Banding Project -- Plainfield, Illinois -- 7/8/2001

As part of the ongoing activities of The Purple Martin Society, NA, projects such as the banding of birds are carried out on a regular basis.  They occur during the summer months while young birds are still on their nests. The primary purpose of banding these birds is to identify and record each bird's vital statistics for future reference.

Subsequent sightings of banded birds allow an ongoing assimilation of information about the birds' travels, habits, general growth and health, and an invaluable amount of other meaningful data.  It also allows frequent inspections of the colony's nesting habits and condition, all of which go far in the careful and successful maintenance of a landlord's program.

This project was carried out by Rick Cruz, Vice President of The Purple Martin Society, NA.  His long-standing background and experience in birding activities, especially with Purple Martins, assures a good and healthy outlook for this and other Midwestern colonies.

The site visited belongs to Dave Morelli of Plainfield, IL.  It was started in 1987 with one pair occupying it.  Although annual increases in numbers of birds grew steadily, it didn't really start to gain major momentum until 1996. Only 34 martins fledged from it that year but since then, annual increases of 20 birds or more will bring this colony to over 100 birds this year.

Back in the early 80's, martin colonies were common in Plainfield, but by 1990, only 3 remained. Of the three, the Morelli colony is now the only major one existing in the Plainfield area.  All of the others have become extinct due to the passing of landlords, neglect, and other reasons. This year, however, a new colony has become established only a few miles away.

Through the efforts of Rick and many others, a long-term plan is now in place which focuses on making Plainfield a martin mecca once again.

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