The larger population and range expansion was a result of development in and around cities, which provided artificial nesting sites for martins. Purple Martins apparently became locally common in towns and cities from Bellingham to Vancouver and on the Columbia River from 1900 to 1950, as the area experienced rapid growth. It is not known whether the species was ever abundant in Washington prior to 1900. The western Purple Martin reaches the northern limit of its range in Washington and British Columbia. Washougal has a colony of these birds nesting along the Washougal Dike. To learn more about purple martins, conservation and housing, visit Martins are the largest North American swallow and are on the Washington State Species of Concern List. “They are beautiful birds, very musical and they eat a ton of insects, which is an added benefit.” “Once people have a chance to watch them, they get hooked,” he said. Providing a home for the birds and watching them in general, Scout said, can be a great hobby. Opening the homes just before the purple martins’ arrival next spring and providing some nesting materials inside them to look lived in should help attract some “new tenants.” When they are not being used by the purple martins, Scout said the homes should be closed up to prevent another bird species from nesting there. “If you don’t get them in the first season, don’t give up,” he said and have the homes ready for next year. While the purple martin season has already begun, Scout said those interested in providing homes for them may still have time to attract some new arrivals this week, and the more people helping out, the better off the birds will be in the future. In the fall, the flocks will begin gathering and heading back to Brazil, where they will spend the winter. “Once they hatch, it only takes about four weeks before they look like little mini adults are ready to fly and start hunting on their own,” Scout said. Scout said the birds will begin their nesting activities soon, and he will likely start seeing eggs the first week of May and hatching around June. The songbirds are secondary cavity nesters, which means they do not create their own nests but instead look for existing homes created by humans or other animals.Īccording to the Purple Martin Conservation Association, the birds used to nest in existing natural cavities in old trees or rock formations, but over time became accustomed to the manmade housing of dried and hollow gourds that were provided for them by humans.Ī few of the manmade homes can be found at Bernheim as well as across Nelson County, with some residents in this area serving as “landlords” to ensure the martins have a place to stay while in town. in particular, the purple martin population nests almost exclusively in human-supplied homes. “Humans over the course of several hundred years have trained the birds not to nest in natural cavities like they used to,” Scout said, which is why the manmade houses are crucial to the native songbirds’ survival, and those who provide the homes can often count on the birds’ arrival like clockwork each year. “The first ones I noticed this year came in the last Thursday in March,” said Jim Scout of Bloomfield, a volunteer naturalist who has been maintaining the martin colonies at Bernheim Forest for about three years. The birds began arriving in the area last month, returning from their winter in Brazil. As the sun began to set Wednesday afternoon, a large flock of purple martins could be seen swooping down to catch insects before settling back into their pre-built colonies.
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