It was a busy week here at the PMCA as we banded nearly 300 nestlings for our long-term banding research. Every Purple Martin nestling at the PMCA is banded after they reach eleven days old. They are fitted with 2 bands; a silver federal band on the left leg and a purple auxiliary band on the right leg. While the young are removed from the nest for banding, we also will do a nest change to reduce nest dwelling parasites.The nest is discarded and replaced with fresh, dried pine straw.
We are excited to share that the three eggs on the Purple Martin live NestCam have hatched! Two young hatched early on July 1st with the 3rd one following later that afternoon. Wrigley and John are great parents. They both feed the young all day and stay together in the gourd at night.
Tune in with us to watch them grow! Purple Martin NestCam 2018
Mercedes
PMCA Field Biologist