Purple Martin - Ross Feldner Purple Martins are the largest member of the swallow family. These aerial acrobats feed on insects caught on the wing and they also get their water the same way, by scooping it up in their lower bill in flight. People building martin houses was once so common that John James Audubon chose his lodgings based on their martin houses. “Almost every country tavern has a martin box on the upper part of its sign-board; and I have observed that the handsomer the box, the better does the inn generally prove to be.” They are known for their speed, agility, and a characteristic mix of rapid, flapping, and gliding flight patterns. When approaching their nesting site, they will dive from the sky at great speeds with their wings tucked, just like the peregrine falcon does when hunting smaller birds. Purple martins suffered a severe population crash in the 20th century widely linked to the release and spread of European starlings in North America. | |
