KINDERSLEY — Joe Kleinsasser of Springfield Farms near Kindersley, Sask., has a passion for purple martins.
He put out the welcome mat for the birds in 2017 and attracted four pair. However, it was too late in the season for them to nest.
That changed in 2018 when seven pair arrived, resulting in 21 young. The numbers then increased to 24 pair and 70 young in 2019, 41 pair and 144 young in 2020, 53 pair and 165 young in 2021 and 61 pair and 227 young this year.
Kleinsasser attracted the birds by erecting five purple martin houses, one with six rooms, one with 36 rooms and three with 16 rooms, for a total of 90 rooms.
He said purple martins are beautiful birds to watch and listen to.
“You know spring is here when you hear the first call of a purple martin, usually a scout,” he said in an email.
The birds arrive in the last week of April and start laying eggs the first week in June. It takes four weeks for the eggs to hatch.
The birds average four to five eggs, although some have seven. The babies start fledging at four weeks and parents feed them in the air.
Kleinsasser said purple martins begin leaving his farm around Aug. 20 and are usually all gone by Sept. 10.
They fly east to the Atlantic Ocean and then south to Florida and Brazil for the winter.
He said some will migrate 4,800 to 8,000 kilometres.
“Amazing birds,” he said.
“They depend on humans for housing and (their) only source of food is insects.”
