Lots Of Purple Martin Babies Born This Weekend

We have a total of five Purple Martin nests.

In nest 1, which originally had 6 eggs, five of them hatched.  Today is day 9 for them and there eyes are just starting to open.  I decided to remove the one egg that never hatched.

Purple Martin Babies Nest One Day Nine

In nest two, I can’t quite tell if there are three or four babies.  One of the eggs didn’t hatch so I removed it.  This is day 2 for nest two.

Purple Martin Nest Two Day Two

In nest three, we have 4 babies (I think).  This is also day 2 for them.

Purple Martin Babies Nest Three Day Two

Nest 4, we must have timed it perfectly because the babies looked like they had just hatched and were still in the process of hatching.  I think there are a total of 6 eggs, of which 4 had hatched when we examined the nest.  They look so tiny, I feel pretty strongly that these babies were only moments old.

Purple Martin Nest Four Day One

Finally there is nest 5.  It has a total of 6 eggs, none of which have hatched yet.  I’d bet within another day or two, these will hatch.

Purple Martin Nest Five

The parents are very busy now, especially in nest 1, which makes sense since those babies are larger and need more food.

I wish I could use my camera to take pictures of the babies, but my camera is simply too large to get close enough to peer in the nest so we’ve had to resort to using Leecy’s camera phone.  I may have to investigate a new (or additional) Martin House next year that allows me easier access to the nests.

The Sparrows that were trying to invade one of the vacant nesting sites has finally given up (at least I hope).  I guess she got tired of us removing her nests and eggs.