Purple Martin Nest Boxes at Budd Inlet
Olympia, WA
July 25, 2018
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| A pair of juvenile Purple Martins signalling emphatically that they are hungry and ready to be fed |
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| Adult male Purple Martin brings a large darner dragonfly to feed its young |
Purple Martins are the largest swallow in North America. In the Olympia area, they can be found in Spring and Summer at nest boxes on Budd Inlet near the Children's Museum and at Boston Harbor Marina. By mid-July, young Martins are beginning to mature; you can see them poking their heads out curiously. Their eyes scan the horizon, looking for an adult with a dragonfly or other morsel. The adults swoop in quickly, often taking less than 5 seconds to feed the growing brood before taking off again.
Male Purple Martins are a luxuriously vivid violet-blue. Females are more understated with lighter blue and dusky gray markings.
Purple martins winter in South America. The journey can be
as long as 5000 miles each way, each year! Martins follow at least three
different paths as they return each spring. Some move through Mexico on their
way to the West Coast. Others cross the Gulf of Mexico, leaving from the
Yucatan Peninsula or take a route through the Caribbean islands to arrive in
Florida.
Fall migration can start as early as mid-July in some parts
of the country. During the fall migration flocks of thousands of martins can
form for the long trip south.
During the winter season these birds are apparently
concentrated chiefly in the Amazon Valley of Brazil (Manaqueri, Barra do Rio
Negro, and Itaituba) but are found in other parts of South America.
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| Two female Purple Martins perch outside a nest box while a chick looks on, anxious for its next meal |
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| Several adult Purple Martins perch near nest boxes at Olympia's Budd Inlet |
