All ages are welcome to the event where they will learn more about the Purple Martins, enjoy some purple gelato, dine in local restaurants where they can order a Purple Martini, and have the chance to take home a gourd to provide a home for a Purple Martin in their own backyard. Visitors will be tickled… well, purple!

The Gone to the Birds festival will last from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. Free parking can be found in the lot at 17th and Grace Streets, or $1 per hour across from Main Street Station. The first hour is free.

Purple Martin Quick Facts

• The Purple Martin is the largest swallow on the continent and one of the largest in the world. Its average length ranges from seven to eight inches.

• Contrary to popular belief, Purple Martins are not purple. They are actually a dark blue and black color. Depending upon the light of their surroundings, they can appear to be blue, purple, or sometimes green.

• Purple Martins are social birds. Nesting colonies may be comprised of hundreds of bird pairs and their roosting colonies may include tens of thousands of birds. The largest roosting colony on record was estimated to consist of 700,000 Martins

• Humans have been instrumental to the survival of the Purple Martins. Hundreds of years ago, Native Americans hung gourds for the Martins to use for housing. The Native Americans hoped, that by attracting the Martins, insects (a Purple Martin’s main food source) would be kept away from their crops fields. Now, colonies of eastern Purple Martins are nearly totally dependent upon human-supplied housing.

• Purple Martins travel from North America in the summer to South America as far as Brazil and Argentina in the winter to avoid the cold weather. The whole migratory process can take two to three months.

GonetotheBirds.org