![]() ![]() Visit for more information.ĭavis said the houses need to be cleaned and in good repair so a bird that finds it will stay and nest. Their migration can be reported and tracked through a community science project called the Scout-Arrival Study, the release said. "Tracking the migration is not only fun, it also provides us with valuable information that helps inform our research and strengthen our efforts to make sure we're doing everything possible to sustain the population of these amazing birds." "The first purple martin arrivals of the season are always an exciting event," Siegrist said. Martins fly from Brazil to the same backyard and house that they used before," he said. The majority of purple martins will soon follow. ![]() "Purple martin scouts arrive first, looking for houses. When Europeans arrived they found purple martins nesting in gourd houses in Native American villages, Davis said in a news release. Purple martins are one of the 85 species of birds that are cavity nesters but some have adapted to using constructed houses. Now is the time to put up purple martin boxes or clean out the old ones, according to Jerry Wayne Davis, a local certified wildlife biologist. 14 in Lake City by a purple martin enthusiast - one of many 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 organization said in a news release. When you do, you will add significantly to our knowledge base about martins and help ensure the long-term survival of birds I love.In a sure sign that spring is not far behind, the first purple martins of the year have been spotted in Arkansas, according to Joe Siegrist, president of the Purple Martin Conservation Association. If you’re already a martin landlord, or if you have access to a colony site in a neighbor’s yard or at a park, a marina, or your workplace, you can help too. Even elementary school children can participate as a part of their science curricula. The third is intended to locate roosts that martins form toward the end of every summer.Įach study relies almost entirely on the careful observations of martin landlords, birdwatchers, and other interested folks. Two are aimed at quantifying how climate change might be affecting migration times, reproductive timing, and nesting success in the Purple Martin. The Purple Martin Conservation Association (PMCA), an organization I founded in 1987, is seeking volunteers for three long-term citizen-science projects. Through martins, we can attempt to answer pertinent questions about how our alterations of the planet might be affecting wild animals. Because of this, and because about a million people in North America care for martins, the species makes an excellent study subject. Most modern housing can be raised and lowered on winch-operated or telescoping poles and has compartments or cavities with hinged doors or screw-on lids that make checking and cleaning nests easy. Native Americans were the first to hang hollowed-out calabash gourds to attract martins, giving the birds the distinction of having been managed by humans longer than any other bird species.įortunately, it is extremely easy to monitor and gather data on martins. East of the Rockies, it now nests only in human-supplied houses and gourds placed in people’s yards. Through a centuries-long process known as a tradition shift, it has abandoned its ancestral ways of nesting in old woodpecker cavities. Only one bird species in eastern North America is totally dependent on humans for its nesting sites - the Purple Martin ( Progne subis). ![]()
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