Hi Tweets,

Seeing mention of purplemartin.org here, I feel an urge to comment,
with hesitancy, since in the past I have been accused of launching
personal attacks, when nothing as such was ever intended. For
those of you all too familiar with my rants, apologies in advance.
And, comments are not directed specifically at purplemartin.org,
rather the entire Eastern conservation model , wherein millions of
pairs of martins breed almost exclusively in birdhouses. Pairs
seldom use other nest sites, and nesting in natural cavities is
virtually unknown. It is not that natural settings do not exist east
of the Rocky Mountains, martins simply are not known to use them.
The situation has been described as birds being taxonomically
preserved upon a landscape wherein they have become ecologically
extinct, whatever that means. This long standing birdhouse
tradition is promoted and supported by a variety of non profit
organizations and for profit enterprises. While harboring some
criticism of the current Eastern Conservation Model, wherein martins
and martin colonies are all too often referred to using possessive
pronouns, my sentiments result moreso out of concern for
preservation of all western martins still breeding independently ,
without direct human intervention .

The US martin population west of the continental divide is
comparatively very small, perhaps 10,000 pairs [or less], a small
fraction [perhaps .09%] of all North American martins, according to
one estimate . However, unlike the eastern birds, the
relatively few and widely scattered western birds, two subspecies,
continue to display a diverse behavioral ecology, using a wide
variety of nesting substrates. Western martins continue to nest
ancestrally on natural landscapes across much of the remainder of
their western range, mostly in tree cavities, some in cacti,
others in rock crevices. Other western martins continue their
recent historic association with incidental nestsites in human-made
landscape features. A significant portion of the California
population is nesting in steel and concrete box girder bridges , an
adaptation first noted in the early 1960s. In fact, western martin
use of birdhouses remains virtually unknown outside the Pacific
Northwest. By some accounts, more than half of the western
population still nests "in the wild", and in my opinion it should
stay that way.

I have nothing against nestboxes for western martin conservation and
research, have built and nailed up hundreds, likely will put up
more. North Pacific Coast martins have experienced dramatic
increases in recent decades due to expansion of nestbox programs .
Known breeding pairs in British Columbia increased 65% in 2004, and
may now equal or exceed historic levels. However, contrary to
the 1997 BNA species account which asserts western martins nest
?almost exclusively in woodpecker holes or natural cavities?, the
overwhelming majority of [known] martins in the Pacific Northwest
region now use nestboxes [and gourds]; >70% in Oregon, >90% in
Washington, and 100% in British Columbia. Birdhouses have enabled
Northwest martins to regain their previous status as ?locally common?
in many areas where they would otherwise remain very scarce local
breeders, often in competition with introduced species for limited
nest cavities.

But I think its important to look at these artificial cavities to
some extent as mitigation tools, and not necessarily as an end in
themselves. I think its important to challenge the notion that all
martins everywhere belong in and would be better off in birdhouses.
I've argued against the installation of birdhouses in as many
situations as I have promoted their use in others. With the
Northwestern nestbox ?recovery? now an item for the history books,
the question seems no longer whether the isolated western
population will survive and flourish, but rather whether it will
retain geographical difference in nest site use. Western Purple
Martins are a species at a crossroads. With the rising popularity of
providing nestboxes for martins in the West, an inexorable
evolution toward the Eastern Conservation Model may have already
begun. I for one sincerely hope this is not the case.

Stan Kostka
lynnandstan at earthlink.net
Arlington

Subject: Re: re: Purple Martins on Lake Washington
From: Michael Donahue <mgd AT u.washington.edu>
Date: Tue, 16 Aug 2005 11:45:40 -0700 (PDT)
The Purple Martin Conservation Association (www.purplemartin.org)
sells a
"dawnsong" tape on their website. They recommend playing it as a way
to attract
martins to a new colony. Does anybody know if this been tried out in
the west?
Kevin, thanks for the update on martin nesting locations in the
region. It's
encouraging to hear that there's a nesting colony away from water.
I'm hoping
that if I put up some gourds and play the dawnsong tape, maybe I can
attract
some of the Duwamish martins to my yard on Beacon Hill.