Purple Martins: More Than an Object of Amusement for Humans

Purple Martins: More Than an Object of Amusement for Humans

by Ashlynn T Morris

Purple martins have been a friend to mankind for a really long time. They are a one-of-a-kind swallow typically found in North America. Their faintly forked tail helps them with their flight providing them speed and dexterity. To sustain the wintertime, these young birds fly to South America specifically to Brazil and Argentina, while spending the springtime in the north. Therefore, they profoundly depend on humans for their safe habitat. Purple martin houses are the exclusive nest for the eastern species of these birds.

Why help the purple martins?

Why should anyone arrange for the housing of these birds in their backyard? If you love nature and the sight of the colorful chirping bird right in your lawn, then arrange for the lodging of these birds. Unlike most other species of birds who take wing right when humans come nearby, martins generally enjoy the company of humans. They love being around humans and bring joy to the human ear with their lovely chirping songs that last hours.

Being unquestionably wonderful in flights, normally 20-25 miles an hour, they put on absolutely entertaining aerial shows, flaunting their diving, gliding and flying skills. These birds have an instinct for loyalty, and come back to their landlords every year. Purple birds are also eminently known for their traits of catching insects. This feature befriends them to the gardeners who are petrified by plant destroying insects. Martins are very alert and catch their prey high up in the air.

Survival of purple martins

If you leave the purple birds houses unsupervised, they have a chance of becoming breeding habitats for different species of starlings and sparrows. This is one of the major reasons for the decline in the population of martins in North America. To gain access to martins' nests, the sparrows and other species kill them resulting in the decline of martins. To protect the martins from these intruders, many landlords confine these species to guarantee the persistence of the martins.

The starlings and English house sparrows, with their introduction on the early 1800s, have been a massive threat to the survival of martins. These cavity seeking birds are very violent and have risked the housing of martins and bluebirds since their arrival. They believe in seizing the martins' houses regardless of their establishments and kill the adult birds while destroying the eggs of martins. Therefore, it becomes more than a leisure activity for humans to protect the martins against these threats.