Purple Martins Take Flight

By Kelly Moad
After a long winter in South America, our beloved Purple Martins will return for their spring/summer visit to Texas. And some will even venture as far north as Canada. But if the rental property meets their desires, we can enjoy them right here at home. They have particular needs and wants…does your Purple Martin home meet the requirements? If you had tenants last year and they didn’t receive any outside threats from predators or weather issues, more than likely they will return to rent from you again. Purple Martins prefer a white painted home high in the air, away from trees and human homes. If they are threatened even once by owls, squirrels, snakes, crows and house sparrows, they will likely find a new home.

Purple Martins are monogamous creatures and cooperate equally in building their nest and caring for their young. Once their eggs have hatched, they will feed their young for nearly a month until they fledge. And the young are still dependent upon their parents for another couple weeks as they learn and grow.

Purple Martins are aerial insectivores, meaning they feed on flying insects such as dragonflies, stinkbugs, June bugs, butterflies, moths, grasshoppers, bees, wasps, and flying ants, to name a few. Contrary to common belief, they do NOT eat mosquitoes. Sounds unfortunate for us in Texas, but Purple Martins stay higher in the air where it is dry, and those pesky mosquitoes stay low near the moisture of the ground.

So why go to such extremes to house and protect these beautiful birds? It’s just that. They are beautiful and offer a sweet song to our days. In Austin, Texas, at the close of summertime, the Purple Martins congregate in a specific area and put on a pre-migration show for the city to enjoy. It’s a spectacular display as thousands swarm overhead before they take flight and head south again.

Landlords: get your property ready for your tenants…and Enjoy your Purple Martins!

For more information about Purple Martins:

The Purple Martin and its Management in Texas
http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/publications/pwdpubs/media/pwd_bk_w7000_0254.pdf

Managing the Martins – Texas Parks and Wildlife
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5RfRs0jyzU

Attracting and Managing Purple Martins
http://www.purplemartin.org/main/mgt.html

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2 Responses to “Purple Martins Take Flight”

  1. Purple Martin landlords can report their first martin of the year (also called a scout) here: http://www.purplemartin.org/scoutreport/
    You can view the map to watch the purple wave climb north, as martins return to the US and Canada.

  2. We have our martin houses ready for their return, love watching them and having them here..

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