Purple Martin

Wikipedia:  The Purple Martin is the largest North American swallow. These aerial acrobats have speed and agility in flight, and when approaching their housing, will dive from the sky at great speeds with their wings tucked.

That is a pretty interesting description; a large swallow that is fast and agile and will dive at high speeds towards its housing…plus, it’s a purple bird!  Now, create a mental image of 100,00 of these large, fast birds diving with wings tucked towards a shared housing location.  Pretty cool.

The Outer Banks is best known for gorgeous beaches, a wide variety of historical relevance, and natural wonders.  However, some of the natural wonders area  bit hidden from the beaten paths near the beach, and the fascinating roost of purple martins at William B. Umstead Memorial (“Old Manns Harbor”) Bridge is one of these hidden treasures.  The roost takes a little effort to get to, but it is worth the trip.

It is difficult to believe the sight when you are witnessing it with you own eyes, never mind trying to convey the spectacle in written words.  100,000 (this is not an exaggeration!) martins converge on the bridge every night from July through August (the roost is active from mid-June to mid-September but with fewer birds present).

After nesting, some martins may travel up to 150 miles from their breeding colonies to reach this location! Arriving at sunset, they sleep under the bridge. At sunrise they depart to feed for the day, building up fat stores in preparation for their annual 2,600 mile migration back to Brazil.

The Mann’s Harbor Bridge roost is so large that the bird’s morning departure can be seen on Doppler radar!

Outer Banks Purple Martin Doppler

The martins have selected their OBX home because of the abundant insects made available by the vast agricultural fields, national wildlife refuges and wetlands of North Carolina’s coastal plain.   They roost under the bridge (only along the western end) on its many support structures, I-beam girders and cables because martins prefer to roost over water where there are fewer predators to contend with.

There are boat tours available, or you can venture to the bridge on your own around sundown to see an amazing display of nature.