Purple Martins Breeding at Eastern Neck Island
In September, 2023, volunteers from the Friends of Eastern Neck (FOEN) put up 12 “luxury apartments” (plastic gourds) in hopes of attracting Purple Martins. Martins are the largest swallow species in the U.S. Their close relationship with humans began when Native Americans observed that martins aggressively chased away predatory birds and insects, helping to protect drying meats, hides, and crops. Native Americans also likely enjoyed the martins’ beautiful gurgling songs and acrobatic flight manevuers. They hung gourds to encourage martins to nest in their camps. Today martins seem to associate humans with safety, and nest almost exclusively in human-supplied housing
After building our “martin hotel,” we waited patiently for the martins to come. As is typical, there was no observed martin activity the first summer (2024). In 2025 we observed a small group of martins resting on the perches, but they seemed to be only “window shopping.” In 2026 we were delighted to see two swallow couples entering the gourds; a sure sign of interest in nesting.
Purple Martins are extremely tolerant of having people nearby, and will let us to look in their gourds to monitor activity. The gourd complex FOEN put up has a winch system that allows us to lower the gourds for observation, which we try to do every week or two during active breeding. This year, we did our first check of the gourds in late May and were delighted to find a martin nest with one tiny white egg.
Martins build a cup-shaped nest using pine needles, grasses and other soft vegetation. The final step is to line the nest with green leaves. This provides some protection against harmful insects and helps regulate nest temperature. Martins lay eggs over several days, and on 6/5 the family had grown to 5 eggs.
Purple Martin Nest with Eggs
On 6/15 we checked again and were delighted to find a second five-egg nest in another one of the gourds. A third gourd was also occupied, but this one contained a Tree Swallow nest. Tree Swallows line their nests with feathers. Although Tree Swallows sometimes chase Purple Martins away, we are hopeful that the new neighbors will get along
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Tree Swallow Nest Lined with Feathers
When we conducted our third observation on 6/24 we saw that chicks had successfully emerged from their eggs in one of the martin nests and the Tree Swallow nest.
Purple Martin Chicks
We are very excited to finally have some success with Purple Martins. They typically return to the same gourd each year so we should be set. Also, the word will get out that Eastern Neck Island has great martin housing, and we should have more families moving in next year.
