Purple Martin Banding
Thanks to the Delaware Nature Society, I was able to spend a morning in the field a couple weeks ago learning about bird banding and purple martins. The experts let me take pictures and help out.
These are the purple martin houses. The set of houses on the left is in the process of being lowered to the ground so we can access them.
The circular cap on the side twists off so humans can check on the nests. Individual houses are removable so we can bring them over to the bird banding table.
We remove nestlings one at a time, and return them all once we're done.
Since we're taking the birds out of the nest, it's a good opportunity to check on their physical condition.
Looking for parasites is an important part of the checkup.
Here's one of the martins that was ready for an identification band.
Once the birds are all done, they go back in the nest.
We checked on but didn't disturb these recently hatched martins (and one egg).
Learn more: Delaware Nature Society’s Bird Banding Project
