Richmond Audubon Society

Richmond, Virginia

Local Birds In The News:

Purple Martin Roost In Richmond's Shacko Bottom

We have a real chance to positively effect a conservation issue right here in the City of Richmond!

As reported by Rex Springston in the Richmond Times Dispatch recently, there is a stand of trees on 17th Street in Shockoe Bottom that has created quite a controversy. Purple Martins are well known to eat large numbers of flying insects, and are considered desirable by most people. The trees on 17th Street have been used as a pre-migratory roost site by Purple Martins for at least the past three years. These birds come to sites such as the one on 17th Street after they fledge their chicks and they leave their nesting sites. Once a roost such as this one is established they will use it for many years to come. These roosts consist of tens of thousands of birds and they put on spectacular displays as they dive from two to three hundred yards in the air to the roost trees by the thousands, all at one time. It is a phenomenon that few people have had the opportunity to witness anywhere, because most of the roosts are normally in very inaccessible areas and are not easy to get to for the public to view. Such is the case of a roost on the Pamunkey River above West Point in a place known as Sweet Hall Marsh. These sites are used prior to the birds’ starting their annual migration to South America. The roost in Richmond is active from mid July to early September. Note that the Richmond, Pamunkey, and a Virginia Beach site are the only ones currently identified in Virginia. The roost on 17th Street is the only site in the state of Virginia that has been currently documented as being active and is easily viewed by the public.

Purple Martins roost issues

The reasons for wanting to cut the trees down have been stated as:

1. The street is not well lit; a thief can hide behind one of the trees.

2. Limbs can fall on cars.

3. The manager of the Farmers Market complained about the smell from fecal matter.

4. The possibility that the birds may spread diseases.

Jimmy Fitzgerald of Charles City County

Mr. Fitzgerald has been studying Purple Martins since 1992, says that “Purple Martins are probably America’s most popular bird, or as some would say the most wanted bird in the country”. Jimmy has even studied Doppler radar images on the Internet with the help of Google Earth. That’s how he found the roost in a stand of old Bradford Pear trees on 17th Street in Richmond, Virginia's Shockoe Bottom.

An excerpt from Jimmy Fitzgerald's letter to Mr. Harry Black, Deputy Chief Administrative Officer:

“It took two years of looking at radar images and riding around the area before I finally found the site. When I finally ran the birds down and saw where they were, I was awestruck and lost for words. I just knew the birds had to be in trouble at this roost. However, as I started checking things out it didn’t seem to be as bad as I thought it was. Then one Friday evening in August a group of us were standing there beside the street, watching the birds go to roost, when a well dressed gentleman walked up and started talking. One of his comments was that there is talk about cutting the trees down on 17th Street to dispense the birds. This started a chain of events that led me to writing you this letter today.”

Mike Wilson of the Center for Conservation Biology, College of William & Mary

On September 7, 2007, Mike Wilson sent the following letter in E-mail to Mr. Black, Richmond's Deputy Chief Administrative Officer.

