Purple martins on the East Coast of the U.S. depend on humans to provide their nesting sites, which is why we have a purple martin hotel at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute in Front Royal, Virginia. Each year our keepers and partners band wild purple martin chicks born at SCBI, which means they put bands on their legs to help identify them. They also weigh each chick before placing it back in its nest. #WeSaveSpecies | Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute