Took a trip to a bunch of Michigan Purple Martin colonies on Saturday. Brought some photos back from some of the backyards I visited.
Purple Martin pics
She isn't nearly as purple as he is
Dragonflies are a favorite.
Nice pics Mark!
Nice , I wish that I could get them here .
There is a population of Purple Martins in Arizona. Actually, two subspecies exist near you. The desert species breeds primarily in large saguaro cactus and the other nests in old woodpecker holes in coniferous forests. Partners in Flight are working on some projects there:
Arizona 1) Pine populations (arboricola subspecies): Latta et al. 1999
Maintain and create tall (150-200 ft) snags in forest openings and near water. Increase nest site availability.
Use prescribed fire and mechanical thinning to reduce tree density, being careful to protect snags from burning/cutting. Improve habitat quality.
2) Sonoran desert populations (hesperia subspecies):
Encourage landowners/managers to maintain large saguaros and to increase saguaro recruitment success.
Increase and ensure long-term availability of nest sites.
Source:
http://www.fs.fed.us/r2/projects/scp/assessments/purplemartin.pdf
More on a couple of their projects in Arizona:
The following record met your search criteria:
This Record Number is: 911
Needs Information:
Title: Purple Martin nesting ecology in the Southwest deserts and coniferous forests
Pre-Defined Keywords: life history,habitat requirements,non-passerine landbirds,coniferous forests,desert
User-Defined Keywords: nest boxes, coloniality, artificial structures,
Species Focus: Purple Martin
Bird Conservation Plan: Arizona
Description: Determine Purple Martin nest structure needs, and further explore their use of artificial structures. Will Purple Martins in Arizona use a vertical-nesting pole with multiple nesting holes rather than a typical Martin House? Do they use artificial nesting structures? does use of houses vary by subspecies or habitat used, desert or conifer forest?
Location Information:
Nation: United States
Region: West Region
Physiographic Area:
State/Province: AZ
Contact Information:
Name: Carol Beardmore
Affiliation: USFWS Sonoran Joint Venture Science Coordinator
Address1: 2321 W. Royal Palm Rd., Suite 103
Address2:
City: Phoenix State: AZ Zip: 85021
Phone: 602-242-0524 X248 Fax: 602-242-2513
Email: Carol_Beardmore@fws.gov
http://www.partnersinflight.org/pifneeds/pifsearchpub.cfm
Also:
The following record met your search criteria:
This Record Number is: 995
Needs Information:
Title: Distribution and habitat requirements of the 2 Purple Martin subspecies in the southwest.
Pre-Defined Keywords: habitat requirements,population inventory,effects of plant composition/age/structure,competition,coniferous forests,desert
User-Defined Keywords: subspecies,
Species Focus: Purple Martin
Bird Conservation Plan: Arizona
Description: Determin the distribution and habitat requirements of Purple Martins in the desert southwest (Progne subis hesperus) and coniferous forests (P. s. arboricola)of the southwest.
Location Information:
Nation: United States
Region: West Region
Physiographic Area:
State/Province: AZ
Contact Information:
Name: Carol Beardmore
Affiliation: USFWS Sonoran Joint Venture Science Coordinator
Address1: 2321 W. Royal Palm Rd., Suite 103
Address2:
City: Phoenix State: AZ Zip: 85021
Phone: 602-242-0524 X248 Fax: 602-242-2513
Email: Carol_Beardmore@fws.gov
I’m sure that either Partners in Flight or the Fish and Wildlife Service (or both) would love to have some help trying to work on Arizona Purple Martin projects. It looks like a lot could be done to attempt to get Martins to nest in artificial cavities. It’s a challenge to start a Martin colony in most of Michigan. It would be a harder task to try it in Arizona, but you would probably make the local press, not to mention articles in all of the major birding publications.
Just found this:
http://www.purplemartin.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=11856
Guess that they are around a bit more than I expected in Arizona.
I wanted to thank you for the info stelco , I had understood that there was a group of purple martin down by Tucson but that they only nested in tall saguaros . I had talked to someone at Arizona Game and Fish who thought that it would be futile to put up one of the purple martin towers with artifical nests . I have tried calling that Carol Beardmore for two days and she is apparently out of her office but i will keep trying . Thanks again for the info .
My pleasure. It was interesting reading for me, too.
It looks like you are in the coniferous zone. It's too late for nesting pairs this year, but I have some ideas that might transfer from here to there. A lot of our people are using a "chalet" type of individual houses on gourd racks. Your birds (either desert cactus or coniferous region) nest in individual nests separated by at least 100 yards. The coniferous breeding birds may accept closer quarters. I wonder if you could put individual chalet type of housing very close to trees, especially if you had a site with trees and could position the housing on the edge of the tree line, with open spaces exposed to the house opening. Water nearby would be a bonus, but I assume that's difficult to come by in Arizona. :)
I'm headed out of town fore a week, but if you get to speak with Carol, I'd be interested in what she thinks. If you are in desert area, with saguaro nearby, the housing option would have to change.
Mark