The Heart of Purple Martins

The Heart of Purple Martins
Shared by Heather Gallagher
Naturalist
heather.gallagher@nashville.gov
Photos courtesy Graham Gerdeman

As you have heard by now,  it has been a banner bird year at the Nature Center. The bluebirds, barn swallows and other insect eaters are visible and plentiful, especially if you choose to view them from the comfort of a rocking chair on the back porch.

And the martins-oh the purple martins! I have documented a minimum of 11 pairs and over 40 young at our site. But let's back up.

As a federally-licensed bird bander, I check our gourds weekly beginning in mid-May, each one yielding more nests, then more eggs, then more young.

Gourd with 6 beautiful eggs.

• By May 27, I counted 32 eggs in 11 gourds. 
• By June 2, there were 46 eggs. 
• The next week eggs had begun to hatch, and I counted 29 young.  

Babies, probably around 2 days old.

Young martins display no feathers. They are all about food, and have large beaks to show for it. As they age, feathers will begin to develop in the form of pins that serve as protection for the feathers.  

Our study at the Nature Center is two-fold: we participate in the Purple Martin Conservation Association's Monitoring Project as well as the Purple Martin Banding Project through the BIRD program. Documentation of nests, eggs and young is reported to PMCA yearly, while the BIRD program info is submitted to the USGS Bird Banding Laboratory in Maryland. 

The emergence of pin feathers is an indication that the birds are at the age to be banded, around 16-20 days. Believe it or not, the band will not fit correctly until the baby martin's leg is SMALL enough for it. 

Due to the close proximity of the nests, I decided on one date to band all babies, choosing the date that babies would be in that 16-20 day old window. The gourd rack was lowered, and staff removed babies one nest at a time.

Babies ready to be banded!

 As Master Bander Laura Cook, our BIRD program coordinator, recorded band numbers, I banded each baby.

Pliers are specially adapted to securely and safely close bands.

The band can turn comfortably, just like my wedding band!

After applying bands to the left leg, Master Bird Bander Sandy Bivens returned nestlings to their proper gourds. When all birds are banded, we hoisted the gourd rack back into position, and the adults returned with food in less than a minute. 

This week has been extra interesting around the martin gourds, as a hawk has been checking out the fledglings taking their first flight. 

Hawks are one of the many predators that threaten martins.

Our martins will leave soon, gathering at a roost before heading to Central and South America. Yes--they leave Tennessee over the winter, returning next March to begin again.

Now the roost is most curious: in Nashville, Purple Martins will gather by the thousands--maybe even hundreds of thousands--in downtown Nashville around the river. So when my husband shared that Heart would be playing at Ascend last August, I jumped at the chance.

And I was rewarded! While everyone was jamming to Ann and Nancy Wilson, I was looking skyward, amazed at these incredible birds as they spiraled above the Cumberland. There must have been 30,000 martins!

Purple Martins have definitely stolen my Heart!