Purple martins have become the Ellis Bird Farm's signature species, and thanks to some grant dollars from Lacombe County, the birds have some new places to nest.
 
Biologist Myrna Pearman explains how the $2000 Environmental Improvement Grant is helping out.

“Funds from that grant have enabled us to get new gourds. Gourds are very important because they are actually the world’s oldest bird house and we have a big gourd display on the site and the old gourds were deteriorating so we were able to get new ones thanks to this grant and retrofit them and they are now up on the site, they look wonderful”.

The purple martins on site have plenty more to sing about too according to Pearman.

“In addition to the gourds we were able to purchase two new apartment houses and we actually repainted all of our houses red and white in honour of Canada’s 150th birthday and so the martin houses look just excellent, so we are grateful for that grant”.

Pearman says purple martins are key to their research programs at the farm.

The farm is also thankful for grant dollars from the Twilight Homes Foundation and the Kiwanis Club in Red Deer which helped them create a new wheelchair path from their new visitor centre to the cafe.