When I did a nest check, I found a whole bunch of little black bugs crawling all over the housing, nest and the baby birds. What are these?
These are Chicken Mites and if left unattended, quite often become a major problem in martin colonies. Mite explosions, called blooms, happen practically overnight, so it’s important to not allow too much time from nest check to nest check. Nests that are infected with these mites should be taken care of promptly or they could result in early fledging of the young or worse, their death. Mites feed on the blood of the young and it’s not a pleasant thing for a baby bird that has nowhere to go to get away from them. Chicken mites are one reason you see so many baby Robins prematurely jump to the ground before they can fly properly.
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