Wisconsin 2023 Purple Martin Season
| wisconsin-purple-martin-2023-statistics.pdf |
By Dick Nikolai
It is hard to imagine another year has passed quickly. My time with Purple Martins was extended during March 2023, viewing the Amazon’s scenery and the special gift of its hosting 160,000 Purple Martins coming into a roost in the evening and flowing out from it in early morning. It was like a dream with suddenly being aware our Purple Martins may have been part of the concentration that I viewed and beat back to North America via an airplane. No time for preparation, for Wisconsin’s Purple Martins came into the state on March 27 and continued its parade to over 100+ sites reporting to the Purple Martin Conservation Association’s (PMCA) website with the final report of arrival of scouts on May 13. During that timeframe were many days (21) of tossing thousands of flying food bits or actual invertebrates extending well into May. Experienced a white snowfall on May 1 and saw the spring bringing many rainy days with windy conditions along with cool temperatures. Where did my rest and relaxation occur away from any stress? Guess seeing our families of Purple Martins arrive at your colony sites created the fuel behind my excitement of them being with us. They came, spent the summer, fledged young and stayed through early September until a front moved through carrying the last of them on their way for a long migration. No matter how much work or how much time was spent with them trying to keep their success a positive, we still miss them along with their morning music singing their presence. Hope all of you enjoy the culmination of our combined work in this document to reminisce and to realize our important role with them. Appreciate everyone’s cooperation of getting the data to me even if I was pushy at times in November and December in seeking your collection of figures and comments. Now for the tweets and chortles.
We will start off with climate involving the aspects of precipitation and temperature which contribute to attributes for Purple Martins migrating northward into Wisconsin. The amount of daylight, insects or food resources, wind, direction of steering winds, major storms and a whole host of other factors contribute to this migration influx along with age, their past residency and whether they have built a pair bond traveling northward. As we try to reminisce of spring 2023, we were coming out of a mostly mild winter but had several major snow storms hitting us in mid to late March dumping at least ten or more inches in the Green Bay area including the Fox Cities.
For the areas around the state showing precipitation note Figures: 1a, 1b, 1c, 1d, 1e, and 1f (2023 precipitation is green line, the brown line being average, and red line being the lowest). For most of Wisconsin precipitation was normal to near normal from January to almost the end of February except for the La Crosse area which had near normal to above normal precipitation. That La Crosse precipitation trend caught on for all the other areas going all the way to early June for all the sites shown on being above normal. After June, a downward trend of precipitation for most stations occurs until the present except for the areas near Green Bay area which stay normal until early September when they go slightly below normal, Milwaukee area which stays near normal from June to mid-October to slightly below normal through November, and Stevens Point area which stays below normal until late October then is near normal through November.
It is hard to imagine another year has passed quickly. My time with Purple Martins was extended during March 2023, viewing the Amazon’s scenery and the special gift of its hosting 160,000 Purple Martins coming into a roost in the evening and flowing out from it in early morning. It was like a dream with suddenly being aware our Purple Martins may have been part of the concentration that I viewed and beat back to North America via an airplane. No time for preparation, for Wisconsin’s Purple Martins came into the state on March 27 and continued its parade to over 100+ sites reporting to the Purple Martin Conservation Association’s (PMCA) website with the final report of arrival of scouts on May 13. During that timeframe were many days (21) of tossing thousands of flying food bits or actual invertebrates extending well into May. Experienced a white snowfall on May 1 and saw the spring bringing many rainy days with windy conditions along with cool temperatures. Where did my rest and relaxation occur away from any stress? Guess seeing our families of Purple Martins arrive at your colony sites created the fuel behind my excitement of them being with us. They came, spent the summer, fledged young and stayed through early September until a front moved through carrying the last of them on their way for a long migration. No matter how much work or how much time was spent with them trying to keep their success a positive, we still miss them along with their morning music singing their presence. Hope all of you enjoy the culmination of our combined work in this document to reminisce and to realize our important role with them. Appreciate everyone’s cooperation of getting the data to me even if I was pushy at times in November and December in seeking your collection of figures and comments. Now for the tweets and chortles.
We will start off with climate involving the aspects of precipitation and temperature which contribute to attributes for Purple Martins migrating northward into Wisconsin. The amount of daylight, insects or food resources, wind, direction of steering winds, major storms and a whole host of other factors contribute to this migration influx along with age, their past residency and whether they have built a pair bond traveling northward. As we try to reminisce of spring 2023, we were coming out of a mostly mild winter but had several major snow storms hitting us in mid to late March dumping at least ten or more inches in the Green Bay area including the Fox Cities.
