Legacy of Martin Houses Continues at Valentine

The legacy of some martin houses providing nesting sites within Valentine has continued for years after being were built by Les Dooley.

There are three known purple martin houses that continue in use as seasonal purple martin nesting locales, decades after first put in place. Now – in mid-July – young are fledging from ornate structures at Wacky West RV park, north Ray street near 6th and at 900 west Candice.

The martin houses were built about two decades ago in the backyard workshop of Dooley. He’d retired from the construction business and after doing some research, decided to build and sell the big houses used by martin. Many of them included homes for ten or more pairs.

“He used many unique designs,” said Dan Mayhew, at Wacky West. A house was then sold for the cost of materials, and to get funds to build another.

A benefit of having many martins was the reduction in flying bug pests, as insects – especially mosquitoes – are a preferred prey of the birds.

Dan and Phyllis Mayhew got one of the last remaining houses when it was purchased a dozen years ago. There were no martins present the first year after the house was erected, but they have returned each year since.

“It is a joyful occasion,” when the Purple Martins return in the spring, Dan Mayhew said. “We really enjoy them, as they are a beautiful bird.” He especially likes to watch their behavior when they first arrive in mid-April. “A scout bird arrives first, then about a week later a bunch will return.” Some of our patrons also appreciate the martins and may spend time looking and listening to them.

Three of the last remaining houses were purchased from Marie Dooley, Lester’s widow, and given to the kids of Dan and Phyllis.

Some of the martin houses did not remain in Valentine, having been bought for country ranches, including the Duck-Bar Ranch of the Beels, near Kennedy in Cherry county. Marianne Beel did a story on Dooley in 1994, and reported that some houses went to California and Montana. Small wooden churches were also being built to provide homes for the House Wren, she said.

At one time, Dooley had five houses placed in the back yard of his home on Ray Street, and had forty pair of nesting martins.

There are two other known martin houses in the Heart City, one near 5th and Government Street and at 6th and Valentine Street. The Mill Pond is one locale that does not have a martin house but would be a good place to erect one, because of its proximity to water.

 

Purple Martin house at Valentine. Built by Les Dooley.

Subsequently issued in the Valentine Midland News issue of August 3, 2016.

Chimney Swift Nesting Towers the Focus for an Expanding Research Project

A research project to understand the use of nesting towers by the Chimney Swift has recently expanded from Connecticut to a nationwide extent with the intent to assist the Chimney Swift, which are declining in numbers across their entire range.

The decline may be caused by a loss of nesting habitat, as chimneys are being capped to prevent access, or removed as older buildings are demolished. Newly constructed buildings do not always include chimneys, so few new breeding places are being developed.

"A potential solution is to provide additional suitable nesting sites through the proliferation of chimney swift towers," said Tanner Steeves, a graduate assistant at the University of Connecticut, and a member of the University of Connecticut Ornithology Research Group. Steeves helped to develop a new design for constructing nesting towers for the swifts, and is a project manager for a project to document swifts breeding in towers constructed for their use.

The "Chimney Swift Project" will document the location of existing swift towers, and track their yearly occupancy. The project was originally started by Margaret Rubega, a professor at the University of Connecticut, as well as the State Ornithologist.

A request for assistance from swift enthusiast's in North America was recently posted in different online bird forums. Tracking of swift tower locations originally started in Connecticut, Steeves said. The researchers wanted to increase their "sample size for adequate scientific scrutiny," so they asked other birders and conservationists for information about any towers they were aware of.

"We hope to evaluate the importance of tower design and placement for the conservation of swifts," said the message from Steeves, and Margaret Rubega, also involved with the project. "We are asking anyone who knows of an existing tower, or who intends to build one, to provide the tower location (GPS coordinates welcome, but not necessary), along with the tower owner or manager's contact information."

Towers have been constructed for use by the Chimney Swift (Chateura pelagica) for many decades, according to scattered details in the ornithological literature.

The Chimney Swift Project intends to evaluate the value of different structures currently in use and to figure how newly built nesting sites are beneficial.

