Purple Martin banding
Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) staffers Carol Morris-Scatta, right, and Michael Gregonis check the feathers to age a purple martin chick as DEEP staff and community volunteers gather data on the chicks of a purple martin colony in Ledyard on Wednesday, July 12, 2017. DEEP staff banded each chick, weighed them and assessed their age before returning them to their nest.
Debbie Vessels has 34 plastic martin gourds on her Colonel Ledyard Highway property and participates in the DEEP program to help rebuild the population of the threatened birds in the state.
Purple martins winter in South America and return each year to the same nest.
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