For the areas around the state showing precipitation note Figures: 1a, 1b, 1c, 1d, 1e, and 1f (2023 precipitation is green line, the brown line being average, and red line being the lowest). For most of Wisconsin precipitation was normal to near normal from January to almost the end of February except for the La Crosse area which had near normal to above normal precipitation. That La Crosse precipitation trend caught on for all the other areas going all the way to early June for all the sites shown on being above normal. After June, a downward trend of precipitation for most stations occurs until the present except for the areas near Green Bay area which stay normal until early September when they go slightly below normal, Milwaukee area which stays near normal from June to mid-October to slightly below normal through November, and Stevens Point area which stays below normal until late October then is near normal through November.
Figure 1: Precipitation left to right and then downward. Figures: 1a Green Bay, 1b La Crosse, 1c Madison, 1d Milwaukee, 1e Stevens Point, & 1f Rhinelander: Accumulated precipitation from the various cities from January 1 to December 1, 2023 taken from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) National Weather Service, Department of Commerce.
Am always looking on how insects are being affected by moisture or temperature. Insects supply the food chain and its impact on egg laying or young growing. Fewer insects may also stress our adults.
For the areas around the state showing temperature note Figures: 2a, 2b, 2c, 2d, 2e, and 2f (2023 temperature is dark blue, gold, or brown area is average, red is the highest and light blue is the coldest). Temperatures from the figures indicate across Wisconsin we had up and down temperatures creating a kind of a “yo-yo” effect. Approximately seven to ten days were above normal, then seven to ten days of below normal and finally with seven to ten days of near normal conditions. Not all periods occurred in that sequence but they did occur with some shorter and some longer in lengths. Note the highs in some places setting records and some lows almost doing the same. This “yo-yo” effect is one of the reasons for the addled eggs for the ASY’s (after second year old adults—2+ years of age) and some SY’s (second year adults—2022’s born young) occurred. It also is one of the reasons why some eggs hatched, and others did not. When laying eggs martins do not need to start incubating until the second to the last egg is laid. This synchronizes the development normally occurring for the embryo inside the egg. When the adults need to feed themselves, they leave the nest exposed for their few minutes out but remember when it is windy and cold insects are not numerous or easy to catch. Both items cause longer times out for the adults meaning more cooling of the eggs and stress on the adults. Stress comes as a loss of weight and impact from viability of both the sperm and egg. Less viability means more impacts to hatching, rearing, and vitality of the young affecting survival or being underweight taking longer to fledge and possible nest abandonment.
For the areas around the state showing temperature note Figures: 2a, 2b, 2c, 2d, 2e, and 2f (2023 temperature is dark blue, gold, or brown area is average, red is the highest and light blue is the coldest). Temperatures from the figures indicate across Wisconsin we had up and down temperatures creating a kind of a “yo-yo” effect. Approximately seven to ten days were above normal, then seven to ten days of below normal and finally with seven to ten days of near normal conditions. Not all periods occurred in that sequence but they did occur with some shorter and some longer in lengths. Note the highs in some places setting records and some lows almost doing the same. This “yo-yo” effect is one of the reasons for the addled eggs for the ASY’s (after second year old adults—2+ years of age) and some SY’s (second year adults—2022’s born young) occurred. It also is one of the reasons why some eggs hatched, and others did not. When laying eggs martins do not need to start incubating until the second to the last egg is laid. This synchronizes the development normally occurring for the embryo inside the egg. When the adults need to feed themselves, they leave the nest exposed for their few minutes out but remember when it is windy and cold insects are not numerous or easy to catch. Both items cause longer times out for the adults meaning more cooling of the eggs and stress on the adults. Stress comes as a loss of weight and impact from viability of both the sperm and egg. Less viability means more impacts to hatching, rearing, and vitality of the young affecting survival or being underweight taking longer to fledge and possible nest abandonment.
Figure 2: Temperature left to right and then downward. Figures: 2a Green Bay, 2b La Crosse, 2c Madison, 2d Milwaukee, 2e Stevens Point, & 2f Rhinelander. Temperatures from the various cities from January 1 to December 1, 2023 taken from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) National Weather Service, Department of Commerce.
