Purple Martins: Humans’ "BFF"

Article written by Montezuma Audubon Center intern Ay-Zoh Shaw.

From observing ugly-cute hatchlings to helping band scraggly, incessantly-chirping fledglings, monitoring and caring for Purple Martin is an incredible—and poop-filled—experience!

My time spent with Purple Martins was at the Montezuma Audubon Center, but these special birds can be found at Audubon centers across the eastern United States.  There, you may notice oblong nest boxes high up on poles with  extremely talkative birds squawking away on them. You might even see these large swallows performing aerial maneuvers even the most decorated fighter pilot dreams of! 

These nest-boxes are one part of an interesting history Purple Martins share with humans—one that has earned them the title of human’s BFF (Best Flying Friend).

This friendship started with Indigenous populations that hung hollowed out gourds to attract Purple Martins. The birds would feed on insects, helping to prevent crop damage and general insect-caused issues. As their natural habitat was slowly destroyed, Purple Martins grew to be reliant on humans. Now, they nest almost solely in these artificial houses and near humans.

Purple Martin nest boxes used to be so prevalent across the U.S. that John James Audubon, the namesake of the National Audubon Society, was quoted saying “almost every country tavern has a martin box on the upper part of its signboard, and I have observed that the handsomer the box, the better does the inn generally prove to be.” As this tradition has faded out, though, Purple Martins have become more at risk and need our help more than ever!

That’s why Purple Martin nest boxes were built at the Montezuma Audubon Center nearly 20 years ago.  In recent years, staff have even begun monitoring the chicks hatches there! This summer, I had the wonderful opportunity to join them in this project.

This is where my relationship with the Purple Martin began. I have been a hardcore birding enthusiast for quite some time, participating in local habitat restoration efforts, trips abroad to see tropical species, and rambling on to bored family and friends about the amazing species I got to see any time I’ve went birding. But before starting this internship, I never had the chance to do direct hands-on work with any species. So when I learned that we’d be banding chicks, I was through the moon!

Monitoring a Purple Martin colony is a very thorough process, with weekly check-ups on each individual nest to ensure the health of the chicks. During each check in, we removed 1 to 2 chicks from each nest and aged them by comparing them against a detailed diagram showing chick sizes per day.

Getting the age of the chicks correct is important, as they can only be banded after they are 11 days old. Any earlier, and the bands wouldn’t fit correctly into adulthood, as the legs of younger chicks actually grow thicker than an adults for a period of time!

Once chicks were old enough, we removed them from the nest and delivered them to a nearby station where a licensed bird bander would band them. To ensure the health of the chicks, we’d also check for any parasites, like mites, nonviable eggs that could rot and introduce disease.

Working with the Purple Martins in such an involved role gave me an entirely different perspective into the lives of birds and our responsibility as conservationists. In previous birding experience, my role was as an observer, gazing into the lives of birds and getting a glimpse into their day to day when they were out and about.

When banding, though, I got to see what happened behind closed doors and the personalities that came along with that. I got to see the concerned parents that would stick around in their nest boxes when we lowered the houses and would send us into shock when they would fly right past our faces; the teenager chicks with wide eyes trying to take in all the info they can; and the young babies that didn’t know up from down. 

These direct experiences not only removed the literal physical distance, but also the mental distance that I had in my head that made it hard to believe of how much I, as a singular person, can do for birds I was able to monitor the direct impact that I had on these chicks, rather than just hoping that an at-risk species likes a restored habitat and their populations grow as I had previously.

This experience with the Purple Martins taught me more about my responsibility as a conservationist as well. 

When working in habitat restoration, it’s hard to not get caught up in the negatives. I often see the invasive plants that continuously came back in even after extensive removal efforts, or the invasive European Starlings that still hang around. The Purple Martins opened my eyes to the direct positive effect I can and did have on a delicate and ecologically important creature.

In turn, this taught me that my responsibility as a conservationist—even though it sounds kind of cheesy—is to always keep my end goal in mind and think of the species that my actions will have an effect on. Even when I’m working in the hot sun or in the midst of a downpour, the benefit of seeing one of these chicks grow will always outweigh the temporary annoyance with the current workday. 

Overall, my work with the Purple Martins was vastly eye-opening, revealing the hidden personalities of a beautiful species and teaching me a valuable lesson! Working with this fantastic bird made an unforgettable experience and a friendship to last.