MUNISING — If all goes to plan, the skies of Munising might have a dash of purple in the coming years.

Munising resident and avid birder Wendy Irish is spearheading a plan to bring a special colonial birdhouse to Bayshore Park to attract purple martins, now an uncommon sight in the region.

Irish, however, knows people who have seen martins at the Chatham sewage lagoons and by H-58, plus there’s a successful martin birdhouse effort in Escanaba.

“I just thought it would great to get them spread around,” Irish said. “Out west, purple martins nest in trees, but around here, they’ve gotten out of that habit. They really only nest in manmade structures.”

All About Birds has this to say about putting up a purple martin box:

“Putting up a purple martin house is like installing a miniature neighborhood in your backyard. In the East, dark, glossy-blue males and brown females will peer from the entrances and chirp from the rooftops all summer.”

However, people aren’t putting up these special houses anymore, Irish said.

“To keep them in Michigan, we really need purple martin houses,” she said.

Fortunately, there is some movement regarding martin conservation in the state.

Joe Kaplan of Escanaba is involved in Common Coast Research & Conservation, and has been instrumental in bringing purple martins to Ludington Park in Escanaba with the special birdhouses.

He expressed confidence in the Munising initiative.

“Over time I think this project has a great chance for success,” Kaplan said in an email. “Our hope is that the growing colony of martins in Escanaba will serve as a ‘source’ to re-establish martin populations throughout the Upper Peninsula.”

The key, he said, is properly maintaining houses to attract martins, which includes wood boxes to provide thermal protection in early spring, using entry holes that deter starlings.

Also important is using recorded calls in early summer to lure last year’s young that have spent the winter in the Amazon Basin and are looking to recruit into an active colony, he said. Martin houses also should be cleaned in late summer to reduce parasites, primarily bird fleas, which Kaplan called a “big issue” in Escanaba.

Since Irish plans to accomplish these tasks, Kaplan believes her efforts should pay off over time, although it may take a number of years to get birds established.

A big plus is that Irish has chosen a public site that encourages public support and awareness, he said, although efforts on private property serve an important purpose as well.

Irish heard of Kaplan’s efforts and thought it would be a worthwhile project for her.

She enlisted the help of Northern Machining & Repair Inc., based in Escanaba, which made the pole, pulley and crank. She also purchased the plans for the house, Troyer’s T-14 purple martin house, noting that people put up many birdhouses that aren’t well suited to certain species.

“Birdhouses really need to be researched and science based,” Irish said. “You just can’t put up something and say, ‘Oh, that looks cute,’ and assume you’re helping the bird population.”

The special purple martin house to be placed in Munising has entrance holes in the shape of half-circles. That special shape, she noted, keeps out invasive starlings, which need a bigger hole.

She estimated nine martin families could find a home in the special Munising bird house.

The pulley will help Irish, as well as other people who help with the project, to bring down the house for cleaning — an essential task — and take it in for the winter to save on wear and tear. For security reasons, she said a lock can be be placed on the crank, which would be removable.

Irish, who is funding the martin house herself, said the pole cost about $900. She spent about $350 on the house, although a Munising Boy Scout troop built it.

Irish said the Munising City Commission approved the location of Bayshore Park as the location for her martin house. Ideally, it would be installed at the end of May, according to Kaplan’s advice.

“He also said if you get it up this summer, there are going to be males that are not engaged in nesting — just teenagers, or whatever — and they’re going to be scouting for other places to go,” Irish said.

A possibility is adding a “dawn call box” that helps recruit new birds to this area.

“Apparently, they can hear it a long way away,” Irish said.

Whenever the house is installed, Irish stressed that she has to enter an agreement with the city of Munising that the house will be maintained.

She would like to see martin houses erected in other locations such as Chatham and Grand Marais.

There might be practical purposes to having martins around too. For instance, they eat black flies, she said.

Conservation, though, is of the utmost importance.

“My goal is, number one, to help these birds, get the populations going,” Irish said. “Another goal I have is to educate the public about these birds.

“Joe says this: Purple martins are really popular. People really like seeing the houses and seeing the birds be active, and they have a lot of questions about them.”

And for people waiting to go on a cruise to see Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, she said, watching martins would give them something to do.

For more information on purple martins, visit the website of the Purple Martin Conservation Association, based in Erie, Pennsylvania, at purplemartin.org.

Christie Mastric can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 250. Her email address is cbleck@miningjournal.net