Santa Barbara County contains many avian treasures. One of the rarest is the Purple Martin colony in and around Nojoqui Falls County Park. In addition to being the only known place where Purple Martins nest in Santa Barbara County, this colony is rare because all of the Purple Martins still nest in cavities in Western Sycamore trees. The vast majority of Purple Martins in the United States live east of the Rockies and nest exclusively in manmade houses. Housing is provided by thousands of Purple Martin enthusiasts from the Gulf Of Mexico to the Canadian border. As our Purple Martin experience is so different than theirs, I was approached by the Purple Martin Conservation Association to write an article about the colony at Nojoqui Falls Park. Adrian O’Loghlen and I, in conjunction with the Santa Barbara Audubon Society, have been monitoring this colony since 2016. This year we counted five confirmed and one probable nest. Through the years we have had between five and eleven confirmed nests in a season. The best assessment that I can give for this colony is that it’s hanging on, but certainly not expanding. These birds face many threats, both natural and manmade. We hope to work with the Santa Barbara County Parks Department to preserve and improve the habitat to benefit the Purple Martins.
Glenn Kincaid
