Introduction: As a result of anthropogenic degradation of habitat, introduction of invasive species, and climate change, Eastern Purple Martins in North America have become completely dependent on human-provided housing for nesting habitat. The more elaborate, well-tended housing is often provided by “landlords,” many of whom are older white men who are extremely passionate about and dedicated to martins. Others, however, put up martin houses without this kind of dedication. Some have claimed that this “low-standard” (LS) housing—i.e., broken down, tree-encroached, single martin houses—may be sustaining the martin population. We investigated the motivations and practices underlying the provision of LS housing compared to those of dedicated martin landlords who participated in an earlier study.
Methodology: 134 LS martin houses in a metropolitan area in the southcentral US were located via a field survey. Twenty-seven participants (19 men and 8 women) participated in semi-structured interviews. Photos were taken of their martin housing.
Results: Striking differences were found between dedicated landlords and LS housing providers. Landlords were extremely knowledgeable and passionate about martins. They viewed themselves as citizen scientists committed to sustaining the martin population into the future, and distanced themselves from animal rights identities. In contrast, LS housing providers were not particularly knowledgeable about or even interested in martins, but they were strongly oriented toward wildlife and animal rights, often stating that they preferred animals to people. While killing animals that competed with martins was imperative for landlords, no LS housing providers considered doing so, and most of their housing contained only invasive species. While both groups practiced private property conservation, LS housing providers did so passively, allowing any wild bird to inhabit their shelters, whereas landlords actively recruited a single species and eliminated all competitors.
Conclusions: While putting up a backyard birdhouse might seem like simple behavior, the motivations underlying this practice differed considerably, with landlords carrying out a species-specific conservation strategy and LS housing providers sharing their property with the wildlife they loved. That these wildlife were typically competitor species suggests that LS housing may not be as helpful in sustaining the Purple Martin population as previously suggested.