Mark Spearman

I took a friend to a farm and was waiting on him the other day. While waiting, I noticed from the looks of the double Martin bird house that this farmer was really into birds. There was a peacock running around and a Martin bird house that was loaded with Martins. The noise of the peacock and the Martins was all that you heard on this quiet farm. It was beautiful to set in this relaxing setting and listen and watch.

Peacock struts around on the farm

The Martins were hunting insects. The birds would all perch for a few minutes, then suddenly, bolt all at once. A few minutes later they would all return in an orderly fashion. Those that had found food, would feed it to the young Martins inside the bird houses. This scene just kept repeating over and over. It leaves me curious as to why they all return, even if they had found no food. I’m wondering if they didn’t regroup to allow for the insects to gather back up or decide on where they would hunt unsuspecting insects next. I would guess that all of the chirping was communication over the landing pattern. There’s many things about the Martins that I could only guess about with my limited bird knowledge.

The Martins have their purpose, but they fail in their reputation for a method of mosquito control. They fly to high to eat mosquitos and live off of a diet of high flying insects like moths, wasps, flies, butterflies, dragon flies, beetles, and other higher flying insects. Companies that make Martin bird houses like to make the claim about mosquito control, but their is no evidence or study to prove it. They’re still great for farms to have for fly control and other pest insects.

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