BETHLEHEM TOWNSHIP, Pa. (Northampton County) — A once-vanishing bird species has found new roots in the Lehigh Valley, as Purple Martins have established a thriving colony on the scenic grounds of St. Luke’s Anderson Campus in Bethlehem Township.
The largest of the New World swallows, Purple Martins migrate each year from the Amazon basin to North America to nest during spring and summer. Once common in Lehigh and Northampton counties, their population declined sharply over the decades due to a loss of farmland—and with it, the man-made nesting sites they rely on.
That decline posed a challenge to Tom Fiorini, St. Luke’s Director of Landscape Services, who last winter installed racks of gourd-shaped birdhouses atop a tall pole in a maple grove beside a pond in the campus arboretum.
At first, the birdhouses remained empty. But in June, a few Purple Martins arrived, followed by nesting and chicks. The once-silent colony is now bustling with activity.
Photographs of the birds were submitted to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and confirmed to be Purple Martins. Peter Saenger of Muhlenberg College’s Acopian Center for Ornithology reviewed the images as well and reached the same conclusion.
“To have first-year success means you have a very good location,” Saenger said, noting that east of the Mississippi, Purple Martins are 100% reliant on man-made nests. “So, what you have done there is phenomenally important.”
Purple Martins’ relationship with humans dates back centuries, with Native Americans first attracting them using hollow gourds. The birds are prized for their natural pest control, feasting on flying insects near water sources.
The Anderson Campus, spanning 500 acres along the Lehigh River, includes multiple ponds, an organic farm that supplies produce to the hospital, and expansive sunflower fields—all contributing to a vibrant insect population that makes it ideal habitat for Purple Martins and other wildlife.
When Fiorini is on campus, he routinely checks on the colony and delights in watching the birds catch insects mid-flight to feed their chicks.
“The coolest thing,” Fiorini said, “is that they are going to know this spot, and they’ll keep coming back year after year.”
