Will Krohn, a graduate student at the University of Delaware, is studying how Purple Martins move between and select their nesting colonies. To do this, a huge, collaborative team is putting small, lightweight, colored bands on the legs of the birds. These uniquely colored bands continue to be attached to fledgling birds at over 20 colonies across the state of Pennsylvania, mostly in southeastern and northwestern PA and in the Lehigh Valley in 2025.
The majority of the banded birds are expected to stay in these areas, but any location that hosts nesting Purple Martins could have a color-banded bird. We need your help finding them! Be on the look out for returning sub-adults sporting color bands.
If you ever see a color-banded Purple Martin, please let Will know! First, record the color and relative position of each band. He needs to know which leg each band or bands were on, and which band was “higher up” on the bird’s leg, if there were multiple on the same leg. If you have a camera, try taking a picture! The easiest way to submit a resight is with [this form](https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx…).
You can view Will’s presentation on You Tube at https://youtu.be/TZCUN0xY4QI
