Purple Martin Time
Mom feeding young
Well it’s about that time of the year when the Purple Martins decide to bunch together in preparation for their journey down south…..way down south to South America into Brazil. It wasn’t that long ago that the Martin’s were feeding their young ones at the Martin Roost at the Waterworks Ponds at Presque Isle State Park. If you go there now , you won’t find a single Martin around. They all seem to be spending time feeding and getting strong for their journey. You can view them bunching up at Beach 11 on the telephone wires in the evening….around 5-8PM every night. After that they travel to the two reed islands at the head of Presque Isle Bay to spend the night.. Some time in September, they will begin their travels south to Brazil. By then there will be thousands and thousands….enough to form a large cloud in the sky.
Male Purple Martin
Male Purple Martin
Female Purple Martin
So, above you have two pics of the Male Martin and one of the Female Martin. Of course the male is much better looking and very proud of himself while the female is shouting something at him. All of us guys can relate to that……………………………..have a good day.
Flight over the Cattail Island photo by Michele
Purple Martins gather at Beach 11 before roosting at the Cattail Islands. Photo by Toni
Sensational photo series! It’s sad to see them head south.
This is my first year with purple martins. I am in north west Indiana, when should I take down the house for the winter ? Haven’t seen any martins in weeks. Thanks
Mike
Hi Mike, thank you for your comment. I am not an expert on Purple Martins so I am going to direct you to the Purple Martin Conservation Association.
http://purplemartin.org/
This is a wonderful site where you will find all the information you need about Purple Martins along with pdf downloads of information for you to print out.
We will be interviewing them soon so please stop back.
Toni
Hi Mike, You can take the houses down anytime now. Once your birds fledge, you can leave the houses up while neighboring colonies bring any youngsters around. You can find a lot of info at the PMCA site as Toni said and also at PurpleMartins-R-Us.com. Feel free to check out my blog there also and ask any Purple Martin Questions you may have.