“In return, they are rewarded with a family-like bond with the birds who return to the same colony year after year like clockwork.” “The landlords provide critical shelter for the martins,” Siegrist said. Siegrist says the very survival of the species is due in large part to scores of dedicated conservationists who invest their time, money and hearts into maintaining housing for the martins. Human-provided nest boxes are the only thing keeping the species alive east of the Rocky Mountains.” “Over the majority of the Purple Martins’ range, they are unable to nest naturally any longer. “The decline seems to be the combination of a few factors: nesting habitat loss, competing invasive species, decreasing prey availability, and climate change,” said Siegrist. Once widespread in rural America, this species, that eats billions of flying insects annually, has been disappearing at an alarming rate, experiencing a loss of one-third of its population over the last 50 years. The annual migration is a testament to the martins' resilience as well as the unwavering dedication of thousands of ‘martin landlords’ who maintain multi-compartment nest 'condos' that are essential for the birds' survival. North America’s largest species of swallow, Purple Martins winter in the rainforests of Brazil before making up to a 7000-mile migration north into the eastern United States and Canada.
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