GRAND HAVEN — The last pair of purple martins nesting in the gourds at Grand Haven State Park may have a tough time getting their young ready in time for the flight south to the Amazon rainforest.

Photo courtesy of Shawn Wyble The welcoming sign at the entrance to the Millers' farm. Photo courtesy of Shawn Wyble Now that's what I call a bird-friendly neighborhood! Mr. Miller's farm boasts over ...

My old aluminum purple martin house has supported generations of purple martin families — but not in the last few years. I’m not sure why the old house lost its appeal to the birds. The house was ...

We’ve been enjoying an unusually warm winter, but that doesn’t mean anything to the purple martins. They start showing up this time of year regardless of the severity of the winter. For them, it’s ...

Perry Vogel would be the "Purple Martin Man of Grand Forks" if such a title existed. Vogel, you see, is a purple martin landlord. The backyard of his south Grand Forks home hosts a colony that has ...

Wonder why your neighbor is hanging gourds up? Or why there appears to be an undulating donut on the weather radar? The answer to both is the purple martin. The largest swallow in North America, male ...

Even before daybreak, you can hear them singing their happy sounding songs from inside their swinging gourds. The purple martin song. It will soon be their season. They return every year from their ...

Every year, bird enthusiasts hang groups of plastic gourds for purple martins to nest in Erica Royer Look up during the summer in eastern or southeastern North America, and you may spot a purple ...