Date/Time
05/19/2026 7:00 pm - 8:15 pm

Location
The Wells Reserve at Laudholm

The extraordinary Purple Martin is North America’s largest swallow.  It’s a beautifully iridescent colonial nester, with a distinctive liquid gurgling call.  Purple martins were once a common sight in summer all over the East Coast of the United States, but their populations have significantly declined over the past half-century. In Maine, where they used to be found all over the state, they have experienced a precipitous 95 percent decline in the last 50 years:  https://www.maine.gov/ifw/fish-wildlife/wildlife/species-information/birds/purple-martin-landlords.html  There are now just a handful of active colonies in a few towns.  Dr. Anna Forsman wants to better understand why that is the case.

The focus of her research at Colby College is understanding how birds, like purple martins, interact with bacteria, viruses, and parasites in their environments. She is also interested in how environmental factors like insect availability and climate affect immune system function in wild birds. Last year, the Pooper Snoopers community science project that she created, received fecal samples from over 200 Purple Martin colonies in the U.S., including the one established by York County Audubon along the Mousam River in Kennebunk.  DNA analysis of these samples will reveal the insect diet composition of these birds from across their breeding range.

Anna Forsman earned her doctorate in ecology and evolutionary biology at Cornell University. She studied Purple Martins for years through her postdoctoral work at the University of Central Florida, where she established the UCF Purple Martin Project. Three years ago, she joined the faculty of Colby College as an assistant professor of biology. She has studied cavity nesting birds for more than 20 years.

This program will be presented at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, May 19th, in the Mather Auditorium at the Wells Reserve at Laudholm. The entrance to the parking area is off Skinner Mill Road in Wells.  It will be free and open to all ages, and no registration is required for attending the program in person. It will also be live-streamed via Zoom.  To view it via Zoom, you’ll need to register in advance.  To do so, please click on this  link and enter your name and email address: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_pV-lrGbLR9CbIfbWO8DX0w

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting. We hope you can join us for this entertaining and inspiring presentation, either in person, or, if not, via Zoom!