Purple Martin Conservation Initiative

10/12/2026

Just thinking about the Purple Martins and how we’ll begin prepping for the upcoming season. January will be here before you know it!

10/06/2026

I'd like to say THANK YOU to everyone supporting the Stamm's. The Purple T-Shirts have been selling and the proceeds will go to help the Stamm's legal expenses. To purchase a shirt, please visit this link: https://www.bonfire.com/purple-martin-support160/

This hearing, originally scheduled for September 23rd, has been moved to November 18th.

10/01/2026

We raising funds for two new projects. Please consider supporting our organization. Thank you!

https://pmcila.org/donate

09/28/2026

We’re excited to be a part of this great event!

09/24/2026

Everyone deserves the opportunity to connect with nature and enjoy the wonder of Purple Martins. Let’s celebrate inclusion and the many ways we communicate!

09/23/2026

Where do you think the bluebirds go? Most people assume south. Cornell Lab's All About Birds has eastern bluebirds as partial migrants: many northern birds do move, and plenty of mid-latitude and southern birds never leave the county they were raised in. The flock on your fence line in October may be the same birds you watched raise a brood in June.

What changes is the menu. Through the fall the diet swings from insects to fruit, and the birds go where the berries are. North Carolina's wildlife agency lists sumac, holly, dogwood and juniper among them. That is the argument for leaving the berried shrubs alone this month, and for cleaning last season's nest out of the box now, while nothing is living in it.

Then the box stops being a nursery. All About Birds notes that nest boxes are used year round for roosting, often by several birds at once. On the coldest nights of January they pile into one cavity and share the heat. The box you left standing is a bunkhouse.

One honest warning. House sparrows kill bluebirds inside boxes, so a sparrow-resistant box, or one you actually monitor, is the price of putting it up. Western and mountain bluebirds do the same things in their own ranges.

The month-by-month box plan is in the comments. 🐦

09/22/2026

This hearing, originally scheduled for September 23rd, has been moved to November 18th.

09/12/2026

We kicked off our Birding For Kids program yesterday at Frost Elementary School. The students were excited to learn about birds. They especially were happy to receive so many Update Magazines thanks to a donation from a South Carolina couple! Frost Falcons

09/11/2026

Today, we pause to remember the lives lost on September 11, 2001, honor the heroes who answered the call, and reflect on the strength and unity shown in the days that followed.

We will never forget. 🇺🇸