Purple Martins are cavity-nesting birds. In the West, they’ll use everything from burned-out conifer trunks and decaying snags to old woodpecker holes in saguaro cactus, constructing rudimentary nests of twigs, grass and mud within. In the East, however, such naturally-occurring recesses are increasingly hard to come by. Cities and suburbs have paved over much of the decadent hardwood forests that supplied those cavities, and any that remain are often swooped upon by non-native nesters such as European Starlings and House Sparrows—birds that have little compunction about evicting touchy martins.

This is where dedicated backyard birders step in, folks that go beyond setting up a couple feeders near the porch, a birdbath on the lawn, maybe a store-bought birdhouse nailed to a tree. These are people that build summer homes of sometimes amazing complexity and craftsmanship—think miniature apartment complexes, high-rise condominiums catered to the doll-sized jet set—for the waves of breeding martins that arrive each year. They call themselves “landlords” and their nest structures "property", and it’s no small thanks to them that populations of Purple Martin are thriving—especially in the East, where the species is almost entirely dependent on human-made houses for nesting.

These landlords debate merits and demerits of their various properties in online forums; they bandy about terms like “scouts” (the first birds to return each spring), “behavioral pattern shifting” (referring to martins’ habituation to the human landscape), and “starling-resistant entrance holes”, or SREHs, installed to safeguard martin houses against avian repossession. There is a bit of the martinet that creeps into some of these discussions. Rival camps espouse certain “standardized” property layouts and excoriate others; rival landlords sometimes poach from neighboring colonies by providing superior housing or better amenities, all the while claiming that they’re “just doing what’s best for the birds.” Which, strictly speaking, should be foremost in the interest of everyone involved. But the Purple Martin realty market can be a shark tank, and only the aggressive, proactive landlords secure quality tenants—ones that return punctually each year, sometimes bringing referrals—while keeping out the squatting riffraff of sparrows and starlings.

At Siletz Bay Refuge are a number of nest boxes built and installed by staff and volunteers for the benefit of cavity-nesting birds, be they Purple Martins, Tree or Violet-green Swallows, Wood Ducks or chickadees. Look for these boxes along the banks of tidal sloughs or atop breached earthen dikes. In the spring and summer, watch closely for active nests—and of course keep eyes and ears open for Purple Martins banking, circling and burbling high above the estuary.

Read about volunteer efforts to bring breeding martins to Nestucca Bay National Wildlife Refuge.