Event Details
Two members of Blackbrook Audubon will present Social Songbird: The Purple Martin in a free program at the Perry Public Library. Registration is required.
Purple Martins are the largest member of the swallow family. After spending winters in the Amazon, they return to North America to breed in the summer. Martins in the eastern U.S. are entirely dependent on humans to provide suitable shelter for breeding success. Tonight's speakers, Alison Huey and Ann Bugeda, monitor Purple Martin colonies at Chagrin River Park, Osborne Park, Mentor Lagoons, Walsh Park and Lake Erie Bluffs. These birds also nest at Holden Arboretum and Penitentiary Glen in Kirtland. Trained volunteers band nestlings and some adults at these colonies so that data gained can help scientists understand Purple Martin migration, lifespan, reproductive success and their population status. Learn about the local colony successes, the current threats to these aerial insectivores and what you can do to help Purple Martins. Banding is done under federal permits from the US Geological Survey and data is submitted to the Bird Banding Laboratory.
Photo: Purple Martin nestlings