Tag Archives: environment

Purple martins often die during cold snaps. They either starve for lack of insects or because their energy is exhausted by the cold environment. This author has had the sad experience of finding dead chicks and parents during nest checks at these times. Many martin landlords have solved the feeding problem by tossing food into the air near the martins but a good way to keep them warm has not yet been developed. This author has long dreamed about having some kind of “storm door” to reduce or eliminate heat losses from the nest box and so when it was noticed a starling was regularly entering a winter roost box (in MN), some tests were performed with some interesting results. In short, it appears this bird was capable of being trained to enter a cavity even though the “door” was completely closed off to the elements. It is hoped similar techniques can be used to train purple martins (and other birds) to do the same thing. It is interesting that one critic said that just because it worked for a starling, does not necessarily mean a purple martin can be trained. After all, it was pointed out; starlings are very smart birds. While that may very well be true, the obvious rebuttal is that, if starlings are smarter than martins, how is it that the starling is trying to keep itself warm in MN in Dec, Jan, and Feb while the martins are all in Brazil or, at worst, on their way back!