Daily Bird: Purple Martin
A Purple Martin about to eat a dragonfly. Connecticut Audubon photo by Patrick Comins.
Purple Martin
Progne subis
June 4, 2020 — After a tentative start this season, nesting activity in the Purple Martin gourds at the Coastal Center in Milford is underway.
Frank Mantlik, who leads the team of volunteers that monitors the colony, reported on May 26, that out of the total 71 gourds at the colony, 20 have nests.
The Coastal Center’s Purple Martin colony is the third-largest in Connecticut. Because Purple Martins are completely dependent on human-made structures, either boxes or gourds, this is an important project for ensuring their protection and survival.
This species was listed as “threatened” in Connecticut until about six years ago. Because of its increasing population, largely the result of the careful management of colonies, it status was changed to “special concern.”
Purple Martins are beautiful, much-admired songbirds, and these popular swallows are sought after as backyard birds all across the U.S., particularly in the south and east. They feed only on flying insects. They are often mistakenly thought to control mosquitoes. That’s not quite true. They feed on a much wider variety of insects including dragonflies, which themselves feed on mosquitoes.
Purple Martins are not easy to attract, requiring certain habitat and landscape conditions, usually open areas near water, but once a colony is established, they will return every year to breed and raise their young.
Four Purple Martins have been visiting the gourds we recently put up at Deer Pond Farm, in Sherman. We’re hoping they stick around.
They’re very tolerant and sociable birds, and respond well to husbandry of the colony, which involves regular checking of the nest cavities for parasites, mortality, and unwanted intruders such as House Sparrows and Starlings.
What it looks like: The male Purple Martin is not purple, but entirely bluish black and is the only North American swallow with a dark belly. Noticeably larger than other swallows, Purple Martins can be distinguished not only by size, but also by a slightly slower wing beat. The adult female has a dark bluish back but grey-brown underparts.
Where to find it: The best places to look for these birds is, of course, around their nest colonies. There are several around the state that are easily accessible. The Coastal Center, Hammonasset State Park’s East Beach Nature Center in Madison, and Sherwood Island State Park in Westport all enjoy active martin colonies.
The association between Purple Martins and people began hundreds of years ago when Native Americans hung hollow gourds around their villages for the birds to nest in, an effort to help keep insects away from their crops. The eastern Purple Martins are now entirely dependent on artificial housing and no longer nest in natural cavities such as hollow trees. The western populations, however, still nest in natural cavities.
If you’d like to support the Coastal Center’s Purple Martin colony and be part of a captivating environmental monitoring and conservation program, click here to learn how to adopt a gourd and about the rewards of participating. (It also makes a great gift.) Then stay tuned for further updates as the season takes flight.
Each July we help the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection band the martins at the Coastal Center. This video shows the process.
