Purple Martin Mosquito Myth Busted!

Purple martins. I’ve always understood that they’re the saviors of humans, selfless aerial warriors who scoop thousands of mosquitoes from the sky each day thus saving us from bites and even diseases.

Sadly I have to report – purple martin mosquito myth busted.

Here I was yesterday reading about the golf course where purple martins are not only hosted, but also appreciated and made available for birders to visit and learn from. It was a pretty long article and I was fast losing interest when I got to the part which shocked me.

“...the myth that martins eat 2000 mosquitoes per day was originally perpetuated by the author of a book about martins. That author also happened to sell martin houses, so the supposed environmental benefit was a great sales tool. Unfortunately, it was largely a lie. Martins do eat some mosquitoes but the tiny bugs make up only an about .03% of their total diet. Instead martins catch and eat dragonflies and other flying insects that deliver bigger doses of protein.”

So, not only are mosquitoes pretty safe from purple martins, but dragonflies, contenders for my very favorite insects, are what they prey on. How disappointing! Needless to say, my dream of living in harmony with purple martins and without bug spray has gone “bye, bye”.

Well, nature isn’t often as clean, convenient, and ordered as we’d like. Purple martins are still wonderful birds, capable of entertaining us with their acrobatics and sharing their family space with us. Some day I may still want to have a purple martin house. Meantime I’ll dream of bats ridding my garden of mosquitoes. If that’s a myth, I don’t want to know, don’t want to know… just keep it to yourself!

In case you are in any doubt of the awesomeness of purple martins, here’s a little video you might check out:

Related posts:

1. Prairie Dog Myth