Salina ? Tell Jeff Watkins he’s gone to the birds, and he won’t be offended. His dad and grandfather went to the birds before him, so he’ll consider it a compliment.

Watkins, like his ancestors, is enamored with purple martins. “They’re the F-16 of birds,” gushed Watkins, 31, an engineer at Bergkamp Inc. “They’re very aggressive. They’ll run a hawk off. They’re really protective.”

Watkins has two purple martin houses in his backyard in east Salina, each with a potential capacity of 12 feathered renters.

So far, though, the most he’s been able to attract is 10 birds, but he’s happy with the relatively low occupancy. The current housing crisis isn’t to blame; it’s the martins’ fickle nesting requirements.

They demand a relatively open area with a penthouse view of the world. A house too low or too near trees and buildings will sour the male “scouts” looking for choice nesting sites. Even for these birds, it’s location, location, location.

The Watkins family lived in another part of town that was obviously not the right location. Watkins was unable to fill even one nest box.

Now in a more suitable location, he was able to snag one pair his first year, in 2005.

Last year was his best: five pairs. He’s hopeful he’ll soon be able to hang out a no-vacancy sign. “Once you get a pair, they’ll come back every year,” he said.

The offspring of those pair may come back to the same place or, more likely, leave mom and dad and strike out on their own, which is how he acquired his first pair four years ago.

A member of the swallow family, martins winter in the northern two-thirds of South America and begin arriving in the United States early in the year.

They can begin to appear in Kansas as early as March, sometimes as late as April, Watkins said. “They migrate all the way through Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, the Central Plains and up to Canada.”

According to the Purple Martin Conservation Association, martins that summer in the Southwest nest in abandoned woodpecker cavities. Those in the northwest look for single-family housing, in gourds, for instance, or solitary nest boxes.

East of the Rocky Mountains, however, martins are apartment dwellers and depend on manmade multi-family units.

Watkins said martin houses are usually white and made of metal or plastic. One of his was passed down from grandfather to father to son. It shares aerial space with a newer model of the same design.