"We are interested in creating a new swift tower design that would be inexpensive, affordable, lightweight, easily constructed, and moveable," Steeves said. "We feel that these characteristics will increase the likelihood of their construction by local birding groups, and perhaps their effectiveness - if the initial placement of a tower resulted in no occupancy, it can be relocated."

Towers built using the new design have been built and installed at Storrs, Connecticut, and the performance of this design is still in the process of being evaluated.

"We are still in the process of refining this design. As we heard of more towers throughout Connecticut and the Northeast, we began to consider the efficacy of these towers more seriously. It turns out that the installation of a swift tower does not guarantee it to be occupied by nesting swifts. There has been no continent-wide assessment of swift towers, so we decided to start reaching out to see if we could get a basic idea of how many towers were out there, where they are, and if they are being occupied by swifts.

"The allocation of conservation dollars is an important consideration for most organizations, so it is important to know how well they work," Steeves said, noting two important questions: "Do Swift towers help stabilize declining populations?," and "What is the pattern of occupancy of swift towers?

Answering these questions might help conservation efforts for the species, he said.

The database of swift nesting towers, will "eventually be available for public viewing, hopefully in some sort of web-based manner," said Steeves.

Public education and outreach are other opportunities for the project. Activities of the swifts could be viewed through web-cams, or autumnal gatherings could provide bird watching opportunities.

Contributions from swift enthusiasts "are greatly appreciated and will help future conservation efforts" for the swifts, he added. The monitoring can help with better understanding the distribution and occurrence of the birds.

This project has been funded by the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection (CTDEP), and the University of Connecticut's Center for Environmental Sciences and Engineering, and is being completed in partnership with Shannon Kearney of the CTDEP Wildlife Division.

Martin Houses Prominent News in Past Decades at Omaha

Purple Martins antics and activities have been significantly noted in feature stories since about nine decades ago in Omaha, along the Missouri River in eastern Nebraska. Stories reported varied in the local newspapers, including the Omaha Bee and Omaha World-Herald, but these special bits of history convey how this species has been a part of the river city's history decades beyond any former personal recollection or interest.

Faithful Summertime Tenants Are These Families of Martins.

In July 1918, a contributor to the Bee, Ruth B. Whitney, conveyed how Miss Belle Ryan was the sole proprietor and manager of an apartment house with eight separate compartments, with '"seldom a vacancy" during the summer. The place she provided was a "way-up" affair. Friends and relatives of the feathered tribe moved in if the former residents did not partake of a vacancy, upon returning from their winter residence down south beyond the equator.

Tenants returned to Omaha, and took residence on the "apartment house." It was "a frame structure, securely fastened to the sill of a window" for an office in the fifth floor of city hall.

"'I consider it a great honor to have these birds make their home in my bird house,'" said Mrs. Ryan. "'They are very particular as to where they locate their homes, though I do not know just what are the requisites. A friend of mine place a martin house on her lawn, with trees and fountain near it, and everything else a bird could want, and introduced a martin family into it, but they refused to stay, yet here they remain year after year in this alley."

Young were raised at this martin house, and the birds' habit of eating bugs was noted in Whitney's article, and conveyed as a means of paying rent for their domicile.

"In payment for their apartments the martins furnish not only amusement but floods of beautiful and cheerful song. They have voices much like pleasant laughter, and their mellow notes may be heard at almost any time of day, echoing between the gray walls of city hall and Bee building."

The activities of the martins were appreciated by a number of people, according to the newspaper story.

"Many of the bird lovers of Omaha visit Miss Ryan's office and sit for hours near the windows watching the comedies and tragedies of bird life that are played out before them. The martins do not mind these visitors at all, but go on with their home keeping and baby raising affairs as calmly as if no one were present."

Dad and Mrs. Martin and Their Family Life.
Bird Happiness and Domesticity as Seen From the Fontenelle Window.
Beautiful Specimen of the Swallow Family in Douglas Street Domain.

