‘Feathered’ tenants take up residence with Robb family
Don Robb watches Purple Martins that have taken up residence in his yard.
Don and Bev Robb expect their spring tenants to leave home the last week of July. The Robbs play host to them for months every year, even though they never pay rent.
The feathered tenants, Purple Martins, stay in luxurious bird apartments in the back yard.
Don and Bev took interest in Purple Martins 13 years ago when the couple moved into their current residence in Knifley. They got the idea from their then neighbor, the late Ottie Hancock.
“By golly sonny, you need to have some Purple Martins,” Bev Robb quoted Hancock.
Hancock donated a Purple Martin house to the Robbs. He told them to pray and have patience when they come. By spring of that year, the Robbs received their first visit from one of the steely colored swallows. Now, 63-76 Purple Martins come to the Robbs’s backyard each year.
Once Purple Martins are established they return to the same location each year. Purple Martins are unique because of the shape of their tails, which are slightly forked. They also stand out with their sense of timing. Bev said the Martins are punctual and arrive around the same time every year.
“They are their own bird,” said Don.
The Martins send two scouts to scan the perimeter of their next establishment. They establish themselves following the scouts and will stay until the third week in July. Bev and Robb know when the Martins are going to leave because they line up along their power line.
“They don’t pay the rent or nothin’. They just leave,” Rob said. The Martins line up along the power line one day and disappear the next.
Caring for the Martins requires little from the Robbs. They diet mostly on insects. Since the Martins started their annual trip to the Robbs’s backyard, they have had little mosquito problems. The only food the Robbs prepare for the Martins is baked and smashed eggshells. Bev said the eggshell helps the Martin’s eggs retain a harder surface to protect the babies.
The couple followed certain guidelines to attract the birds. The Martins need access to water and open meadows. The Martins’ living space must be within 50 to 100 ft. away from trees.
“They are sassy,” Bev said. The birds swoop around people who approach the birdhouses.
The Martins stay in birdhouse apartments on top of poles that the Robbs purchased. Each individual house cost $70, but Purple Martin birdhouses can reach the range of $500. Each pole costs $52.95. The Robbs own 38 apartments for the Martins. Each apartment holds two birds, which means they can currently house a maximum of 76 Martins each year. Don said the nest is made of mud within the apartments.
Once the Martins leave in July, Don begins to clean out their apartments.
“I don’t want to live in a dirty house,” Don said. “I don’t want the birds to.”
Don takes off the doors of the houses and then flushes the mud out with water. The couple pays $40 a month to keep the Martins and the other birds in their yard taken care of.
They also attract blue jays, robins, bluebirds, mocking birds, pileated woodpeckers and bald eagles that arrive around the lake near their house.
Bev and Don are members of Adair County’s new bird watching club.
By Dean Childers
Voice Intern
