New York

Purple Martin Purple Martin P r o j e c t Project New York PHOTO JIM WILLIAMS

Female and male parents share in building the nest to raise their young Adult female on the left shown with two of its young

IN NEW YORK STATE, PURPLE MARTINS Check out these websites HAVE DECLINED BY 39% since 1985. for more information on purple martins: Help Reverse the Trend! www.friendsofiroquoisnwr.org/ The National Audubon Society suggests the purplemartins/media.html following ways that you can help to conserve newyorkwild.org/martin/martin_video.htm Purple Martins: purplemartin.org ■ Purchase or construct and install appropriate birds.audubon.org/species/purmar martin housing, including predator proofing. Project Partners Housing standards can be found at New York State Ornithological Association www.purplemartin.org Buffalo Audubon Society ■ Protect martin colonies from European Buffalo Ornithological Society Starlings and House Sparrows by trapping or Purple Martin Conservation Association otherwise removing these non-native nest Friends of Iroquois NWR site competitors. New York State Bluebird Society ■ Plant native trees, shrubs, flowers and Orleans Bluebird Society grasses which attract more insects than non- If you have questions about caring for a natives. In fact, they support almost 30 times Purple Martin colony, please contact: more insect diversity than introduced plants. FINWR c/o Carl Zenger ■ Avoid applying pesticides that kill or poison 1101 Casey Road flying insects that martins eat. Basom, NY 14013 Carl Zenger: [email protected] 716-434-7568 ■ Create a dragonfly pond to attract and breed these and other insects preferred by martins. Celeste Morien : [email protected] 585-721-8202 ■ Maintain a pile of small gravel or sand in an Pat Lynch: [email protected] open area for grit. Rick Marx or Alan Grethel: ■ Offer dried, crushed chicken egg shells on an [email protected] PURPLE MARTIN elevated tray for egg-laying females. David Seiferth: [email protected] Status: Declining 585-455-1304 Photo: Larry Leonard New York State Purple Martin Project Our Vision

A collaborative effort of partners dedicated to educating Our Purple Martin Project was started in 2012, to support the and engaging citizens in the conservation of Purple Purple Martin Conservation Association activities in New York Martins, with the goal of increasing martin populations State and establish a Purple Martin landlord database, linking throughout New York State. landlords with our organization, to promote best Purple Martin PHOTOS LARRY LEONARD housing and management practices throughout New York State. Martins prefer dragonflies Color varies between genders and age

Purple Martins Food Predators With a length of 7-8 inches and a wing span of Purple martins eat primarily flying insects and The Purple Martin’s worst enemies are the 16 inches, the Purple Martin (Progne subis) is the catch their prey in mid-air. Contrary to what European Starling and the House Sparrow. Both largest swallow in North America. Its plumage many people think, the martins do not eat many of these species are aggressive toward martins and varies from mosquitoes as these insects generally only fly at may attack or kill birds in competition for nesting grayish-brown lower heights than where martins tend to feed. sites. Other enemies include owls, snakes, raccoons, with light bellies hawks, squirrels and feral cats. to dark blue-black To help digest their food, martins regularly swallow with an iridescent small amounts of sand or gravel as grit, or crushed Migration eggshells provided by the colony landlord. sheen, depending As martins prepare for their migration to South on the age and Nesting America, they form roosting colonies that may have sex of the bird. tens of thousands of birds. In Fall 2012, a roosting In different light Martin nests typically have from five to six white colony at Buckhorn Island State Park on Grand conditions this eggs. Incubation lasts about 15 days but may take Island, NY had an estimated 4,000 martins. sheen can appear longer in cool weather. The In the Spring when returning to North America, PHOTO JIM WILLIAMS blue or purple. young fledge about 25-35 days after hatching. there is some variation in migration timing. Older Habitat males are usually first to migrate back to their Martins are colonial nesters summer grounds, followed by older females and Purple Martins breed from British Columbia and prefer housing mounted then younger birds. As a result, older birds typically to Nova Scotia southward, but are absent from on a pole 10 to 17 feet high choose the better nesting sites. the interior western mountains and Great and placed 30 to 120 feet from Basin. Preferred habitats include open wetlands, human housing. Did you know that Purple Martins . . . residential areas, and agricultural lands. Purple Martin houses should ■ are not actually purple Woodpecker holes in trees were once the chosen be about 50 feet away from ■ are the largest swallow in North America nest sites of martins. Today, martins in the PHOTO RON WINDINGSTAD trees to provide a clear glide ■ may feed their nestlings up to 60 times a day eastern half of North America are almost entirely path for approaching martins. ■ migrate about 5,000 miles to South America taking dependent on gourds and martin houses for Purple Martins are geographically loyal and will 2-3 months to complete nesting. Attracting martins is not always easy and return to the same nesting site year after year if it is ■ different ages and genders migrate at different times of year needs to be done correctly to enhance chances of still suitable. ■ began using gourds hung out for their nesting by success. Standards for Purple Martin housing are Native Americans centuries ago available at www.purplemartin.org.