Scientific Name:   Progne subis

Length:   7.5-7.9 in (19-20 cm)

Weight:   1.6-2.1 oz (45-60 g)

Wingspan:   15.3-16.1 in (39-41 cm)

Nest:   Their nests in cavities, either natural or artificial. In many places, humans put up real or artificial hollow gourds, but sometimes in other structures like traffic lights, street lamps, dock pilings, or oil pumps. or houses for martins, especially in the east, where purple martins are almost entirely dependent on such structures.

Eggs:   4-5, sometimes 3-8. White. Incubation is by female, 15-18 days.

Feeding Behavior:   Purple martins are insectivores, primarily feed by hawking, a strategy of catching insects in the air during flight. The birds are agile hunters and eat a variety of winged insects. Rarely, they will come to the ground to eat insects. They usually fly relatively high, so, contrary to popular opinion, mosquitoes do not form a large part of their diet.

Young:   Both parents feed nestlings. Young leave nest about 26-31 days after hatching.

Range:   A long-distance migrant, most wintering in Amazon Basin. Returns very early in spring in the east, usually later in spring in the west. Purple martins' breeding range is throughout temperate North America. Their breeding habitat is open areas across eastern North America, and also some locations on the west coast from British Columbia to Mexico.

Brief Description:   Adult males are entirely black with a glossy steel blue sheen, the only swallow in North America with such coloration. Adult females are dark on top with some steel blue sheen, and lighter underparts. Adults have a slightly forked tail. Both male and female purple martins takes two years before they acquire full adult plumage.