“Mr. Black, I am a regular visitor to the Purple Martin roost at 17th street, a resident of Henrico County, and have previously been asked by the City of Richmond to provide a biological assessment of the roost. In my view, the roost poses no health problems and the scent can be removed if kept clean with water. This can be accomplished with regular cleaning, perhaps every 2 to 3 days, during the period when the birds are roosting. Although I know there has been no final decision, there is a recurring rumor that the City would like to disperse these birds. Moreover, the removal or replacement of trees has been included in this rumor. It is impossible to predict exactly what will happen to the birds if dispersed by this method but there is the possibility that the martins would re-locate to the I-95 overpass (if dispersed and create traffic problems). Similar events have happened with martin roosts in other cities including those that resulted in major traffic problems. It is also possible that they would choose to roost in trees in view from 17th and on Main Street; there were already a small flock (20 birds) of martins choosing to roost there. They could relocate to someone’s backyard in Richmond and create problems to one or two homeowners. Lastly, they may completely leave the city. Replacing the Bradford pears with sapling maple trees will most likely disperse the birds. The pear trees provide very good cover to fit a large roost simple structure. Dispersing the roost in any fashion is best done when the birds are not there. Using whistles, firecrackers, etc. to scare roosting birds is not only inhumane but could result in unnecessary mortality when birds are forced out at night. Removing the trees during a season when the birds are not there would not likely threaten the survival of that specific roost. They will most likely find another place to roost as I pointed out in the second paragraph. However, there comes a time when somebody must take on the responsibility of harboring a roost on their property. Pre-migratory roosts are essential to the species pre-migratory periods and overall survival. Roosts are used for the combined purposes of proximity to local food resources (insects), safety, and information sharing. Young birds use these roosts to learn where they can acquire food, cues to when they should leave the area to migrate to South America, and to follow adults so they may learn the migration path. Purple Martin roosts are typically identified by sight or the appearance of a ringed formation on weather radar. There are currently 300 Purple Martin roosts identified or considered potential (not yet visited) using these methods. These roosts basically support the bulk of the specie’s entire global population during the pre-migratory period. If every property owner decided to disperse the birds we would eventually place these populations at high risk. One important point to clarify is that Purple Martins have almost completely made a shift from using natural habitats for nesting such as cliffs, and dead standing trees to artificial habitats for nesting such as martin houses directly erected by citizens to benefit martins. In other words, it is members of the general society that have been responsible for conserving populations of martins throughout their range. The number of Purple Martin houses around the area is staggering. I have even seen martin houses erected at a McDonalds restaurant. Many of these people are not bird watchers per se, but rather people who enjoy having the birds on their land. Based on evidence from other roosts studied across the county, the majority of martins roosting at 17th street are primarily composed of adults and young birds hatched the same year from an 80-100 mile radius around Richmond. Disrupting these birds is then in direct conflict of the many of the residents of Richmond, Henrico County, and surrounding area who have worked hard to conserve the populations by actively erecting and annually cleaning nest houses. The Purple Martin roost may appear as a nuisance by some, but there are a number of people who enjoy the roost, and many who see or stand to gain the economic benefits that would result by continual support and advertisement. I visit Shockoe bottom quite regularly to dine but have more frequently done so since this roost was identified. I imagine others have followed the same path and I would like to guess that many others would if they knew about the birds. As a comparison, a bat roost in Texas that was once considered a nuisance is now an economic engine to the local community. Please consider the information I provided in making a decision to disperse or support the Purple Martins.

Thank You,
Mike Wilson
Center for Conservation Biology College of William and Mary”

One Of Many Letters From A Concerned Citizen:

“My husband and I are deeply concerned about the future security of the Purple Martin roosting site in trees near the Farmers’ Market on 17th Street in Shockoe Bottom. We feel that the city of Richmond would be robbing citizens of an irreplaceable natural resource as well as a spectacular natural phenomenon observed by hundreds of interested people who visited Shockoe Bottom recently to experience an incredible avian event. On a hot evening in August, my husband and I invited friends to dine with us at a restaurant in Shockoe Bottom for the sole purpose of viewing a natural event we had heard about, but not yet experienced. At precisely 8:15 p.m., the sky blackened with hordes of tiny purple/black dive-bombers zooming at breakneck speeds to land in a few select trees on 17th Street. The air was filled with chirping symphonies of bird songs and chatter. We were awestruck. No verbal account could have prepared us for the actual experience - truly a once in a lifetime event. We are thankful for those trees in Shockoe Bottom and even more thankful for the mystical martin radar systems guiding thousands (millions?) of tiny natural insectivores to Shockoe bottom. No doubt the residents on Church Hill and merchants in Shockoe Bottom noticed fewer flying insect pests these past few years. And no doubt many merchants in Shockoe Bottom are wealthier because of the extra tourist trade during August. We feel that the City of Richmond would be committing a grave disservice to merchants in Shockoe Bottom and to wildlife conservationists throughout the area if the trees housing our unique Purple Martin roosting site were removed or altered. We request that you do all that you can to save this site.” If you agree with Jimmy Fitzgerald, Mike Wilson and many others that cutting down the roost trees on 17th Street would be a mistake, please write or E-mail your feelings on the matter. The contact information is given below. Mr. Harry Black Deputy Chief Administrative Officer • 900 E Broad St. Richmond, Va. 23219 • (804) 646-7978 E-mail: harry.black@richmondgov.com

Help us find a solution to this issue. To get involved and make a difference contact the Richmond Audubon Society.

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