The Milwaukee station may have some effects for temperatures from Lake Michigan for its waters are cold extending into the summer. This cooling effect carries onto the land along the lake. When easterly winds form from the lake, they may extend further inland depending on wind speeds. Other cities along Lake Michigan like Sheboygan, Manitowoc, and Port Washington all can be affected when winds come off the lake causing a drop of temperature from five to twenty degrees. This is a unique stressor for the lake shore may limit numbers of eggs laid, young hatched, young fledged, insects, degree of wind chill, later nesting and many other items depending on the timing during the Purple Martin’s stay.
Spring arrival for Wisconsin in 2023 came early from scout reports on March 26 at Middleton in Dane County (Table 5: Data submitted to Dick Nikolai for Nesting) and followed up the following day at Montello in Marquette County (Figure 3 and Table 2: Purple Martin Conservation Association (PMCA) spring arrival dates for 2023 in Wisconsin). Then the rush progresses rapidly with the first report in the north on April 4 near Pound in Oconto County and to the southwest at La Crosse on April 7 in La Crosse County with the first report in the northwest part on April 9 at Rice Lake in Barron County.
Progression kept going throughout April when the last scout was reported in Buffalo County at Nelson followed by the first May scout on May 5 near Hortonville in Outagamie County. By the time of May 13, the final scout report was submitted from Oshkosh in Winnebago County. A total of 104 scout reports from the PMCA Scout Report covered 39 counties as shown on Table 1 and Table 2. A total of 43 scout reports were relayed in addition to the required data for the Statewide Wisconsin Purple Martin Report for 2023 to Dick Nikolai (Table 5). Compiled was a total of 18 counties representing 57 Regional reports (Table 3). Many of the same people requested for Wisconsin data submitted both reports (State & PMCA) for increased information.
My thanks go out to all of you for your time and effort in the submissions.
Spring arrival for Wisconsin in 2023 came early from scout reports on March 26 at Middleton in Dane County (Table 5: Data submitted to Dick Nikolai for Nesting) and followed up the following day at Montello in Marquette County (Figure 3 and Table 2: Purple Martin Conservation Association (PMCA) spring arrival dates for 2023 in Wisconsin). Then the rush progresses rapidly with the first report in the north on April 4 near Pound in Oconto County and to the southwest at La Crosse on April 7 in La Crosse County with the first report in the northwest part on April 9 at Rice Lake in Barron County.
Progression kept going throughout April when the last scout was reported in Buffalo County at Nelson followed by the first May scout on May 5 near Hortonville in Outagamie County. By the time of May 13, the final scout report was submitted from Oshkosh in Winnebago County. A total of 104 scout reports from the PMCA Scout Report covered 39 counties as shown on Table 1 and Table 2. A total of 43 scout reports were relayed in addition to the required data for the Statewide Wisconsin Purple Martin Report for 2023 to Dick Nikolai (Table 5). Compiled was a total of 18 counties representing 57 Regional reports (Table 3). Many of the same people requested for Wisconsin data submitted both reports (State & PMCA) for increased information.
My thanks go out to all of you for your time and effort in the submissions.
Figure 3: Wisconsin Purple Martin Scout Map for 2023 from Reports to the Purple Martin Conservation
Association. Data then compiled by county by Dick Nikolai. Total of 104 colonies reported across Wisconsin.
Some of the comments relayed for data requested in Wisconsin are as follows:
M. Nepal. Cool spring with lots of addled eggs due to it being extended to early June. Rest of the season it
was fine.
B. Wallace. Lost 6 martins due to starvation even after feeding them in the spring through early May. Did not
count eggs but counted young (514) in early July around the 4th. On cleanout found 3 dead young and 10
unhatched eggs.
M. Martin. As of July 1, 127 Young hatched out of 140 eggs with another 32 eggs still not hatched. Estimate of
29 of the 32 would hatch for a grand total of 156 young hatching. No estimate for young fledging. No finding
of any dead carcasses of young at the end when cleanouts were completed. Lots of sparrow problems due to
the extended cold in May & early June.
B. Thays. Public site visited showed young fledged early due to an abundance of insects at pond. All birds
gone by Aug 1.
B. Frenkel. First time landlord.
B. Fanning. Early May had several days of rain, wind & cold causing 3 adults to die. Tried to feed martins but failed.
P. Kiel. Early part of nesting season was cold & snowy. Most eggs tended to hatch later than calculated (16-days) incubation. Gourds were the preferred housing.
K. Timmerick. Cold weather start but a very good season.
P. & N. Hutchinson. Cool spring extending into May and early June. Some young losses and many addled eggs. Last martins seen 8-21-2023.
