Purple martins, a species of swallow, used to be commonly seen throughout the Lehigh Valley, but gradually disappeared as farming in the region declined.
However, according to Lehigh Valley Live, the purple martin has made a remarkable comeback, thanks to St. Luke's Hospital-Anderson Campus in Bethlehem Township.
These swallows migrate to the United States for the spring and summer seasons, sometimes coming from as far away as the Amazon. The birds have a long history with humans, as purple martins depend on people to make nesting sites for them in regions east of the Mississippi River.
Nature is thriving at St. Luke's Anderson Campus and the Purple Martins are back! These stunning little flyers have...
Posted by St. Luke's University Health Network on Tuesday, August 5, 2025
The human-purple martin relationship dates all the way back to pre-colonial times, when Native Americans realized the importance of the purple martin for pest control. Purple martins are the largest North American swallow and are skilled hunters that consume mostly flying insects.
The Native Americans built gourd nesting sites to attract purple martins so the birds could eat the insects responsible for damaging crops. The tradition continued, and local farmers in the Lehigh Valley also built nesting sites for the species. However, once agriculture in the region declined, so did the building of these nesting sites, leading to a decline in the population of the purple martin.
St. Luke's director of landscape services, Tom Fiorini, decided to try to attract the birds back and installed a nesting site on the Anderson Campus. Though it took a few months for any purple martins to show up, once they did, a small colony quickly grew.
Just to be sure the birds were indeed purple martins, photographs were sent to the Acopian Center for Ornithology at Allentown's Muhlenberg College and the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Both confirmed that the species was the purple martin.
Lehigh Valley Live reported that Peter Saenger of the Acopian Center for Ornithology said about the nesting site: "To have first year success means you have a very good location. So, what you have done there is phenomenally important."
It's good news not only for the birds, but also for the residents of Lehigh Valley. Now that the birds have returned, they can eat the insects that destroy crops or simply annoy people. Their return also leads to a more balanced ecosystem, which makes for a healthier community all around.
Plus, as Fiorini explained to Lehigh Valley Live, "The coolest thing is that they are going to know this spot, and they'll keep coming back year after year."
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