The social Purple Martins

We have the “Red” house and the “Gourd Tower” erected on the south fence of my office patio yard. The Gourd Tower is new this year. Last year was our first attempt at attracting Purple Martins when we put up the Red House. It was a “if you build it they will come,” type experience. A couple days after we erected the Red House in 2019, Purple Martins began to settle into it.

This year, the flock seems larger. While most of the birds are building nests in the Red House, some are attracted to the Gourds, and I have seen a couple of birds entering the gourds.