Western Purple Martin Foundation

The Western Purple Martin Foundation is a non-profit society founded in 2006 to assist and enhance the conservation of Western Purple Martins along the West Coast of North America. The Western Purple Martin are a genetically distinct subpopulation of Purple Martins and is the only subspecies occupying breeding grounds west of the Rocky Mountains in British Columbia. 

                        Purple Martins at the Deep Bay Marina. Photo by Samuelle Simard-Provençal.   

Historically, these birds nested in natural cavities in riparian areas, fire-killed stands, and Garry Oak parklands. With human development and introduction of invasive species such as the European Starling and House Sparrow, the reduction in natural nesting cavities led to the decline in Western Purple Martins to about five known breeding pairs in the mid-1980s. Thanks to the effort of volunteer naturalists who set up a nest box recovery program, Western Purple Martins now nest almost exclusively on pilings along marine coastline in nest boxes of varying colony sizes. In 2018, the British Columbia population of Western Purple Martins was approximately 1200 known breeding pairs. The increased population is good, but with no natural nesting cavities, the population can only be sustained if volunteers continue to maintain and supplement the artificial housings.

The Western Purple Martin contains a unique pool of genetic diversity, and until 2006, was listed as Threatened (Red-List) in British Columbia, whereinafter the species was demoted to Vulnerable and later Special Concern designation (Blue-List). 

Our Senior Biologist coordinates the BC Purple Martin Recovery Program, including the 145 colony stewards and 1-2 annual summer students. There are ~1,500 nest boxes distributed among the 70 marine and 20 freshwater colony sites. Volunteers and students monitor Purple Martin activity throughout the breeding season and conduct nest box checks to document productivity. These nest box checks involve describing the nest material (new or old nest), counting the number of eggs, and later counting (and sometimes banding) of nestlings. Annual reports are produced on the Western Purple Martin nest boxes.

           Summer students checking nest boxes in

               Ladysmith. Photo by Dean Richards.

The BC Purple Martin Recovery Program is community based and our Directors and volunteers share a common interest in the conservation of wildlife and habitats in BC. Our volunteers come from a variety of backgrounds, including First Nations groups, naturalist and conservation groups, corporations, universities, and federal/provincial/regional/municipal departments.

Our goal is to re-introduce BC Purple Martins back into remaining natural nesting habitat at freshwater sites. Our longer-term goal is to redevelop a self-sustainable wild-nesting population.