Don Robinson, of Old Crow Woodcrafts, also my

brother-in-law and next door neighbor, built a

Purple Martin house, and put it up on a tall pole.

Native Americans hung up empty gourds for the

Purple Martin (Progne subis) before Europeans

arrived in North America. Purple Martins in

eastern North America now nest almost

exclusively in birdhouses and have done so for

over a century, but those in the West use

mostly natural cavities.

I shot this photo on 9 July 2007.

It’s typical of the activity around

the house when the birds are busy

feeding. The Purple Martin not only

gets all its food in flight, it gets all

its water that way too. It skims

the surface of the pond and scoops

up the water with its lower bill.

The males look jet black unless the light is

hitting them from just the right direction.

At our box, there are always many fewer

males than females. Actually, if one male

can chase all the others away, he will keep

all the females in his own “harem.”

6JUL07

6 JUL 07

The females, like this one, are

light bellied with grey mottled

necks.

Some people use the term "scout"

for the first returning Martins of

the season. In actuality, the first

arriving individuals are not checking

out the area to make sure it is safe

for the rest of the group. They are

the older martins returning to areas

where they nested before. The

earlier return of older individuals is

a common occurrence in a number

of species of migratory birds.