Home Owners Encourage Healthy Purple Martin Colony

Billy Stone served as the Autumn Glen HOA’s first president and was apparently a great avian enthusiast. During his tenure on the HOA Board, Billy solicited a group of other homeowners to help set-up bird houses for a colony of Purple Martins. The volunteers would periodically check them for competitor nests in spring and then in the fall, clean, store and tarp the houses.

“The first three houses were installed around the storm water fields,” said Jim Stephens, former board member. One was in the area near Stone Hall, adjacent to the large storm water field, one close to the storm water pond on Spanish Oak Road and a third between Evelyn Wyrick's and the Majhers' houses on Lynn Drive. Later a fourth house was installed by a private owner on HOA grounds.

“Martins were the soldiers that kept the mosquito population under control without having to use insecticides,” Jim said. “They are a beautiful sight to see and knowing that these birds are earning their rent each and every season, I am glad there are now more houses and an increase in the Martin population soaring in the sky over our community.”

Over the years, the bird houses were installed and managed by Dav’s Landscaping and later by former board member Karl Snyder. Another former board member Anita Harris received approval in 2014 to purchase four more houses and had them installed. She is pleased that the HOA has since added two more in 2018 and increased the bird house total to ten.

“Martins are great birds to have in the community and we should do all that we can to make them welcome here. Love to watch their acrobatics in the air and the little ones learning to fly,” Anita said.

According to Karl, the houses, all located on common ground, go up around the middle of March and are checked for non-Martin nests twice between then and mid-April. Adult Martins begin returning to Virginia in March from winter quarters in Brazil and socialize before finding mates. Nest building begins about four to six weeks after Martins arrive at their final breeding site. The 50 nesting pairs of Martins leave by mid-September and the houses can then be taken down, cleaned, stored and tarped.

It usually takes three volunteers to maintain the colony and a truck to haul the houses. Phil Simpson is interested in helping and volunteers the use of his truck for transporting. Frank Litavec and Jack Turner have supported this effort in the past. Regina Schowalter, Natalie and Mark Watson, Mike Crawford and Herb Sturm are new volunteers who desire to continue our legacy of encouraging a healthy Purple Martin colony.

All About Purple Martins

Purple Martins are the largest member of the swallow family in North America averaging 6 to 8 inches in height, with a wingspan from 14 to 16 inches. The females are mainly brown with a grayish-white underbelly. The adult males are the real showstoppers. They are iridescent, dark-blue purple overall with brown-black wings and tail, making them one of the showiest birds in Virginia.

Besides being the largest and prettiest swallows in North America, the Martin has a unique relationship with folks in the eastern United States. Purple Martins exclusively nest in bottleneck gourds and birdhouse condominiums provided by local gardeners. It all began as Native Americans enjoyed sharing their villages with Martins because they kept down the insect populations. Over time, these birds stopped nesting in the eastern wild and now will only nest near populated areas. It is widely speculated that without man-made nesting sites, these birds would die off in the eastern United States.[1]

Martins only eat insects — not seeds, worms or, garden vegetables. Insects seem to disappear when Martins are in the neighborhood so they either get eaten or leave the area. Insecticides are not necessary when birds are eating insects.

The Martins eat winged ants, wasps, house flies and crane flies, moths, flying beetles, dragonflies, mosquitoes and squash bugs. They will also keep away blackbirds and crows and are welcomed in backyards across the nation. Martins, as all swallows, are aerial insectivores, feeding on insects in flight. Martins are daytime feeders and feed high in the sky and can be vulnerable to starvation during prolonged periods of rain and cool weather.[2] During inclement weather, a Martin will occasionally walk about on the ground to find insects.

Martins feed their young a mix of glass, metal, sand and ground-up eggshells to help them digest the hard exoskeletons of the insects. The Martins feed while flying in large flocks and can be observed doing some truly amazing sky acrobatics to catch dinner. It’s a lot of fun to watch feeding take place high in the sky.[3] They also drink water while flying. The birds fly low over a surface of water and open their bills to scoop the liquid in.

Martins prefer their nests in an open area away from buildings and trees. The houses should be placed 15 to 20 feet above the ground. Martins need a space of 50 feet in diameter or more, free of trees, structures and other bird houses. If we do not have a big enough open space, the Martins will not nest on our property. They also need a fresh water source near the nesting site.

Martins nest in colonies of 2 to 200 pairs. So give them clustered (at least six nesting boxes per house) housing. The best thing to potential nesters is Martins already nesting there. Housing can look like anything from a Chinese pagoda to a Ferris wheel with gondolas. But structures with multiple, spacious compartments are the most effective at attracting the birds. Structures should be painted white to reflect the sun, which will keep nesting bird’s cooler. Martins do not mind humans looking into their nests, which makes this a relaxing bird/people maintenance experience.

Be on guard for European starlings and English house sparrows as they compete with Martins for nest sites. These non-native birds, introduced to the United States in the late 1800s, will evict Martins from their nests, poke holes in their eggs and kill nestlings. That’s one more reason to perform periodic inspections of our birdhouses in early spring.

Martins breed in Canada, the United States and Mexico, and then winter in Brazil. Most adults do not seek new breeding sites but will return to their site from the previous year. Yearling Martins will typically colonize new breeding sites. A pair of Martins are monogamous and both help with building the nest using mud, grass and twigs. The female lays two to seven pure white eggs at a rate of one per day. The clutch is incubated for approximately fifteen days until hatching. Eggs usually hatch in June. The parents both feed the babies continuously for 26-32 days inside the nesting units until they fledge.[4] By late-August, most of them are gone.

March 15-April 1 is the time-frame in this part of the country that older adult Martins will begin to return to their nests from the previous year. In the more southern states, Martins will arrive earlier in the year and it can be as early as February in southern Florida. The Martins will arrive closer to May 1 in northern New England.[5]

For many bird lovers there is nothing more exhilarating than sitting out on your porch, enjoying the raucous vocalizations and chatter of a colony of Purple Martins and being entertained at their antics throughout the many stages of their breeding cycle. Even the young fledglings provide enormous amounts of theater in that they are fairly good flyers on their first day out of the nest and their flying skills improve daily with guidance from their parents. After about a week or more of flying, many young Martins are capturing their own food and soon become independent.

Martins experience being chased by hawks during the day, owls prowling at night and fighting off European invaders. The determined spirits of the young Martins endure as they go forth with delightful chatter to survive against all odds.

[1] Good to Grow: Human-friendly Purple Martins control garden insects, by Chris Postalwait, Charleston Gazette-Mail

[2] Northern Shenandoah Valley Audubon Society Purple Martin Project

[3] Northern Shenandoah Valley Audubon Society Purple Martin Project

[4] Northern Shenandoah Valley Audubon Society Purple Martin Project

[5] Good to Grow: Human-friendly Purple Martins control garden insects, by Chris Postalwait, Charleston Gazette-Mail