Lin Pawl considers herself a veteran landlord, but her clientele is not what you typically would think of as the usual “renters”. Yes, they have their own houses near hers so she can always keep a watchful eye on comings and goings, but she never interferes.
Her “guests” fly here and there because they are Purple Martins, a dainty songbird that graces Delaware from early spring until toward the middle of August so they will be packing up and headed toward their winter sanctuaries in Brazil soon.
Pawl has been more of a “Mother Hen” to Martins since 2008 when she bought her house off Old Landing Road in Rehoboth Beach. “A neighbor was moving out and I noticed they had put this aluminum bird house, which was on a pole on the curb, for the trash, she said. “I asked what it was, and they said it was a Purple Martin nesting house, but the Martins never came to nest. She inherited it and brought it to a place in Milton for repair. “I put the house up and waited for two years for them to choose my houses”, she added. “In April of the third year, my first pair decided to check out the house and made a nest for six new eggs”.
Purple Marlins are North America’s largest species of swallows. They winter in the rainforests of Brazil before making up to a 7,000-mile round trip migration north into the eastern United States and Canada. Martins are swift and skilled flyers: The birds eat, drink, and even bathe on the wing. The species is part of a group of birds known as aerial insectivores—birds that feed on airborne insects.
Pawl is always on the lookout for fellow landlords and for a good reason. She says the birds are 100% reliant on humans to provide housing due to deforestation. As a result, the Martins have developed a bond with humans. They allow nest checks on the birds’ eggs, so that it is possible to see how many have hatched and how many have fledged from the nest. “Adult birds do not mind if we do nest checks, even allowing us to handle the chicks without rejection,” she says.
Nationally, the Purple Martin population has declined by more than 24 percent over the last 55 years. That is 2.8 million birds lost. The declines can be partially attributed to habitat loss and competition with non-native, invasive species like the English House Sparrow and European Starling.
“Their challenges are distance travelled to mate, weather conditions that have worsened since recorded climate change, and predators like owls, hawks, crows, non-native birds and snakes,” says Pawl. “As this current generation of 50+ landlords decline with age and eventually die, so will the Martin population, who desperately rely on humans to provide houses and gourds.”
Pawl would like to engage young children and teens in learning about more about what she considers a special bird who selects our back yards to procreate. Without generational interest these beautiful purple birds will perish over the next 25 years. She has been known to host Purple Martin gatherings to educate the public about her “tenants”.
The Purple Martin Conservation Association is dedicated to ensuring their survival and the organization’s web site is loaded with useful information for those who have an interest.
By Mary Jo Tarallo, Resident Journalist
Mary Jo Tarallo spent much of her career in public relations with various non-profits and spent 40 years involved with the ski industry as a journalist, public relations director for a national trade association and as executive director of the Learn to Ski and Snowboard initiative. Prior to her ski industry involvement she worked for the Maryland International Center in Baltimore and United Way of Central Maryland. She won a Gold Award for TV programming for a United Way simulcast that starred Oprah Winfrey. She has been cited for her work by numerous organizations. Mary Jo grew up in Baltimore, attended the University of Maryland and Towson University, lived in Washington, DC for 21 years and has been a full time resident of Rehoboth Beach and Milton since May 2019.
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