Purple Martin nesting sites - We need to see more of these

Purple martins are our largest swallow and have been declining in numbers because of the loss of habitat.  They are very finicky when it comes to selecting a nesting site.  They like snags (dead standing trees) in or very close to stagnant or slow moving fresh water.  They are also cavity nesters, meaning they want a hole to nest in.  

The lack of available nesting sites is due to a number of compounding factors.  First of all, we destroy wetlands by either draining them or covering them with fill.  Then we take down dead trees because think they are ugly or that they are of no use.  As if that wasn't enough, there are those species that would usurp available nesting sites, such as the house sparrows in the above photo, and render what little there is even rarer (that's our fault too because house sparrows and starlings are introduced species that came here from Europe).  

The availability of drones that fly and take pictures is also a nuisance as they risk scaring the birds off the nest or even colliding with them in the air.  Add to that cats, human activities in the area, and pesticides and you have an almost perfect storm of destruction for the purple martin, and many other species too.  

While walking the trails at Telford Lake in Leduc, Alberta, I discovered a number of purple martin nesting poles/houses that were recently installed.  They are about 40 feet off the ground which makes them hard for predators to reach and less likely to be occupied by other species.  The fact that they are set up for colonies helps the birds too as they tend to be gregarious.  And I was glad to see so many of them present; it seems to have been a successful initiative.

I photographed a nesting pair while hiking; the steep angle did not make for a great photo, but that is a small price to pay for the benefit of the birds.  You can see them in the image below.

A nesting pair of purple martins.

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