These titles were from an article by Sandy Griswold. He described the birds and their antics in another of his Sunday columns. The following is a bit of what he mentioned in his writings as an Omaha sporting news man:

"Monday last, in the golden glow of eventide, I watched, from my window high up in the Fontenelle, a pair of purple martins giving their four awkward, half clothed little fledglings, their first instructions in the art of aerial navigation. They had all alighted, papa, momma and the four kiddies, on the topmost railing of the iron sign on the roof of the Strand picture theater. It was evidently their first time abroad, and while we did not know where they came from, we knew that it must have been from the martinry up under the northern eaves of the City Hall, where a colony of martins have spent the summer, with the exception of one year, ever since the erection of this stately old castle, for I have kept note of them with unremitting care every season."

The article continued, written in the distinctive manned of a sports writer unsurpassed for his use of words and means of presenting details in vivid prose enjoyed by a myriad of appreciative paper readers.

"Again the male bird sailed out into the open and as he swept in graceful curves around and over his timorous flock, they all set up a petulant clamor, and finally the old male suddenly dove and flicked the tip of his burnished wings in the very face of one of the babies, it tilted awkwardly forward, settled back, tilted again, and then launched its little form into space. Old daddy Martin saw it, and was quickly by its side, and so, did the mother, too, from the Brandeis roof, and while she also took to wing, she wisely left the pilotage to her liege lord. Down he curved, light as a zephyr, over the street, gamely followed by the youngster, down to within a few yards of the pavement itself. But this was too venturesome for the little one. He was too near the black asphaltum roadway, and the hurrying automobiles and pedestrians. The glare and blare and general movement disconcerted him, and appreciating his embarrassment the mother darted to his rescue. She checked him up short, and as he turned to rise, she mounted quickly above him and chirruped him up higher where he could see better and have more room.
"For quite a long time they sat there, looking down over the dizzy cornice to the animated thoroughfare below, finding the great nestling street, and the passing pedestrians and vehicles, and the glinting of the first lit electrics on the pavement, and the luminous facade of the theater and the new athletic club edifice, marvelously enthralling, if one could judge from their attitude and incessant little seepings of confidence and content. Suddenly, as by some intangible magician's wand, they were gone, and I felt it was up to their rookery under the eaves of the city hall, for it was time to go to bed."

The entirety of Griswold's writing about the martins, is, in this instance, readily available for perusal.

What is the Bird-Truth.

Miles Greenleaf, a relative newcomer on the scene as a writer about natural history found the martins were an interesting aspect for a story. When he wrote a bird editorial in June 1923, the basic premise was:

"As for the Purple Martins, we would fain belief that education has had something to do with their increasing numbers in and about Omaha. Up until a few years ago, Martin houses were very rare in Omaha, but now there are many of them, reared on their tall poles in folks' backyards. The martins apparently appreciate this service, and there are now hundreds of families resident here, where there used to be but three or four.

If there is a bigger or better bird house than this martin mansion, Mrs. W.F. White, 3617 Nebraska avenue, would like to be told about it. Her husband and a friend built it for her last winter.

"Such strange visitations and deprivations make the study of our birds tremendously interesting - to you!" Greenleaf said, using a writing style meant to illicit the interest of the readers and get them to personally relate to the birdly details, while using typographic emphasis to convey importance to his words.

Bird Inn - 112 Rooms, and It's Insured

A wife's request provided a prominent home for martins ready for their spring arrival in 1932 on Nebraska Avenue.

Starting in the autumn of 1931, F.W. White, superintendent of the Tenth Street postoffice, and "muscle man" Joe P. Thompson, a lodger in the White home, constructed a "gigantic martin house whose new copper roof glistens so that it may be seen for miles around. It is a veritable lighthouse."

The house was christened "Martins' Retreat."

