The Purple Martins of Historic Yates Mill County Park

Authored by Phill Doerr

Some may recall that 2023 was the first year the recently established gourd rack at Yates Mill
Park attracted nesting attempts by Martins. Initially, 5 nests were attempted, but only 2 survived
that fledged the first ever Martins at Yates Park, a total of five. The high failure rate that year
was typical of most Martins in the area, and associated with a period of cold rainy weather that
kept adults from foraging effectively.

This year has from the get go, been an exciting one with Martins appearing on schedule and
initiating nesting activity in late April. At first a half dozen Martins were hanging around the
gourd rack, but the number of birds increased steadily and quickly until nearly 3 dozen could be
seen circling when we conducted our first nest checks. The enthusiastic efforts of the Yates Mill
Park Martins have so far produced 18 nests (of 24 total gourds), with currently 16 active nests
containing 67 nestlings. Several young have already fledged!

Looking ahead to next year, we are exploring the protocols to permit banding fledglings next
year! Banded birds will add new and exciting possibilities to the saga of Yates Mill Park Martins
as we’ll have the potential to learn of their movements and dispersal…like the subadult male at
Yates, that hails from the University Club.

This bird conservation project is led by Courtney Rousseau of the NC Purple Martin Society, and
supported by Wake Audubon. She is assisted by volunteers including Tom Ruedy and Phil Doerr,
of Wake Audubon.

Photos below by Tom Ruedy, volunteer