M. Nepal. Cool spring with lots of addled eggs due to it being extended to early June. Rest of the season it
was fine.
B. Wallace. Lost 6 martins due to starvation even after feeding them in the spring through early May. Did not
count eggs but counted young (514) in early July around the 4th. On cleanout found 3 dead young and 10
unhatched eggs.
M. Martin. As of July 1, 127 Young hatched out of 140 eggs with another 32 eggs still not hatched. Estimate of
29 of the 32 would hatch for a grand total of 156 young hatching. No estimate for young fledging. No finding
of any dead carcasses of young at the end when cleanouts were completed. Lots of sparrow problems due to
the extended cold in May & early June.
B. Thays. Public site visited showed young fledged early due to an abundance of insects at pond. All birds
gone by Aug 1.
B. Frenkel. First time landlord.
B. Fanning. Early May had several days of rain, wind & cold causing 3 adults to die. Tried to feed martins but failed.
P. Kiel. Early part of nesting season was cold & snowy. Most eggs tended to hatch later than calculated (16-days) incubation. Gourds were the preferred housing.
K. Timmerick. Cold weather start but a very good season.
P. & N. Hutchinson. Cool spring extending into May and early June. Some young losses and many addled eggs. Last martins seen 8-21-2023.
Figure 4: Map of Wisconsin showing where reported data for 2023 Purple Martin housing and colonies
in 2023 comes from landlords. Incomplete data sent is highlighted by white stars (4 sites) was not used
for statewide information but appreciated with some information relayed in regional discussion and in
Table 3. Red stars at 54 sites in 17 counties show ballpark locations of the individuals sending
completed reports, of which one in Calumet County represents three separate locations at or near High
Cliff State Park (HCSP) in Sherwood. Total Regional colony reports (Table 3) for 2023 entailed 58
separate colony areas in 18 counties.
Our great housing landlords in Wisconsin felt great responsibility for reporting Purple Martin scouts to the PMCA across the state in 2023 to a tune of 104 reports (2022—94 reports) across 39 counties (2022—38 counties) with an additional reporting of 21 first Second Year Males (SY-M) in 12 counties (See Table 1 for combined reporting for various years for scouts and SY-M’s and see Table 2 for combined reports by city and county only for scouts). Statewide scout reports began for the PMCA on March 27 in Montello, March 31 in both Oregon and Lomira and ended with reports on May 5 in Hortonville, and May 13 at Oshkosh. SY-M’s were first reported on May 4 at Trempealeau and at Fond du Lac on May 6 with the final report coming on June 4 at Plymouth.
Table 1: Purple Martin Scout Arrival and Second Year Males Arrival Reports to the Purple Martin
Conservation Association from 2020 to 2023 for Wisconsin indicated by region and number of counties.
Table 2: Purple Martin Scout Arrival Report to the Purple Martin Conservation Association for 2023 showing
County and Regions (by color) for Wisconsin.
For the Wisconsin Regional reports (See Table 3) we will start with the Northwestern Barrens and Forest (NWBF) where two reports came in the process with one complete set of data. First martins to arrive came on April 9 with the other report on April 10. These two colonies had 150 pairs that hatched over 4.5 young per active cavity. The full data report for the site fledged over 150 young with a great production rate of 90% of its eggs making it to fledging at a rate of 4.29 young fledged per nest while the other was incomplete for no data after July 4. In the Northeast Forest (NEF) a total of seven reports came with six of them being complete. Arrival of martins came first on April 3 with the last on April 19. The lone incomplete data was like the NWBF in that the data was only through July 4 with fear of disturbing young that may fledge. Over 200 pairs laid over 1000 eggs which had an average of over 5 eggs per nest yielded over 80.5% of its eggs hatching with an overall success of 76% of fledging young from eggs or 3.58 young per nest or a total of 659 able to fly. The disparity there may be due to lingering cool temperatures experienced during May and early June that may have made eggs addled or young hatch that cooled and died.
As has been the case since requests were solicited since 2020 no reporting of any colonies in the Southwest Driftless (SWD) region were made in 2023. Hopefully in the future some of the landlords will come forward with their information. The Central Agricultural, Wetland and Forest (CAWF) region had 23 individuals reporting with 21 sending complete data requested. Of the two incomplete one had unforeseen problems after reporting its arrival of martins and the other did not have vertical lowered housing which will be corrected in 2024. Over 450 pairs of martins were listed with the official listing of over 2000 eggs being laid for a rate of 4.96 eggs being produced per nest. This yielded almost 1700 hatchlings for a hatch rate of nearly 83%. When it came to fledging young it was over 74% from eggs to fledge for a rate of 3.74 young per nest attaining flight or over 1500 young.
