Caroline94535

For the past 12 years I have been a "landlord," hosted a thriving colony of Purple Martins, first while we lived on the base, and then here at the Ends of the Earth, Larimore. The first thing we did once we closed on this house late in a cold September was to dig a hole, 12" wide and 42" deep, poured concrete and set the pole in order to get the gourd rack hung. The following Spring the martins found us again.

The native Purple Martin, Progne subis, is America's larges swallow. They eat only flying insects, and thousands of them, and nest in human-provided cavities, either multi-unit houses or gourds.They migrate to Brazil each fall and return to breeding areas in the Eastern half of the U.S. and even to the north of Winnipeg, Canada. Oddly enough, a couple of the Canadian landlords see their birds' arrivals before mine get here.

Anyway...my birds have returned as early as April 14, and as late as May 10. They "normally" arrive around April 23. I make it a rule to have the gourds filled with "pre-nests" and hung on the rack by April 15, just in case they show up early.

I got the gourds prepped and hung on the 14th this month. Now I am on pins and needles waiting to see them zoom in or hear the familiar watery chortling. Every time I see a large bird shadow cross the driveway I have to dash to the front window hoping to see my guy' return.


This photo shows many of the young (32 days old) martins right after they fledged (flew from the nest on their own for the first time.) I offer 15 gourds on my rack. 15 pair of adults can raise from 4 to 8 young each. Fledging time can be very busy and full of excited chatter.

The last photo shows what it's all about! A new generation of Purple Martins. See the little dude just hatching! He's smaller than the last joint of my index finger.