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Thus, unmonitored purple martin houses are often overtaken by more aggressive, non-native species. [3] Purple martin proponents are motivated by the concern that the purple martin would likely vanish from eastern North America were it not for this assistance. [24] There is a misconception among many people regarding purple martin's temperament.
Operation Purple Martin was a US Marine Corps operation that took place in northwest Quảng Trị Province, lasting from 1 March – 2 May 1969. Background
On 20 March 1969 as part of Operation Purple Martin the Marines moved to reoccupy Firebase Argonne. As the Army UH-1E helicopter (#68-15340) carrying team "Frostburg" from the 3rd Reconnaissance Battalion approached the hill it was met with heavy fire killing the pilot [ 4 ] and wounding the copilot, who crash-landed onto the hill.
Just as the purple martin, this species may compete with other passerines for nesting cavities. In particular, the main foe is the house sparrow [1] in urban areas, where they mostly use man-made structures, whereas in more rural locations Picidae holes in coconut trees are favored, and there is less competition with the sparrows.
The barn swallow and house martin now rarely use natural sites. The purple martin is also actively encouraged by people to nest around humans and elaborate nest boxes are erected. Enough artificial nesting sites have been created that the purple martin now seldom nests in natural cavities in the eastern part of its range. [52]
The genus Progne was introduced in 1826 by the German zoologist Friedrich Boie for the purple martin. [2] [3] The genus name refers to Procne (Πρόκνη), a mythological girl who was turned into a swallow to save her from her husband.
The western house martin flies with a wing beat averaging 5.3 beats per second, which is faster than the wing beat of 4.4 beats per second for the barn swallow, [12] but the flight speed of 11 m/s (36 ft/s) is typical for hirundines. [13] The western house martin is a noisy species, especially at its breeding colonies.
Delichon is a small genus of passerine birds that belongs to the swallow family and contains four species called house martins.These are chunky, bull-headed and short-tailed birds, blackish-blue above with a contrasting white rump, and with white or grey underparts.