Both the Southern Prairie and Savanna (SPS) region had 12 sites and the Lake Michigan (LM) region had 14 sites with all their data submittals being present. SPS region had 197 pairs laying just over 1000 eggs that hatched at 5.25 young per nest or a total of 838 young that eventually fledged 789 young at a rate of 4.13 young per nest with a fledged rate of 78.66%. The LM region had 385 pairs producing 1680 eggs that hatched 1393 young or 3.62 young per nest with a fledged rate of eggs to flight of over 80% or 3.51 young fledged per nest. Impacts again showed cool wet weather having impacts along the way in the LM either by have addled eggs or young affected bringing numbers down compared to the SPS which may have had more stable weather or slightly warmer conditions that did not interfere as much as the areas to the north and east.
When we combine the full 2023 data set (See Table 5) requested for all of Wisconsin, there were 54 sites in 17 Wisconsin counties (See Figure 3), (See Table 3 for 2022—43 sites in 18 counties) that contributed 1211 pairs (2022—998 pairs) residing within the state. Out of that total 1189 pairs contributed nests (2022—971 pairs) that had 5748 eggs (2022-4855 eggs laid) being laid for a per nest rate of 4.83 eggs (2022—5.00 eggs per nest). The other pairs were either affected by stress from weather (cool, wind, wet weather, hot weather extremes, or drought), SY’s inexperience pairing up with no eggs laid, or ASY’s stressed by loss of weight from migration combined with the rigors of weather making their bodies not produce viable eggs or sperm for fertilizations. From the eggs that were laid in 2023, 4786 young hatched (2022—4068 young hatched) at a rate of 4.03 per nest (2022—4.04 per nest) that yielded a rate of 3.76 young fledged (2022—3.82 young fledged) per nest or 4475 young (2022—3851 young) at a rate of 77.85% (2022—79.32%) from eggs to flight. Not bad considering the elements that we faced across Wisconsin from a delayed spring that was cool, moist, and windy but changed to a hot and dry set of circumstances that were more drought-like in the south half of the state while the north half portion of the state had delayed dry weather in July to early August. Certainly, microhabitats come to play throughout Wisconsin creating an important aspect for the entire population of Purple Martins to adapt and find sites viable for their stay.
As has been the case since requests were solicited since 2020 no reporting of any colonies in the Southwest Driftless (SWD) region were made in 2023. Hopefully in the future some of the landlords will come forward with their information. The Central Agricultural, Wetland and Forest (CAWF) region had 23 individuals reporting with 21 sending complete data requested. Of the two incomplete one had unforeseen problems after reporting its arrival of martins and the other did not have vertical lowered housing which will be corrected in 2024. Over 450 pairs of martins were listed with the official listing of over 2000 eggs being laid for a rate of 4.96 eggs being produced per nest. This yielded almost 1700 hatchlings for a hatch rate of nearly 83%. When it came to fledging young it was over 74% from eggs to fledge for a rate of 3.74 young per nest attaining flight or over 1500 young.
Both the Southern Prairie and Savanna (SPS) region had 12 sites and the Lake Michigan (LM) region had 14 sites with all their data submittals being present. SPS region had 197 pairs laying just over 1000 eggs that hatched at 5.25 young per nest or a total of 838 young that eventually fledged 789 young at a rate of 4.13 young per nest with a fledged rate of 78.66%. The LM region had 385 pairs producing 1680 eggs that hatched 1393 young or 3.62 young per nest with a fledged rate of eggs to flight of over 80% or 3.51 young fledged per nest. Impacts again showed cool wet weather having impacts along the way in the LM either by have addled eggs or young affected bringing numbers down compared to the SPS which may have had more stable weather or slightly warmer conditions that did not interfere as much as the areas to the north and east.
