My Best Nest: A Purple Martin Story
"My Best Nest," the book
 
Purple Martin NestlingsEnemy #1: StarlingEnemy #2: House SparrowMartin HooligansFeeding time!Bird features"My Best Nest," the bookA tale of beginningsBibliographyUseful linksActivities for kidsStudent ExercisesFor librariansAuthor and contributorsBuy the book

Coloring pages for kids.

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Bibliography

"My Best Nest: A Purple Martin Story" was created to benefit Purple Martins by introducing children to this wonderful species. Sales of this book are to benefit migratory birds and wildlife conservation efforts.

Activities for kids!

Title page

My Best Nest,” a children’s picture book, is filled with vibrant and active illustrations that allow the reader to follow a mother Purple Martin swallow during her first day of nest building. This entertaining and educational story told in rhyme starts with a vibrant dawn and ends with a bird’s gaping yawn. A short natural history section is included for parents, grandparents and teachers. Readers familiar with this avian species will be delighted to have a children’s picture book on this popular backyard songster and aerialist. All proceeds from sales of the book "My Best Nest: A Purple Martin Story" by non-profit organizations will go to benefit migratory songbird conservation.



Here are some more sample illustrations from the book.

(All illustrations on this page Copyright Rebecca Dellinger 2008)


Martin singing

My mate stands guard singing with zest,

puffing out his glossy chest.




Martins in flight

I give my tail a little wag

and start to zig and zag.


 

Following the spirit of the migratory bird treaty act the writer illustrator and photographers contributed their efforts to this book solely for the benefit of promoting Purple Martins. Countless Purple Martins have contributed to this book, as four decades of experiences with Purple Martins and hundreds of Purple-Martin photographs were referenced to create this book.

The idea for "My Best Nest" started with the finding of a tiny scrap of blue fabric in a martin nest. Embroidered on this tiny piece of fabric was a half-inch unicorn.

Learn about how to become a Purple-Martin landlord (Texas) (Missouri). Chuck Abare's Purple-Martin web page.