Advisory: Do Not Play Lure Sounds During Adverse Spring Weather

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Dear Landlords,

Every spring, many wannabe landlords are very anxious to attract martins to their backyard colony site. In their attraction techniques, Purple Martin landlords play various Purple Martin lure tapes and cassettes that are readily available.

Educated landlords should realize that there are times to play the lure sounds and times when they should not.

One instance when landlords should not play lure sounds is when landlords begin to see accipiter-type birds-of-prey, such as Cooper's Hawks, Sharp-shinned Hawks or Merlins (not Red-Tailed Hawks), flying about their colonies or in some cases, even blatantly landing on your boom boxes looking for the martins they perceive to be inside the boombox.

It is a no-brainer that the predators know the sounds of their prey.

Lure sounds are wonderful landlord tools and will definitely attract Purple Martins' predators as well as Purple Martins and Purple Martin landlords should be aware of this!

Now, The Purple Martin Society, NA brings to the attention of its members and friends a second advisory for Purple Martin lure sounds.

Please do not play Purple Martin lure sounds during adverse spring weather!

It does not matter what lure sound you are playing--The Ultimate Purple Martin Lure, The Dawnsong, The Purple Martin Chatter--If the weather is cold, snowing or raining--if temperatures are in the low 40's and below--

Do not play the lure sounds!

WHY?

Remember! Purple Martins are obligate insectivorous birds and eat only flying insects. They do not eat birdseed or fruits.

Simply put. When the temperatures are cold in early spring, the birds are not finding adequate insect foods. Many of the adult Purple Martins have advanced northward into in to inclement weather on a wing and a landlord's prayer.

If temperatures are below 45 degrees, there are NO insects flying for the martins to eat and sustain themselves. When such conditions persist for several days, the birds will die from starvation.

If the temperatures hover around the mid forties, insectivorous Purple Martins find minimal amounts of foods. These minimal foods for them are small in size, therefore the birds are foraging harder and for longer periods of time, sometimes all day, to find more and more smaller types of foods. And, in many cases, they have to travel a little farther to find these foods in the somewhat elevated warmer areas of watersheds. In other words, the martins are working very hard in adverse weather to keep themselves alive.

During periods of cold days of below 45 degrees, and definitely when there is snow flurries and/or rain, the birds definitely need to conserve their energies to live even one more critical day. This is not the time to disturb the birds by tapping their poles to check on them and making them fly, and causing them to expend valuable energy.

In many cases when they hear the sounds of a lure CD or cassette they may relate that to the security and warmth of a larger colony of birds where they might huddle in warmth with other birds where they instead find only an empty cold house.

There are times to play lure sounds and times not to play lure sounds. We must use our common sense in such adverse weather times.

The times to play the lure sounds are when the weather conditions are good and temperatures are above fifty degrees and insect life is more abundant.

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