I was already in the truck and backing out of the drive when I saw the flapping wings below the birdhouse so I pulled up closer to see what was going on. What I found was not one bird, but two. They appeared to be seriously fighting but I still wasn't sure with all the frantic wing fluttering and flapping. So I honked my truck horn several times until they finally broke up and flew up into the bird house.
As I was on my way to pick Zach up I started worrying. The birds hadn't appeared to be hurt so what if I'd messed up a breeding practice and had scarred these birds for life by honking at them? I called James in his truck and asked him if there was a difference in coloring in the male and female martins. He said there was so I now know that it was two males that I'd seen fighting.
He informed me that they sometimes fight to claim ownership of a nesting spot and also over female birds, but he'd never seen them on the ground before.
I hope these two will become friends now and that I didn't totally mess up their selection ritual.
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