Purple Martins are the first bird to migrate back to us in the spring and the first to leave. They start showing up in February and leave the end of July/early August, although there are records in our area into September.
I haven't yet seen a roost. The purple martins tend to congregate in a large swarms after the young fledge before they leave on their way to Brazil for the winter. There is a tree in a field near me that was a roost site for several years, but it wasn't used last year. There were easily 1000+ birds in this roost. That is not overly large. I am keeping an eye on it though, because it is in a good spot. There are documented instances of roosts in other locations of 100,000 - 200,000 birds. Birds disperse during the day to hunt insects and congregate back to the roost at sunset.
If you see a roost site, please let me know. txbirds@gmail.com.
Good birding!
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