Last season, one experienced landlord in Webb City reported that a male martin arrived on Feb. Migration for purple martins is a drawn-out affair. They chirp loudly and seem to delight in one another’s company. Watching these birds soar, bank and dive is mesmerizing. Why do so many people love purple martins? Even passionate landlords have a hard time answering. There’s little old survey data to compare, but in notes dated February 1821, John James Audubon wrote in New Orleans of “prodigious flocks moving over the city.I walked under one of them with ease for upwards of two miles.” Simply Enchanting Many experts believe we have only about 10 percent of the number of purple martins that was present in the 1800s. Both species successfully compete with purple martins for nesting sites. Pressure from European starlings and English house sparrows likely is contributing to the decline. In the northern half of their range-generally the states north of Missouri-and in pockets of the southeast United States, purple martin numbers have been declining since about 1960. Together, all of those colonies probably contain fewer than 30 pairs of martins. Louis City, where the population is primarily limited to a small colony at the Missouri Botanical Garden, a second one at a nearby restaurant parking lot, and to seven to eight pairs recently attracted to new housing in Forest Park. But, you may be looking at the only colony of birds for miles. Standing in front of a noisy colony, you might conclude that there are a lot of purple martins. Students from nearby Crocker Elementary School visit the site often on summer field trips. This “super colony,” maintained by Cheri Warner, is about 12 miles north of Richland. The birds nest in a combination of aluminum houses, manufactured PVC gourds and an elevated rack of nest compartments made from reconditioned mailboxes. Super ColonyĬamden County is home to what may be Missouri’s largest colony-131 active pairs last season. Southern Missouri also offers many hospitable landlords along rural roads and in small communities. Martins love a house near water, although they will readily colonize open sites in yards. The greater population in southern Missouri is probably due to more martin housing on boat docks and marinas around Missouri’s reservoirs. Early colonists adopted the custom and added houses to the mix.Ĭolonies of purple martins exist in most communities and rural yards in Missouri, but they tend to be more numerous in the southern half of the state. It’s safe to say that if “landlords” took down all martin the houses and gourd racks, the species would suffer.Īmerican Indians manipulated purple martins in the East to abandon tree holes for hollowed-out gourds. Purple martins are the only wild bird species largely dependent on human-provided housing. This may explain why martins are less numerous in forested mountain regions, including parts of the Ozarks. They also consume several water-borne insect species, including mayflies, damselflies and large dragonflies. Purple martins, which are the largest of our swallows, measuring 7 1/2 inches with a wingspan of 13 inches, do eat a variety of other flying pests such as Japanese beetles and spotted cucumber beetles. Martins also feed during daylight, while mosquitoes are most active at night. Like all swallows, purple martins eat airborne insects entirely on the wing, but martins tend to feed high in the sky while mosquitoes remain close to the ground. No ornithological research has ever found that mosquitoes comprise more than 3 percent of a martin’s diet. Scientific studies don’t support this belief.
Probably the most widely believed myth is that purple martins are voracious consumers of mosquitoes. I’ve heard many myths about purple martins.
Favorable conditions for the return of the martins and the variable date for Good Friday may simply have coincided enough times to convince Grandpa. When they arrive, however, also depends on the weather. Scouts usually show up in southern Missouri in early March. The arrival of purple martins (Progne subis) from wintering grounds in South America is fairly consistent throughout their range. One that he kept repeating was that martins always return on Good Friday, give or take a few days. Like many purple martin enthusiasts, I was introduced to these beautiful swallows by my grandfather, who anxiously watched in spring for the return of “his” birds.Īs some grandfathers do, mine harbored a few myths about purple martins.
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