Like thousands of North Americans, and tens of thousands before her time, Lorrie Shaw is a landlord of sorts. She is a not a typical landlord, however. Typical landlords rent out apartments and houses to people. Lorrie is the type of landlord that supplies the living quarters for hundreds of pairs of dazzling aerial acrobats known as purple martins. In March, April, and May, she helps tend to three colonies of martins at a Connecticut nature center.

Hosting a colony of purple martins is difficult. Nesting boxes and gourds must be cleaned, nests must be monitored, and displaced babies must be collected and placed back in nests, or, in some cases, the nests of other martins. Landlords must account for extreme temperatures and extreme weather, horrific insect infestations, skin-feasting mites, and predators such as snakes and owls. Worst of all are the invasive starlings and house sparrows, which must be continuously trapped and removed to prevent them from destroying the martin colonies. Despite the hardships, landlords like Lorrie are passionate about their martins and gladly perform any duties that ensure a successful colony. In her own words:

“There seems to be a love of the martins that develops probably because as a landlord you are so hands on with these birds. Putting up housing is just the beginning; we put in initial nesting material, we wait anxiously for their return in early spring. It is never a guarantee that our colony will have made the return safely from South America. Just imagine that tiny little bird makes a trip that involves thousands of miles of winged travel. Then they return to the exact spot of their colony. Then of course we watch for signs of egg laying. We count the eggs - journaling when the first one was laid and how many more come after. Once they hatch we monitor for mites and often handle the chicks while the parents, which have learned to trust us, fly overhead and watch but don't dive bomb us like other birds. It seems as if they know we are in it together. I love the way they are a community, protecting each other. Sometimes we actually move runts to a different nest if we think they have a better chance of survival. The surrogate moms accept and feed them. To watch them tirelessly bring in insects to feed their young, and to know how vulnerable these birds are to bad weather - too many cold, rainy days means no food, is amazing. I guess the link humans have to a bird that depends so heavily on human interaction makes the bond a special one between purple martin landlords and their birds.”

Purple Martin People