"This martin residence has 112 rooms all ventilated and insulated against lightning. From each room leads smaller wires connecting with the main ground wire which runs deep down the telephone pole upon which the house is perched.
"'There isn't a nail in that house either,' said Mr. White proudly when the structure was finally anchored. 'Not a nail in it - but more than 2,000 screws, and it's made of selected white pine all through, with exception of copper roof and facings.'
"The house was built in seven sections on floors, and then assembled. Thompson, a plumber, made the copper roof and weather vane, and did all the metal work.
"Mrs. White insured the house for $400 against wind damage, for it weighs 650 pounds."

In addition to the martin house, more than 20 wren and bluebird houses were constructed.

Separate Apartments for the Martins
But Charlie and Florence of the City Hall Tribe, Don't Let Modern Ways Interfere with Rearing of Family.

Here are "Charlie" and "Florence" of the city hall martins, at the respective doors of their respective suites.

An unusual "apartment" was noted downtown in June, 1933. "Charlie" and "Florence" had separate "suites" in the brick facade of city hall.

"This unique bird home was established when some careless workman left out a couple of bricks in the alley wall of the hotel de ville. There is no communication between the two 'rooms,' and scarcely enough space to enable the two martins to turn around without going overboard.
"Yet 'Charlie' and 'Florence' seem to be very happy in their abbreviated semi-isolated marital apartments, and in the inner recesses of one of the rooms there seems to be an offspring, judging from the amount of food that is lugged."

The story continued with interesting details of other martins using a nearby house.

"These two martins are probably part of the famous colony that has been living in a bird-house outside the school superintendent's offices on the sixth floor for years on end. This martin house has become too small for the increasing colony - hence the private little 'penthouse' on the alley."

The famous duo were said to go out for breakfast at 8:30 o'clock, luncheon at 11 o'clock and "have an early dinner about 4 p.m."

"Tuesday, during their absence, a squab - a young mongrel pigeon - blundered into 'Florence's' bedroom - and then was there a how-de-do! 'Charlie' raised the birdland cry of 'Hey, Rube!' and in a jiffy all the city hall martins were at the rescue work. The racket was fierce and the poor squab was finally tumbled out of his soft spot. He tried to climb the side of the city hall like King Kong, but the martin tribe beat him off."

Prize-Winning Bird House

First prize bird house, built by Jack Moy, Y.M.C.A. It tilts up as shown for cleaning.

When the Omaha Bee announced the winner of their contest for the best bird-house in spring 1936, the winner was a teen. "After several hours of deliberation," judges announced 15 cash winners. "The judges admittedly showed a marked preference for the 'rustic' rather than 'ornamental' types."

Jack Moy won the $25 first prize for a "martin house built in the Y manual training shop," where he lived.

"Simply, but strongly constructed, the judges pointed out it has a vacuum space between each compartment, air vents on all sides and in the cupola, drain grooves and a hinge top to permit easy cleaning."

Omaha's Martin Legacy

These interesting bits convey some of the first known history for purple martins in urbane Omaha.

The legacy of these birds in the city has reborn with the discovery of the magnificent roost present in midtown, first found in 2008 and now still occurring in just a few trees they prefer for their own known reasons, in the urban landscape amidst buildings in a completely city scene.

Historic Narratives Indicate Purple Martins Used Nest Boxes

As a wide-spread species in the historic era, purple martins were observed and noted during the summer season when they arrived at the breeding grounds to find a nesting cavity suitable for raising a brood.

With the first settlement by scattered colonialists, expansion of civilization by western pioneers with its various accoutrements, and the myriad of changes as the nation's people spread westward across a growing nation, the natural choice for these birds evolved to a preference for built structures as a preferable adaptation that was very suitable instead of some cavity that perhaps some woodpecker had created and would prefer to utilize.

One of the earliest notations to some local residents providing a suitable haven to lay eggs and rear young was by Rev. John Clayton in 1693, when he noted nesting places had been built for the martin at the Virginia colonies on the Atlantic coast.

It was decades later when another subsequent account of pertinence is known.

In May 1874, at New York, "over the doors of most houses" were "boxes with pigeon holes..., for swallows to build in." The birds using the nest boxes were the color of pigeons, according to the sparse notes written by Henry Wansey.

