Great Lakes Center

Home

First purple martin fledglings

1/7

In 2018, we installed a purple martin nesting colony at the Field Station as part of the Osprey Nesting Platform and Habitat Enhancement Project. For the first time this spring, we had a pair of purple martins in the nesting gourds.

Twelve round bird houses in a ring around a pole, against a clear sky. There are two dark-colored birds perched in front of one of the bird houses. There is a decoy bird on the structure near them.

2/7

View through a spotting scope of a sub-adult purple martin perched on the outside of a nesting gourd.

A picture taken through a telescope of a brown speckled bird perched outside a plastic nest structure.

3/7

Two purple martin eggs. Note the nest is lined with green leaves, which are the final nest addition before eggs are laid.

Two small eggs rest in a nest made of twigs, dried leaves, feathers, and fresh green leaves. The nest is inside a plastic structure.

4/7

3-day old nestlings.

Two small chicks nestle against each other in a nest made of twigs, dried leaves, feathers, and drying green leaves. The nest is inside a plastic structure. The baby birds don't have any feathers yet.

5/7

10-day old nestlings.

Two chicks nestle against each other in a nest made of twigs and dried leaves. The nest is inside a plastic structure. The baby birds have dark downy feathers and pin feathers on their wings and tail.

6/7

17-day old nestlings.

Two chicks nestle against each other in a nest made of twigs and dried leaves. The nest is inside a plastic structure. The baby birds have have most of their feathers but are still a bit downy.

7/7

27-day old nestlings, almost ready to fledge.

Two chicks nestle against each other in a nest made of twigs and dried leaves. The nest is inside a plastic structure. The baby birds almost look like adult birds.

Great Lakes Center

Buffalo State • 1300 Elmwood Ave • Science and Mathematics Complex 319
Buffalo, NY 14222 • Phone: (716) 878-4329 • Fax: (716) 878-6644

greatlakes@buffalostate.edu

This page may contain some content saved in PDF format. To view these files, download Adobe Acrobat Reader free. If you are having trouble reading a document, request an accessible copy of the PDF or Word Document.