I had to move my housing this spring. The farm the housing was on was sold. I was fortunate that we had land less than 1/4 mile away on a pond. I was concerned, because there is timber around and I knew owls were around but my housing has the deeper nesting cavities.
I had 15 pairs, then I had raccoons attack. They breached the pole guards 4 times before we finally trapped the culprits. One nest had babies, a few with eggs and a few had not yet layed. I lost eggs and a few adults, as well as abandoned nests. Sadly I went down to 2 pairs immediately after the attacks and now back up to 6 pairs. I had 3 ASY males hanging around, but seems I just have one right now. If I am correct he may still have a very slim chance in attracting a mate this year. I know time is running out. I do have a SY pair just completing their nest.
Too Late for ASY Male in Central Illinois?
What type of openings do you have on your housing? Any tunnels for predator protection?
2012-13 Pair 2013-52 Pair 2014-65 Pair 2015-85 Pair 2016-80 Pair 2017-93 Pair 2018-87 Pair 2019-102 Pair
148 compartments 72 Troyer Horz. 24 Troyer Vert. 52 Wooden
148 compartments 72 Troyer Horz. 24 Troyer Vert. 52 Wooden
Hey BobV, we are just outside Peoria and we've watched our ASY male courting some females despite having his own family incubating right now!!!bobv wrote: ↑Fri Jun 19, 2020 10:35 amI had to move my housing this spring. The farm the housing was on was sold. I was fortunate that we had land less than 1/4 mile away on a pond. I was concerned, because there is timber around and I knew owls were around but my housing has the deeper nesting cavities.
I had 15 pairs, then I had raccoons attack. They breached the pole guards 4 times before we finally trapped the culprits. One nest had babies, a few with eggs and a few had not yet layed. I lost eggs and a few adults, as well as abandoned nests. Sadly I went down to 2 pairs immediately after the attacks and now back up to 6 pairs. I had 3 ASY males hanging around, but seems I just have one right now. If I am correct he may still have a very slim chance in attracting a mate this year. I know time is running out. I do have a SY pair just completing their nest.
We've had lots of SY activity in our yard the last week so hang in there! Hope your male finds a female!!
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BradO
- Posts: 7
- Joined: Fri Jun 05, 2020 10:10 am
- Location: Sioux Falls, SD.
- Martin Colony History: 2019- Several large groups stopped and visited.
2020- 2 pair seemed interested but left after 2 weeks, daily visits since first week of June from neighboring birds.
I still have a few SY males hanging around my houses here in Sioux Falls, SD. Had 2 pair that looked like they going to nest. The 2 pair seemed to have vanished after two weeks. They were even getting territorial chasing robins and grackels away from the houses. Then after 3 days of seeing nothing I noticed a pair of hawks who appear to nesting about a 1/4 mile away. Still have one SY male who visits everyday and will show up randomly. When he shows up he will sing his head off the entire visit like he's still trying to attract a mate. Last saturday it rained all day. There were two SY birds around the houses all day. From daylight to about 3PM. Not sure if it's too late, but one would think it must be getting close. What's been interesting for me is the fact one SY male had a bent flight feather on his left wing sticking out forward like he had damaged it somehow. It was easy to see when he was sitting or flying. He has now lost that feather, but I can see the spot where it is missing from when he glides in to land. He seems to like my place, so I hope to see him find a lady friend or return with one next year!