In 1820 at the English Prairie of the Illinois territory, the pioneers would fix boxes on poles, or on the cabin, in which the "black-martins" would build, according to the John Woods, the author of the narrative.

Martins were noted in May 1843 by John J. Audubon, while breeding in woodpeckers holes in "high and very large" cottonwood trees at Cedar Island, along the untamed Missouri River in the lands of the Louisiana Territory, later designated as the Dakota Territory.

An account from 1858, as written by T. Charlton Henry, is based on observations during a residence of six years in the New Mexico territory: "69. Progne purpurea. This latter species seems confined to the mountains, and builds generally in hollows in pine trees."

There are numerous records of this species during subsequent years, but most were observation records without notes on any preference for breeding sites.

Among the following observations, the use of built structures provided by local, human residents, were mentioned occasionally among the articles written about the occurrence and distribution of species at a particular place.

For western Iowa, when J.A. Allen was roving about several counties denoting the species present in 1867, for the purple martin, his account mentioned the species was "everywhere common; one of the most abundant Hirundines in the breeding season; about almost every house boxes are provided for their accommodation, which they readily occupy."

Another consideration for species of a particular vicinity, prepared about 1868, noted: "99. Progne purpurea, Linn., Boie; Purple Martin. Summer resident; abundant where proper accommodations are afforded; breeds in the county." This account was for Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, as prepared by J.J. Libhart.

In 1870, several eggs were taken from a box placed on a house at Madison, in New Haven County, Connecticut.

The regular occurrence of the species along the middle Missouri River, was indicated in 1871, with a note which said it was one of the most numerous species, and was breeding in all parts of the city in boxes liberally provided for their accommodation." The details were from Leavenworth, Kansas, in another article issued by J.A. Allen.

For 1872, the W.E.D. Scott notation for Kanawha County, West Virginia indicated: "32. Progne subis. Abundant. Found everywhere, breeding in houses put up for their use."

This is what C.F. Goodhue noted for the period ca. 1876: "not common; breeds, nesting in houses put up for them" in the vicinity of Webster, Merrimack County, New Hampshire.

Another report from the same year, noted they would breed in boxes. This was for Bucks County, Pennsylvania, as denoted by Joseph Thomas in his treatise indicating the different species about the region.

In 1877, the "blue marten" would "usually build in boxes prepared for them" as indicated in the birdly history provided by Elmer Baldwin for La Salle County, Illinois.

Although nest structures had obviously been used for decades, it was in 1879 when they were called martin-houses, by Charles F. Batchelder in his notes on summer birds present at Fort Fairfield, Maine.

The martin's had their own houses to select, but this practice was probably limited to an unknown extent about their range, but nonetheless more prevalent than the indications sparsely noted in historic accounts.

At Shinnecock Bay, New York, also from 1879, this species was very common, breeding in vast numbers in the boxes put up for their use, and also in holes in trees" according to G.N. Nicholas in his bird notes for Long Island.

According to C. Hart Merriman, in the 1881 era: "48. Progne subis (Linn.) Baird. Purple Martin. Breeds in Martin houses in the villages that lie within the limits of the Adirondack region" of New York.

Notes by William Brewster, published in the same year, mentioned: "Progne subis, purple martin; at Point du Chene where a colony occupied a martin box in the village." This observation was made during a cruise around the Gulf of St. Lawrence.

A colony inhabits some martin-boxes in the city of Bradford, Pennsylvania, according to the 1882 notes by James A. Tuelon.

These sparse bits of information give some indication that early colonists realized that Purple Martins could be attracted by providing them suitable nesting accommodations, in artificial nesting structures.

Since the humble origins more than 300 years ago, the practice spread around the range of distribution where the species has occurred. Efforts more prevalent were noted several times, but providing martin houses was likely more prevalent than a few historic records can indicate.

This practice has increased many multitudes through the decades and is now an expansive endeavor where there are often a large number of suitable nesting cavities in a local area, with large numbers of martins readily using the variously fine nesting places suitable for their use during seasonal breeding known for centuries in North America.