[TN-Bird] Richmond (Virginia) purple martin festival

From: Carole Gobert <cpgobert@xxxxxxxxxxx>
To: Tennessee Bird List <tn-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Thu, 2 Aug 2012 12:21:13 -0400
With all the posts about martin roosts lately, I thought birders might be 
interested in this article about one in downtown Richmond, Virginia, sent to me 
by a friend.  It's great that instead of complaining about the mess and trying 
to drive them away, Richmond has chosen to hold a festival for them.Carole 
Gobert, Knoxville
Purple Martins Flock to Va. for Annual Summer Stay


By STEVE SZKOTAK Associated Press
RICHMOND, Va. August 2, 2012 (AP)

Virginia is for lovers — and thousands of purple martins.

They begin flitting into town in early June, and by midsummer the
purple martins that roost in a one-block section of downtown Richmond
are so thick, their synchronized mass movements can be seen on weather
radar.

Once scorned for their mess, the purple martins that check in each
night in a row of pear trees are now celebrated with their own
festival. "Gone to the Birds," now in its fifth year, will be held
Saturday as bartenders serve up "Purple Martinis," restaurants offer
discounts and guides take birders on tours of this urban aviary.

It's a mystery why the blackish-purple birds, the largest of the
swallow family in North America, selected a row of 15 Bradford pear
trees to spend their last six summers in a crowded entertainment
district known for its restaurants, clubs and former tobacco
warehouses converted into lofts.

Most people don't care and just enjoy the show, which includes raptors
sweeping down from high-rises to snatch a purple martin in flight.
There are plenty to go around: organizers said they counted 27,000
birds at the 2011 festival; 14,000 have been counted this year.

The most spectacular show is at dusk when the birds circle the skies,
tightening into a ball to return to their roost in waves.

"Who would think standing around watching birds would be something
cool to do?" said Jon Baliles, who helped organize the first festival
with his brother-in-law.
Purple Martin Festival .JPEG
AP
Retired teacher and amateur birder, Adolph... View Full Caption

"We were like, wow, it's totally surreal, right in the middle of the
city," Baliles said. "I'm no bird aficionado but that remains one of
the coolest things I've ever seen in Richmond."

The festival is supposed to help businesses in a section of downtown
called Shockoe Bottom, once the center of Richmond's slave-trading
commerce. The low-lying area is still recovering from floods brought
by Hurricane Gaston in 2004.

Purple martins, like other migratory birds, often roost in a staging
area before they begin their flight south, which for the martins is
South America. They gorge on beetles, increasing their body weight by
30 to 60 percent, to fuel their 5,000-mile journey.

"They're associated with eating insects, so people love having them
around, and they're purple," said Mary Elfner with the Virginia
Audubon.

But why pit stop in Richmond?

Louis Verner, a biologist with the Virginia Department of Game and
Inland Fisheries, said the dense leaf cover and twig structure can
support thousands of birds in one tree and the James River is less
than a half mile away.

Mike Wilson, a biologist with the Center for Conservation Biology,
said Richmond is not the only urban setting for the birds.

"What these birds do is they're relying on these routes for safety in
numbers," he said. Martins are gregarious, he said, and they form big
flocks.

Dilnesaw Bitew wasn't a fan of the birds at first because of the mess
they left on the cars at his Addis Ethiopian Restaurant. Now he offers
20 percent discounts while the birds are in town.

"Now I like them. It's fun to watch them in the evening," he said.

Adolph White, a retired teacher and amateur birder, is out every
morning to wash down the sidewalk that runs along the row of pear
trees. He was there Wednesday with his grandson.

"It's covered up pretty bad," White said of the layer of droppings.

His night job is much better. He's a guide several nights a week for
people who want to see the purple martins return at dusk to their pear
trees.

"They are amazed," he said.

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Steve Szkotak can be reached on Twitter at https://twitter.com/sszkotakap

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[TN-Bird] Richmond (Virginia) purple martin festival

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