Fifty Birds of Town and City
Purple Martin (Progne subis)
Purple Martins breed throughout the United States and southern Canada, and down to
central Mexico. They winter in South America.
This is the largest (8 inches long) of the swallow tribe. It formerly built
its nest in cavities of trees and still does in wild districts, but having learned to live
close to humans, purple martins soon adopted domestic habits. The best way to have martins
around is to erect apartment houses for them at suitable nesting sites--and protect that
housing from use by other birds. The nest boxes should be about 15 feet from the
ground and made inaccessible to cats. A colony of purple martins makes great inroads upon
the insect population, as the birds not only feed upon insects but rear their young on the
same diet.
Visit our Yankee Gardener Bird Lover's Paradise for a comprehensive section of bird houses, feeders, bird books and resources.
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