Signs of avian thriving indicate that efforts to restore the habitat at Buckhorn Island State Park along the Niagara River are paying off.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and New York’s Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) teamed up to try to get flora and fauna to flourish again in the area. The agency, in cooperation with two New York State agencies, announced Jan. 7 that purple martins are returning to the Grass Island marsh.
“This is one of the thousands of great habitat restoration projects supported by the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative,” EPA Region 5 Administrator and Great Lakes National Program Manager Debra Shore said in the announcement.
The counts of purple martins in the 13.5-acre marsh near the park are up, the EPA and its partners announced.
"In 2019 and 2021, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and New York State Department of Environmental Conservation installed four nesting structures at Beaver Island State Park," the agency reports in the announcement. "In June, purple martin eggs or nests were confirmed in 94 of the 96 nesting areas. Plans are now underway to install two more nesting structures."
Already, $5.5 million of GLRI has gone toward the project — which involved creating rock reefs and planting vegetation in the marsh — and more money is likely on the way, thanks to the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. That federal program will pump $1 billion into environmental restoration and protection efforts in the same region.
Purple martins are a common species, but the population declined by 37% between 1966 and 2015, according to the EPA.
“Large numbers of purple martins annually arrive and spend one to two weeks roosting within the Niagara River Area of Concern, specifically at Grass Island, before migrating to South America,” New York State DEC’s Niagara River Area of Concern Coordinator Mark Filipski said in the announcement. “This is a local phenomenon, which indicates the importance of this unique habitat along their migration path. The available habitat, and opportunity to feed, is necessary to the survival of these birds.”
