 30 pairs to enjoy in the backyard of Marsh Haven Nature Center. Our family of feathered friends will delight us with first hand sightings and sounds of their antics whether it is raining or filled with sunshine underneath canopies or in the facility.
Martin-Fest will be located at the Marsh Haven Nature Center W10145 State Road 49 Waupun, WI 53963 just north of Horicon Marsh. Activities for both youths and adults will be offered at Marsh Haven Nature Center from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm with a brat fry, assorted foods and drinks before and after lunchtime as long as there is a demand. Numerous trails are available for walking, which wind through woods, prairie, and wetland habitats going by a 30-foot observation tower viewing the surrounding landscape. Talks, plenty of martins whether rain or shine, live camera-showing activity inside a martin cavity within Marsh Haven Nature Center, martin-housing vendor & related information, silent auction, and if the weather is truly cooperative, a close up view of adult martins via their nests. Baby purple martins and their eggs always bring smiles to adults and children, especially if the opportunity of sunshine is present.
Martin-Fest is to discuss with knowledgeable mentors everyday problems and successes concerning attracting, maintaining, weather problems, housing and more pieces of information relating to purple martins. They are semi-dependent upon people to provide housing & security for their reproduction to be successful. Because of this close association with people, purple martins need managers to be educated to prevent Wisconsin’s sinking purple martin population. Bring all those questions you may have ever wanted to ask for our mentors.
Information is available online for Martin-Fest at http://www.wisconsinpurplemartins.org/ from Wisconsin Purple Martin Association or Marsh Haven Nature Center http://www.marshhaven.com in Waupun.
Purple martins are the largest members of the swallow family weighing a little over 2.25 ounces with an overall length of 7-8 inches. Martins are colonial nesting, raising one brood per year laying up to eight eggs. They can migrate 6,000 to 10,000 miles yearly with an average adult life span of around 3-4 years with the oldest surviving martin attaining over 13 years of age. Once a colony has been established at a site, they are true to returning to the exact spot of housing they had successfully fledged young. Since 2013 in Wisconsin, purple martins are listed as a species of special concern. Annual surveys conducted for nearly 50 years have shown purple martins have declined 6.84% per year (1966-2015) in Wisconsin while declining 7.67% per year within the most recent decade (2005-2015) of information. Simply stated, all annual route surveys tallied went from 591 purple martins in 1971 to 21 in 2015. As we are into the breeding season, property managers need all the tools to secure their colonies and benefit from the mentors across Wisconsin. Cool wet weather for spring 2017, has created some challenges for established colonies through a loss of older adults, nests not being initiated until late June, hatching delayed, renesting occurring due to the impact of infertile eggs or their circumstance of being cooled too much throughout the day or night. Now our rapid heat of summer is occurring with wetness creating a completely new set of problems for our purple martins, especially with invertebrates causing health issues for young nestlings.
“Our adoptive family of purple martins brings so much joy from sound and sight. They are truly like close family members or friends. When they have migrated south in August and September we long for their return to bring rewards of friendship, melodious calls and sharing their new born families with us,” said Dick Nikolai, a retired biologist with the state Department of Natural Resources”. He can be contacted at prairiechicken@att.net for further information.