July 29 Press Release

Every evening around 8:15 PM there is an amazing natural phenomenon taking place near Willowbrook Mall. As dusk arrives at the busy shopping area, tens of thousands of Purple Martins (small insect eating birds) descend on live oak trees surrounding the Starbucks on 1960. The sky is almost black with birds darting, circling, and weaving as they catch their last meal on the wing before settling in to the oaks.

The Purple Martins are gathering to ready for their epic migration to South America for the winter. The Purple Martin is the largest North American swallow and feeds mainly on day-flying insects, including beetles, wasps, dragonflies and mosquitoes. Every summer they gather in large groups before leaving Houston skies and heading south of the border.

Houston Audubon, a bird conservation organization, actively tracks the movements of Purple Martins and Chimney Swifts (a similar insect eating bird) throughout the spring and summer. Houston Audubon members have been enjoying the spectacle near the mall over the last week. "Oohs" and "aahs" can be heard from the crowd of onlookers as the birds amass in the sky. It is really an amazing sight!!

The martins will be leaving in the next few weeks and won’t return to Houston until next February. Now is the time to grab your lawn chair and head to a parking lot across from the mall on 1960. The best time to arrive is 8PM. The martins are all tucked into the oaks by 8:45 or 9. For more information please contact: Mary Anne Weber at 713-640-2407.

More about Purple Martins