On July 8 and 15 over 100 visitors attended the banding of NSC’s purple martins, Peter Huszcz, NSC’s “Purple Martin Man”, reported. He informed the Telltale that 261 nestlings were banded, up 30 from 2022. Peter built the first purple martin houses about 20 years ago, though they have gone through renovations, relocations and re-builds since then. The current “condos” contain 96 units, and each houses a pair of adults and up to seven offspring. Purple Martins breed in North America east of the Rockies, depend on humans and nest ONLY in man-made houses. They are migratory birds and in mid-August they make the long journey to the rain forest in Central Brazil. They arrive back from southern migration mid-April.
