Sign Of Spring: Purple Martins Spotted In Wisconsin

MILWAUKEE, WI —In a sure sign that spring is not far behind, the first Purple Martins of the year have been spotted in Wisconsin.

The birds were seen on April 2 in the small Wisconsin town of Cumberland by a Purple Martin enthusiast – one of many people throughout the eastern and central United States who track and report on the birds’ annual migration on behalf of the Purple Martin Conservation Association.

"The Purple Martins arrival in Wisconsin show the birds are making steady progress northward since they first made landfall in Florida two days after Christmas,” said Joe Siegrist, President of the Purple Martin Conservation Association.

Purple Martins winter in the rainforests of Brazil before making up to a 7,000-mile migration north into the eastern United States and Canada. Once widespread in rural America, this species, that eats billions of flying insects annually, has been disappearing at an alarming rate, experiencing a loss of one-third of its population over the last 50 years, association officials said.

“The decline seems to be the combination of a few factors: nesting habitat loss, competing invasive species, decreasing prey availability, and climate change,” Siegrist said. “Over the majority of the Purple Martins’ range, they are unable to nest naturally any longer. Human-provided nest boxes are the only thing keeping the species alive east of the Rocky Mountains.”

To follow along with the Purple Martins’ migration and learn more about how you can help conserve this treasured bird, visit www.purplemartin.org.