Korkis Korner: Purple Martins of Epcot

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Purple Martins of Epcot by Jim Korkis

Jim invites you to check out the winged residents behind Mouse Gear.

Read it here!

[peanutj]

I've never even noticed those houses before. Do you have any pictures you can share?

I got a kick out of reading that Disney keeps track of the birds. I have a mental picture in my head of Disney putting little RFID magicbands around their legs.

[jencape]

What an interesting article Jim.

I think you may have solved the mystery of the "gourd boxes" we saw and Epcot and Animal Kingdom. We took a photo of them and tried asking several cast members what they were. Now at least we know the answer! Thanks for the great article.

Here is a photo of the "gourd boxes" we saw. Are these the ones?

[Jim Korkis]

Yep, those are the gourds for the purple martins. There are some other variations but the majority of the gourds look exactly like the ones in the photo. When I first saw them, I thought they might be some futuristic lighting system or speakers or even survelliance cameras. Apparently, there is a huge business in the selling a variety of purple martin housing. Most of the designs mimic the actual gourds used by Native Americans many, many years ago.

Thanks for sharing this and I am sure the other MousePlanet readers will enjoy it as well.

Jim