Effort afoot to boost numbers of purple martins in WMass

SPRINGFIELD — Since 1912, The Allen Bird Club in Springfield has been starting its meetings with excited members telling the group about rare sightings of special birds — the veery, scarlet tanager or the saw-whet owl.

But in its most recent gathering at the city’s science museum last week, the featured speaker discussed “repopulating” purple martins in the Pioneer Valley.