Martin is the name for several birds in the swallow family. The purple martin is the best-known martin in North America. It is about 8 inches (20 centimeters) long. The male is a dark purplish-blue color. The birds migrate to Central and South America in the winter. They have been seen in summer as far north as the Saskatchewan Valley in Canada. Purple martins nest in colonies (large groups). They originally built their nests in holes in dead trees, but they now nest primarily in large, multiroomed birdhouses built especially for them. Martins will return to the same birdhouse year after year. The female lays from three to eight white eggs.
Martins help people by eating ants, flies, beetles, mosquitoes, and other winged insect pests. In New England, house sparrows and starlings have driven most of the martins from their homes.
