Backyard & Woodland Songbirds
Purple Martin
Progne subis
North America's largest swallow. In the East, it nests almost entirely in houses and gourds that people put up for it.
How to identify it
- Male: glossy dark blue-purple all over
- Female and young: duller, with a gray throat and pale belly
- Broad, pointed wings and slightly forked tail
- Rich, gurgling, chirping song
SizeBetween a Song Sparrow and an American Robin
Carolina Chickadee4 in
Song Sparrow6 in
Purple Martin8 in
American Robin10 in
6 inAverage length, bill to tail
Details
- Size
- 7.5–8 in long; wingspan 15–16 in
- Weight
- 1.6–2.1 oz
- Habitat
- Open areas near water, especially where martin houses are provided
- When to see it
- Summer across the East (February–September); winters in South America
- Diet
- Flying insects such as dragonflies, flies and beetles
Range in the United States
Life history
Food
Catches flying insects high in the air, such as dragonflies, beetles and flies.
Nesting
In the East, almost entirely in multi-room martin houses and gourds put up by people.
- Clutch
- 3–6 eggs
- Incubation
- 15–18 days
- Young
- Fledge at about 4 weeks
- Broods
- 1 per year
Behavior
Nests in colonies and gathers in huge roosts before fall migration.
Conservation
Declined in some areas; depends heavily on people providing housing.
Cool facts
- Native Americans hung hollow gourds for martins long before Europeans arrived.
- Late-summer roosts can contain tens of thousands of martins and show up on weather radar.
- It drinks by skimming the water's surface in flight.
Songs & calls
▶Bird sounds video coming soon
Watch the Purple Martin
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