Desert Martins Need a Home for the Next 150 Years

A Nestbox Design Challenge

Desert Purple Martins need your creativity!  The hesperia subspecies of Purple Martin, those that breed only in the Sonoran Desert of Arizona and northern Mexico, needs your help.

Desert Martins nest exclusively in cavities in giant saguaro and cardon cactus.  Their range and population size, now down to 5,900 individuals, seems limited by available nest cavities.  Unfortunately, fires fueled by invasive grasses are leading to massive losses of saguaros—young ones and giant mature ones alike.  It takes 100-150years before saguaros achieve the size necessary to host martin nest—that’s too long for martins to wait.   That’s where you come in.

Tucson Audubon and project partners are sponsoring a nextbox design competition with $2,000 in cash prizes. Visit their website to learn how you can participate in the contest and potentially design a Desert Martin house that will facilitate their long term survival and help increase their population size.

In the meantime, Tucson Audubon’s Desert Purple Martin Project is protecting all the giant saguaros they can and planting young ones after burns, and in areas expected to become good saguaro and martin habitat in the future.  If designing nestboxes isn’t your thing, consider sponsoring a saguaro hotel or newly planted seedling!

This work is made possible through the Wildlife Conservation Society’s Climate Adaptation Fund, and the Disney Conservation Fund, Arizona Game and Fish and private donations.