To my amazement, they didn't just eat the crickets themselves they were carrying them back to their gourds to feed their babies. It was 59 degrees and more drizzle, so I dumped out a couple of bags of crickets. I heard martins chirping on my porch rail this morning.

Feeding is even more beneficial when martins have nestlings to feed, as nestlings may only survive one or two days without food. The average martin will survive for about 4-5 days without food, but will become weakened after 2-3 days, so it is best to begin feeding before they become too weak to fly. Similar, sad stories are also being played out in Texas and Louisiana where the rain is almost constant these last few weeks.ДЇour types of weather conditions can adversely affect insect availability, causing Purple Martins to starve: constant temperatures below 50 degrees, steady rain or drizzle, strong Insects can't fly in constant rain and that will have a significant impact on colonies that are trying to feed nestlings. It's not just the coolness or the wet weather that can kill them with hypothermia. Check out this sad report from Tulsa, OK:

I've been reading about all the rain they're having in the southern states and the numerous losses of chicks due to a lack of food. With all the rains and cooler weather we've been experiencing in the last week, honestly, I'm a bit afraid to do the nest check. Last weekend, my nest check revealed that I have 68 pairs, 37 nestlings and 316 eggs. I'm scheduled to do a nest check today, but with the temperatures hovering in the low 60's and sprinkles / mist / rain, I'm not sure I'm going to be able to.

Purple martin screen snake guard