Editor's note: This is an occasional series from the Louisiana Master Naturalists of Greater Baton Rouge. Landlords, it's time to get the houses ready for the purple martins making their way here.

GRAND HAVEN — The last pair of purple martins nesting in the gourds at Grand Haven State Park may have a tough time getting their young ready in time for the flight south to the Amazon rainforest.

My old aluminum purple martin house has supported generations of purple martin families — but not in the last few years. I’m not sure why the old house lost its appeal to the birds. The house was ...

Wonder why your neighbor is hanging gourds up? Or why there appears to be an undulating donut on the weather radar? The answer to both is the purple martin. The largest swallow in North America, male ...

Inside an artificial gourd hanging from an aluminum rack, a female purple martin sits on her eggs while her mate perches in the doorway to their human-made home in Erie. Meanwhile, 35 people watch.