[Tweeters] Purple Martins, and Purple Martin Conservation Day

[Elaine Chuang via Tweeters]

Tweet, tweet, and regards to all,  Many of you in the Seattle area will have seen in the Seattle Times, July 28, 2024 the excellent article by Kate Perez on Purple Martins in our region, and the mounting challenges they face.  Here’s the link: https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/birds-that-migrate-from-brazil-to-seattle-each-summer-face-new-threat/

Some of us lucky enough to live at this northern portion of the Purple Martin's range look forward annually to enjoying their return from Brazil.  What joy to hear those gorgeous bubbly sounds, observe them in flight and appreciate stages of nesting as they raise young in communal settings, now almost entirely in human-made structures.

We have Kim Stark, Jean Power, Carl Bevis, Kris Baker and WDFW’s Chris Anderson to thank for the vast majority of maintenance of PUMA homes and strategic planning on their behalf.  Ten years ago this group created a distinctly informative poster on the Purple Martins in King County and conservation efforts  07POSTER-2014-04-30-Stark-Purple-Martins-King-County-shorelines  Most of it is still applicable - much work remains to be done.

Recently, August 10 was officially designated as Purple Martin Conservation Day, thanks to efforts put forth by the Purple Martin Conservation Association and allies!  Stay tuned for more ways to help our  Martins!

Elaine Chuang
elc at uw dot edu