(by Pam Hunt)
Purple Martin is listed as a threatened species in NH, largely because the population had dwindled to only 20 pairs in 4-5 colonies by the late 2010s. Since then, a dedicated volunteer effort on the Seacoast has grown the population to almost 90 pairs in seven colonies. One of the newest of these is at the Coppal House Farm in Lee, where owners Carol and John Hutton erected a martin box several years ago. Martins didn’t discover the box until 2023, but each year since it has hosted 1-3 pairs, likely birds expanding from larger colonies farther east.
The Huttons were amenable to efforts to grow this colony, and in April 2026 we installed a set of state-of-the-art plastic nesting gourds to replace the old nest box. The gourds provide more space for martins to rear their young and make it easier to monitor and manage the colony. The new gourds were purchased by the NH Fish and Game Department using Moose Plate funds and will be monitored by the farm and local volunteers. Martins have already started to return to NH and should be showing up in Lee any day now. They are likely to adopt the new housing right away (but the old house was left to be safe) and contribute to the ongoing recovery of our largest swallow.
Cover photo of a Purple Martin in Rye by Jim Sparrell, August 2023.