A fierce looking male Purple Martin giving me the alpha glare while birding at Yates Mill Park in Raleigh, NC.
It’s neat that these birds migrate so far south for the winter and return every spring to same breeding location year after year. Makes me wonder if there’s a record out there for the longest generation of Purple Martens using a particular nesting spot in the US.
Purple Martins are fascinating little birds.
Long distance migration is par for the course and before too long, they’ll leave N.C. to head south for tropical destinations such as like Brazil, Peru, Ecuador, Bolivia, Paraguay, Uruguay, and Argentina.
In late summer, they’ll gather in huge roosts in preparation for their fall migration.
One of the best places to view this spectacle is in Manns Harbor, North Carolina, on the OBX, where an estimated 100,000 birds – arriving from hundreds of miles away – to rest underneath the Umstead Bridge.

Photo by @sally_siko
Canon 5DS 200mm