Purple Martin Conservation Program

For the past two years, GHB volunteers have built and installed purple martin boxes along the perimeter of Gig Harbor bay. Last summer, a few remaining natural nesting sites and seven boxes helped increased their numbers to well over two dozen birds. The GHB-built boxes are designed to a West Coast standard—a design put out by the BC Purple Martin Stewardship and Recovery Program.

Purple martins are the largest swallows in North America. The West Coast species (Progne subis arboricola) typically start arriving in the Puget Sound area from their wintering grounds in South America in mid-to-late April. They remain in the Puget Sound breeding area until late August to early September. They are sleek flyers and wonderful songsters who enhance the harbor experience in the summer for boaters, residents and visitors.

These birds have been in decline due to loss of nesting cavities in old wooden pilings and competition from non-native birds such as European starlings. The birds are now almost completely dependent on human-provided nest boxes.

GHB volunteers John Voigt, Ron Moblo, Steve Ekberg and John McMillan built eight more boxes that were installed in early April so as to be in place for the birds’ arrival in May. Another GHB volunteer, Jaime Storkman, assisted with the installation process. The boxes (pictured above) are made from weather-resistant cedar. For more information about the BC Purple Martin Stewardship and Recovery Program, visit the Georgia Basin Ecological Assessment & Restoration Society website.

You can support this program by making a donation today! Please specify that you would like your gift to go toward the Purple Martin Conservation Program.