A Purple Martin Nest Story: 2023 Nestcam

Watch as a nest of Purple Martins at the Purple Martin Conservation Association headquarters in Erie, PA progresses from eggs to fledglings.
Our 2023 nestcam family enjoyed a successful breeding season after a rocky start in which most of our oldest resident breeding adults died of cold/starvation during an early spring winter storm. Luckily the nestcam parents arrived after the threat of cold weather had passed and set to work raising a brood of 6 nestlings despite the constant threat of aerial predators.
The parents, four year old banded male #Z567 (nicknamed "Zip" after the zip tie that he brought to the nest) and his mate (nicknamed "Helen" after the character Elastigirl from 'The Incredibles' due to the rubber band she brought to the nest) successfully raised six nestlings to fledging and are all on their way to overwinter in the Brazilian Amazon. We hope to see them return in 2024!
East of the Rocky Mountains, Purple Martins 100% rely on humans to provide nesting habitat. Learn more about Purple Martins and why they need our help at www.purplemartin.org
This stream made possible thanks to a grant from the Tom Ridge Environmental Center Founation
Soundtrack used in order of appearance:
Ukulele Beach, Doug Maxwell
Toy Piano, Wayne Jones
Danger Snow, Dan Henig
Watercolor Lilies, Aaron Kenny
Glory Be, Patrick Patrikios

[@kayleer]

Thank you so much to PMCA for giving us the opportunity to see into the lives of purple martins once again. Thank you to Joe & all of the staff for putting in so much hard work to give us the best viewing experience. Thank you to everyone who donated, chatted, supported the stream in any way. It was an honor to get to know you all and build a connection with so many amazing, bird-loving individuals. A special thank you to Sarah - thank you for being my partner through all of this. For always having patience as I asked a million questions, for giving me so much great information and spending endless hours taking notes, chatting and providing viewers with endless amounts of knowledge. I think we made a great team. See you all in 2024!!!💜

[@Jen-ge6rl]

Till next year..take care Kaylee 💜

[@Fred100089]

@Kaylee, you and @Sarah made me smile and glad to be part of this community. Thank you for operating with genuineness and kindness. Thank you PMCA for bringing us into this world!

[@Monix139]

Thank you @Kaylee, you are great.

[@woongjohn]

I can't wait to watch this. I will miss watching stream online until next year

[@TheJedi25]

Helen and Zip were wonderful parents! Hope this family have a safe trip and a nice wintering season. Thank you for the amazing video, PMCA!

[@ih82r8]

I can't help but tear up at the end of every nesting period. I am so glad this nest was successful and I hope they all have a safe and healthy flight to the rainforest. Thank you PMCA for the wonderful nestcam!

[@Jen-ge6rl]

This is going to get emotional 💙😫🥺

[@ravenbone3028]

It's like they're smiling at the camera when they look directly at it and pant. So cute!

[@friendsofricelakenationalw7719]

This was awesome to watch! Thank you for sharing!

[@Abuelo9]

Thank you PMC, thank you superSarah!

[@Ultima742]

Excellent! I am already looking forward to next season and the return of our beloved Purple Martins❤

[@julianasilva5838]

These eyes, the little babies were cuties :)

[@squallloire]

Another magical year, thanks guys!

[@KYPurpleMartin]

Awesome collection of the entire nesting season! Great work from Joe and the PMCA staff! Thanks for all you do for Purple Martins and the people that love them!

[@dany12168]

I missed out on the live stream this year 😢 But am happy to see that this summer Helen and Zip had this beautiful brood 🥹 Good luck! 🍀 Until next year… 👋

[@Jen-ge6rl]

Beautiful recap Thank you PMC!!! 🐤🐥🐦💙

[@ici_coop]

This is so awesome!! Thanks for all that you’re doing to preserve, protect and educate about Purple Martins. Next time it would be great if it could slow down the fun facts as a few went by too fast to read or cut each other off so couldn’t read at all. Thank you 💜

[@PurpleMartinConservation]

Thanks for the feedback! Glad you enjoyed the video!

[@tarmon768]

Great video! Amazing Mom opening the egg!

[@dsonyay]

Beautiful!

[@Fred100089]

I’m ready!

[@Monix139]

This is so beautiful. I'm sorry that I missed it with the live chat, but thank you everybody. I hope @sue is better, thank you @Sarah, @Beaz, @PurpleMartinConservationAssociation, thank you everybody. The best for everyone ,for the birdies and all. ☺️ 😢🙏☺️🐦

[@sheilab155]

Great video

[@jdslott3505]

Awesome video! Great summertime life cycle, from PM nesting to fledging, and even some predator protection - way cool. Love the PM facts running on the side. What cameras do you use? I can see what my next PM project is going to be ... LOL 😎

[@PurpleMartinConservation]

We've used modified Reolink brand security cameras in the past that we rig to the access cap of the gourd. We will be testing out a different brand this year, and we've seen other hosts have success using other brands of wireless home security cameras. Let us know if you have any other questions!

[@yakakiyakaki]

Nice❤

[@kevinsnyder8448]

I sure wish I could help but over 40 years ago the starlings took over the nest box's then 10 years ago it fell down I havnt seen a Martin rounds these parts or a cedar waxing for 25 + yes. Very sad environment round these parts

[@PurpleMartinConservation]

We hear you! Invasive species like European Starlings are a common problem people deal with when trying to host Purple Martins. We have a lot of resources on our website if you're ever interested in learning more about what you can do to help protect the martins in your area (even if they're few and far between) www.purplemartin.org/purple-martins/competitors/64/non-native/

[@lyric8529]

😟🥺 oh my! I had to stop the video, is that another bird coming into the nest to harm the babies?! And was that a predatory bird on top at one point before that?! 😭 I can't finish this. But thank you for the beginning peaceful parts. 😔

[@PurpleMartinConservation]

Yes, sometimes subadult males will try to take over an existing nest - but the female was feisty and fought off many troublemakers! And yes, there was footage in this video of a hawk colliding with the gourd rack! It appears the hawk was going after one of our Purple Martin decoys (which is exactly why we put them out there!) - so the real martins were able to get away. It can be an emotional rollercoaster for sure, but seeing the babies fledge at the end of the season is always rewarding!

[@benniejacobs9246]

'Promo sm' 🤷

[@theyinkler1866]

What’s the best kind of camera to film like this? Very cool to watch, thanks for the great content

[@PurpleMartinConservation]

We've used modified Reolink brand security cameras in the past that we rig to the access cap of the gourd. We will be testing out a different brand this year, and we've seen other hosts have success using other brands of wireless home security cameras. Let us know if you have any other questions!