Watching, Attracting and Feeding Birds in New York
with Sam Crowe

Where have my Purple Martins gone?

Nothing sinister is afoot. Purple Martins leave their nesting locations in mid-summer in preparation for their southward migration.

Purple Martins are an early migrant, arriving in the southern United States in February (with the possibility of a scout or two arriving in January). They spread across much of the eastern half of the United States and into southern Canada.

A separate population is located along the western coast of the United States and in spotty locations in other western states.

By mid-summer they have completed nesting and begin leaving their apartment houses and gourds in preparation for migration to their winter homes in South America.  In the process, the martins form large, communal roosts where they sleep at night prior to and during migration.

Purple Martin roosts are often associated with bodies of water.  Reed beds or dry islands with low, thick brush are preferred locations.  These remote sites may provide protection from predators. Roosts may also be found in urban and suburban settings, even in the trees in the parking lot of a mall. Martins also roost on man-made structures, particularly bridges over water and on pipes and girders of petroleum refineries.  Winter roosts in South America usually occur in urban settings, often in small parks. The roosts can be quite large, sometimes numbering in the hundreds of thousands of birds.

It is quite a remarkable site to see thousands of Purple Martins returning to their roost each evening. They arrive just before sunset, in a large, boiling mass of birds. Check the Purple Martin Conservation Association web site for locations of known roosts. They tend to be in the same location year after year.