Male and female PUMA photo by Dee Renee Ericks
Article by Dee Renee Ericks
I would bet that a good number of you ride your bike or walk on the Olympic Discovery Trail near the mouth of Morse Creek where it empties gently into the Straits. Have you ever paused there to admire the stunning view and wonder about the nest boxes gracing a nearby pole? Have you heard the musical warble of the Purple Martins (PUMA) and observed their aerial grace when they soar nearby?
Purple Martin nest boxes as viewed from the Olympic Discovery Trail near the mouth of Morse Creek. Photo by Dee Renee Ericks
The Morse Creek Purple Martin nest boxes were installed in 2012 by the Olympic Peninsula Audubon Society (OPAS) PUMA team with the help and permission of the private landowner. OPAS monitors the boxes with the help of the property owners. The first PUMA arrived in 2013 and nesting began in 2014. During a recent OPAS visit to check on nesting success in August of 2022, the Purple Martin Team was delighted to find not one, but TWO banded birds among the nine PUMAs seen.
A female PUMA sporting a gold band on her left leg and a silver band on her right leg has been recognized for the last few years using the Morse Creek nest boxes. A spotting scope and a large telephoto camera lens were needed to capture the band numbers. This was no easy task! The gold band was relatively easy to read, however only a portion of the band was visible at a time. But birders are well known for their patience! As the bird flew and returned to perch, the band on the bird’s left leg rotated ever-so-slightly. Somewhat like putting puzzle pieces together, the different glimpses of the band finally revealed BC 041K!
Gold banded female PUMA with “BC” visible on band. Photo by Dow Lambert
A color band is an auxiliary band, which should always be accompanied by a silver aluminum “federal” band that is unique and required for bird banding activities in the Americas. This band is placed on the bird’s right leg, where the numbers are ever-so-small and can be challenging to capture. Collecting our observations, it was determined that the silver band read 2731/14041. The PUMA team was really curious to know the origins of these birds!
Information gleaned from our gold banded PUMA was submitted to British Columbia (BC) senior biologist, Bruce Cousens, of the Western Purple Martin Foundation. In his comprehensive reply, we discovered that our returning BC PUMA was originally banded at a small colony of 10 nest boxes and 1 cavity nest at the Royal Victoria Yacht Club in Victoria, BC., right across the Straits from us! She was banded in 2018 and is now 4 years old!
But, you are wondering, what about the second banded bird? This new female PUMA was adorned with a green band and designated WA X778 on her left leg. The green color band identified the study project and, of course, “WA” indicates she was banded in Washington. The silver band on her right leg was finally deciphered as a tiny 2671 on the top row and 00778 on the bottom row. The band also contained the words OPEN and ABRE (“open” in Spanish) on either side of the crimp, where the inside provides contact information in the event a deceased bird is found. That is a ton of information placed on a tiny band!
Green banded female PUMA with the numbers 778 visible. Photo by Dee Renee Ericks
Green banded female PUMA with silver “federal” band on opposite leg. Photo by Dow Lambert
OPAS contacted Washington bird banders and learned that our green banded PUMA was banded at Julia Butler Hansen NWR along the Columbia River in July of 2019, at the age of 21 days. She is now three years old.
It is fascinating to learn that “our” western Purple Martins (progne subis) breed along the west coast from California to British Columbia and migrate south into southeastern Brazil each winter. Their lengthy migration encounters many survival hazards! Bird banding projects aid researchers in determining where populations travel, and their genetic diversity. (Bird banding is a federally regulated process according to the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, 50 CFR 21. This requires a federal bird banding permit, as well as permits from states and provinces to legally band any migratory bird.)
An example of the variety of bird bands. Photo by Camilla Cerea/Audubon
Purple Martins are the largest swallow in North America, and the western PUMAs are genetically distinct from their eastern cousins (progne subis subis). In the mid-1980s, our Pacific Northwest Purple Martin population numbers plummeted, it is believed, due to habitat loss and competition for nesting cavities with earlier nesting songbirds. Since then, special programs established human-built nesting cavities for the PUMA, near to or over water. These sites have aided the slow recovery of the species. Western Purple Martins are now listed as “vulnerable” in British Columbia, and a “species of concern” in the United States.
The next time you travel past the PUMA nest boxes at Morse Creek, take a moment to stop and marvel at these new world travelers! They are usually here annually from late April until early September and will be leaving soon for southern climes.
A gentle reminder: Please respect Private Property and remain on the Olympic Discovery Trail.