Hi Bruce,

Nestboxes (and gourds) are effective conservation (and research) tools,
but, as you suggest, they should not be considered the end of the
recovery story. There is nothing wrong with artificial nesting
cavities installed for Purple Martins. Quite the contrary, nestboxes
have apparently enabled a perceived remnant population in this region
to survive, and grow . Ive built and nailed up plenty myself, and
have plans for more in the future. BUT, the intent should NOT be to
reproduce the Eastern Conservation Model here, west of the Rocky
Mountains. The Eastern model, wherein virtually all martins nest in
birdhouses, must not be taken to mean that all Purple Martins
everywhere would be better off in artificial cavities specifically
installed for them as nest sites. Estimates put the West Coast (BC,
Washington, Oregon, and California) population at 2300-2900 breeding
pairs. Roughly a third of those still live "in the wild", and I would
like to see them stay "there".

The Colorado population has been estimated at perhaps 750 pairs. Add
in New Mexico, Arizona, and Utah (for which Ive seen no current
numbers) , and I would be surprised to learn that the entire population
west of the Continental Divide exceeds 6000 pairs.

Given a choice between two future scenarios , wherein one held 100,000
or more pairs of Western Martins all in birdhouses, no aspens or oaks,
no snags, no cacti, no underground lava tubes, no sandstone cliffs, no
active and derelict maritime structures, no steel and concrete box
girder bridges, etc., and another scenario wherein the population
size and diverse substrates were the same as today, I would be
inclined to choose the latter.

No doubt, some portion of the Western population will continue to use
(need) artificial cavities into the foreseeable future, and beyond.
But, in addition to preserving the species "in our own back yards", we
must also preserve its behavioral ecology as currently displayed across
its entire Western range. Western martins SHOULD NOT be encouraged, or
enabled, to undergo the complete "tradition shift" that they have
experienced back East.

Given their propensity to nest colonially, perhaps clusters of
artificial cavities are drawing birds from small unknown natural
colonies into nestbox settings. However, I have seen subadult martins
establish themselves as solitary pairs at new nestbox sites, when
surplus cavities exist at nearby colonies with multiple pairs.

One area in Washington where nestboxes have been installed for martins
about as long as anywhere else is the Fort Lewis Military reservation,
and it is here currently that the only known snag nesters exist in the
state. Why ? Because the reservation a large undeveloped and non
agricultural area (thus no starlings and house sparrows) that has
stands of snags. It is well known that martins do not imprint on
cavity type, and so if the snags exist, the birds will use them, no
matter where they fledged from.

The best LONG TERM strategy to enhance recovery of Purple Martin
populations on the West Coast is not to manage all martins into
nestboxes indefinitely, but rather to manage the landscape for
creation and retention of natural martin nest sites, such as
preserving large emergent snags across a forested landscape,
especially in areas where starlings are not present (Horvath 1999).
Its a big story, and it includes much more than Purple Martins.

From what I'd seen, Willamette Industries was doing a pretty good job
of leaving snags and defect trees in its harvest units, but Willamette
was taken over by Weyerhaeuser, whose forest practices as they relate
to wildlife conservation could be much improved, in my opinion.

Stan Kostka
lynnandstan at earthlink.net
Arlington WA



Subject: Purple Martins
From: Bruce Whittington <fieldnat AT pacificcoast.net>
Date: Wed, 3 Sep 2003 21:46:58 -0700
I have a seen a few posts lately which mention PUMA, and thought I
would report that they are marshalling over southern Vancouver Island,
where they have been doing well thanks to nest box programs (shoebox
type nest boxes). They spend time foraging over freshwater bodies (8
over Swan Lake in Saanich/Victoria) and nestboxes have been put up in
several of these places in hopes they will begin to nest again on fresh
water, instead of just estuaries. A good news story, but it would sure
be nice to see babies coming out of a rotten old wildlife tree instead
of plywood boxes! Maybe that will come.
Bruce

Subject: Snags (was Re: Purple Martins)
From: "Kelly Cassidy" <lostriver AT completebbs.com>
Date: Thu, 4 Sep 2003 07:06:38 -0700
Does anyone know if there are any programs to increase the number of big
snags in Washington, especially in developed and agricultural areas?