Purple Martin House

This weekend's project was the erection of a multi-unit aviary for Purple Martins.  I've always been fascinated by Purple Martins and I've wanted to put up a house for them for many years.  Now that my wife and I have a country home I've realized a long term goal/dream, a bucket list item perhaps.  The Martin house itself was a gift from my in-laws and I have to admit that the white house with it's cedar shake roof and red trim is quite sharp looking.

Erecting a purple martin house always had a practical aspect as the mosquitoes in eastern Ontario are big enough to bugger a deer without using a stool to stand on.  My understanding was that Purple Martins ate thousands of insects each day.  Last night I did a little research on the Purple Martin's diet and found that they eat:

...dragonflies, damselflies, butterflies, moths, grasshoppers, katydids, mayflies, cicadas, beetles, flies, wasps, midges, and flying ants...

See any mosquitoes on that list?

I guess I'm going to have to add building bat houses to my bucket list.