Purple Martin Club/Bar New Orleans

Snake and Jake’s is the worst

It was a meeting place for swingers.

I got excited when I thought this was going to be a thread about purple martins. Dammit.

Friend,

Grandfather was interested in this question after I brought it up at dinner tonight. He has no recollection or knowledge of a bar by that name, but he did talk about how purple martins (the bird) were all the rage back in the 1960s and 1970s. They were thought to summer in Brazil and return to the area during Mardi Gras season, usually peaking in mid-February.

They were highly sought after because people believed they were the ultimate mosquito eater. The Times Picayune Metro writer would bloviate about how the martins would eat 2000 mosquitos a day. The purple martins became a cottage industry in the area.

Some of you will remember before Katrina how many people had huge and elaborate bird houses throughout the Metro. According to Grandfather, these bird houses were built to attract the purple martins. The Trio Musselman was the area's favorite (second picture). Constructed from aluminum, this deluxe resort was advertised to hold up to 32 birds at a time. In a time when mosquitos were still a major nuisance for the city, locals believed that was 64,000 mosquitos a day less in their yard.





The bird's popularity waned in the late 70s and 80s, but came roaring back in the 90s. A purple swallow sanctuary was even established near the Causeway. Katrina blew away most of the martin palaces and mansions and interest the bird was faint in those years because people were more interested in rebuilding their homes. Mandevillians tried to revive the bird's popularity in the late 2000s, but the Purple Martin Festival never caught on very well. Today's purple martin season is not really a part of the New Orleans culture like it was one to two generations ago.

Yours,
TulaneLSU

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TulaneLSU

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Any chance mother will allow you to bare knuckle fist fight?

Hummingbird on St Charles


How about the Hummingbird or the Camp inn. Hummingbird was a great after hours
greasy spoon. You could also rent a ronn for about $5 a night another $1.50 for a TV.


At the Camp Inn if a wino could not pay for his meal they would take his shoes.


Great times at both places.

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but he did talk about how purple martins (the bird)

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I actually read this one, ya fruitloop.

Purple Martins are the only bird that is solely reliant upon humans for nesting sites. It is a great example of co-evolution on a scale that is easily grasped. Native tribes noticed the bird's propensity for cavity nesting and began to encourage them to nest around their settlements. The gourd was a natural vessel that Natives used to attract the birds. This practice caught on as generation after generation of Purple Martins found easy nesting in the gourds that were offered. Eventually they evolved to seek out these gourds/nesting sights almost exclusively.

The houses came along later, first wood and later aluminum. The gourd, whether natural or various plastic types, is still preferred by both bird and human. Without human-kept nesting sights the Purple Martin as a species would slowly die off. After years of looking, I've only ever seen one pair nesting in anything other than human-offered housing, and I'm almost certain they failed to fledge young.

Their mosquito catching prowess is a myth, however. For as abundant as the mosquito is, they are small, and the effort for a bird to catch enough to offset the energy spent hunting them it would take thousands upon thousands of them. Also, the Purple Martin spends its flying time well above where the majority of mosquitoes fly and live.

Like any other native cavity nesting bird, the Purple Martin is pressured by two foul, despicable garbage bird imports......the House Sparrow and the European Starling. Undoubtedly, anyone who has ever called themselves a Purple Martin landlord, or that of Bluebirds for that matter, has dealt with the nasty creatures. A well calibrated pellet rifle is one's best defense against this scourge.

Despite that, keeping Purple Martins is a pleasure, one that should be encouraged. It is a symbiotic relationship between man and bird that is pretty unique. They need us, and in some way or another, we need them.