Post by dicklaxt on May 25, 2015 22:00:02 GMT
The adult PM's have their work cut out for them caring and feeding these PM babies. The babies feed off of their yolk sac for the first few days and graduate to small insects and on to larger insects normally Dragonflies up to 3 and 4 inches long. They have ravenous appetites and the adult's feed them 4-6 hours each day for about 3 more weeks. The young will leave the nest in 26 to 32 days after hatching. Purple Martin's are true insectivoire's and will not eat dead insects(except those just caught) or grain unless they are starving. They catch all of their food while in flight.This activity goes on about once every 10 minutes depending on the availbility of insects which is really good right now in my area.
You may have heard that PM's feed on mosquito's,,,,,,,,,,,,,that's not true unless they are swarming.
A typical nest is 4-5 but 6,7 and 8 babies are quite common in a healthy colony. The nesting cavity in this pic has 6 hatchlings. I have been hosting a colony for the last 9 years. They migrate to and from North America to Brazil each year.
dick
Here is a second image that shos the color variations within the colony
This is an adult male,the first two images are females.
You may have heard that PM's feed on mosquito's,,,,,,,,,,,,,that's not true unless they are swarming.
A typical nest is 4-5 but 6,7 and 8 babies are quite common in a healthy colony. The nesting cavity in this pic has 6 hatchlings. I have been hosting a colony for the last 9 years. They migrate to and from North America to Brazil each year.
dick
Here is a second image that shos the color variations within the colony
This is an adult male,the first two images are females.
