We are excited to share some footage from our Purple Martin nest cams, placed this spring in 5 new, specially designed nesting boxes. The cameras provide a non-invasive way of monitoring nest box activity and documenting nestling development.
Despite the cool wet spring, the martins seemed to have had a very successful nesting season. We had up to 28 adults in the nest boxes (4 more than last year), and young were seen in 9 of the boxes. Notice how the parents roll the eggs and carefully add leaves to the nest after the eggs are laid! Studies have shown that egg rolling is an important part of incubation, ensuring the chick gets enough albumen—the mixture of water and protein that provides nutrients to the developing chick. Scientists believe that the fresh leaves may have insecticidal properties, helping to protect the chicks from mites and other parasites.
We are still reviewing the thousands of hours of video footage that was captured. Once that is done, we will send our compiled the observations for review by Mr. Bruce Cousens, senior program biologist with the Georgia Basin Ecological Assessment and Restoration Society, who oversee the purple martin recovery program in British Columbia. The annotated photos and video captured will contribute to an online resource, made available to other citizen science groups who are also undertaking Purple Martin recovery projects in BC.
The project was supported by a grant from the BC Naturalists’ Foundation and BC Nature, Custom nest boxes were designed and built by John Buchanan.