When we combine the full 2023 data set (See Table 5) requested for all of Wisconsin, there were 54 sites in 17 Wisconsin counties (See Figure 3), (See Table 3 for 2022—43 sites in 18 counties) that contributed 1211 pairs (2022—998 pairs) residing within the state. Out of that total 1189 pairs contributed nests (2022—971 pairs) that had 5748 eggs (2022-4855 eggs laid) being laid for a per nest rate of 4.83 eggs (2022—5.00 eggs per nest). The other pairs were either affected by stress from weather (cool, wind, wet weather, hot weather extremes, or drought), SY’s inexperience pairing up with no eggs laid, or ASY’s stressed by loss of weight from migration combined with the rigors of weather making their bodies not produce viable eggs or sperm for fertilizations. From the eggs that were laid in 2023, 4786 young hatched (2022—4068 young hatched) at a rate of 4.03 per nest (2022—4.04 per nest) that yielded a rate of 3.76 young fledged (2022—3.82 young fledged) per nest or 4475 young (2022—3851 young) at a rate of 77.85% (2022—79.32%) from eggs to flight. Not bad considering the elements that we faced across Wisconsin from a delayed spring that was cool, moist, and windy but changed to a hot and dry set of circumstances that were more drought-like in the south half of the state while the north half portion of the state had delayed dry weather in July to early August. Certainly, microhabitats come to play throughout Wisconsin creating an important aspect for the entire population of Purple Martins to adapt and find sites viable for their stay.
Table 3: Wisconsin Regional Data for 2023 showing complete and incomplete reports for 57
sites covering 19 counties scattered throughout the state.
Table 4: State wide summary for 2022 for all of Wisconsin. Data submitted was complete for 43 reports
comprising of 998 total pairs, 971 total nests with eggs, 4855 eggs laid, 4068 young hatched from eggs and
3851 fledged young. Martins arrived on April 1, 2022 with the last known fledging taking place around
September 3. Over 79% of the young fledged from eggs adding to the population of 3851 young
considering the impacts of the weather and environment.
Table 5: State wide summary for 2023 for all of Wisconsin. Data submitted was complete for 54 reports
comprising of 1211 total pairs, 1189 total nests with eggs, 5748 eggs laid, 4786 young hatched from eggs
and 4475 fledged young. Martins arrived on March 26, 2023 with the last known fledging taking place on
September 10. Almost 78% of the young fledged from eggs adding to the population of 4475 young
considering the impacts of the weather and environment.
Season began on March 26 in Middleton (Table 4) with the first martins arriving and ended with the last young fledged on September 10 near Howards Grove. When compared to 2022 Wisconsin’s fledged rates for 2023 were similar for both the fledged rates per nest and percentage from eggs to flight. As we say it was probably a normal year for Wisconsin with a variance across the state. Some places had lower numbers and some higher numbers but it is the health of the entire Wisconsin population that makes it resilient from downward trends for the past couple of years along with the great people who monitor their colonies. Keep in mind that martins are dependent upon us for housing. Without our effort throughout its entire range in Wisconsin the species could easily decline due to neglect, weather, predators and many more parameters. Never accept the fact that martins will always be in your yard without effort. They depend on you and you should be aware in a blink of an eye they may disappear. This is one member of our family that we do not want to miss or fail to see their importance to our lives during their stay. Thanks to all for your work you do in regards to Purple Martins for this is a two-way street for both of us.
Figure 5: Bob Ring feeding very hungry Purple Martins. Prior Dick Nikolai fed them 1500 crickets and meal worms with an additional eight scrambled eggs for 1 1/2 hours during late afternoon on May 1, 2023. During the early morning hours several inches of snow fell. Throughout the 2023 spring most days had two daily feeding sessions covering at least 20 days of time spent feeding martins due to cool weather.
In case you did not know, Purple Martins in the Amazon region are being affected by a major drought during their dry period from June thru December 2023. This dry period is the worst for the past 120 years when records were first being kept. The area near the roost area on Nigro River in Brazil has retreated to levels preventing boat traffic, exposing mud flats, exposing petroglyphs, and creating hazards for humans like contaminated water and diseases relating to the tainted waters. Record temperatures were occurring, the rain forest is burning and normal rainfall does not appear to be occurring as of this writing. Note our Purple Martins are soon going to be using this vast area for safety if possible or for food resources. If humans are impacted so will the many species of wildlife, including our Purple Martins and their own species of Martins. What impacts of climate make on their survival will have impacts both directly and indirectly. Exposure to contaminants in abundance are one of the leading items along with their food resources of insects. So, it is important to pay future attention in Wisconsin as I am trying to stress. Never take for granted of having or attracting Purple Martins in Wisconsin, for these birds are Neotropical migrants circumventing two continents. It is a miracle each year for their arrival. What a gift we are given of their presence along the way! Make sure you stay abreast of our weather and the progress of them migrating into Wisconsin. Be a part of monitoring not only for me for data but also for guarding martins against the unknowns yet to come.
