Most all of North America except northern Canada.

Purple Martins have for a long time be nesting in bird houses provided by man. The reason people have been building nests for these birds is that they are great insect eaters, consuming thousands each day. However, with the advance of starlings on this continent, fewer and fewer nests are available for the purple martins.

Large bird with broad wings. Males are blue-black, females and immature are duller above and grayer below with gray collar.

The Purple Martin is the largest swallow and the only swallow in which the sexes differ strongly.