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Difference between revisions of "Purple Martin" - BirdForum Opus

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;Progne subis
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[[Image:Purple_Martin.jpg|thumb|550px|right|Male<br />Photo &copy; by {{user|HelenB|HelenB}} <br/>Houston, [[Texas]], [[USA]]]]
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[[Image:Purple_Martin.jpg|thumb|350px|right|Photo by HelenB]]
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;[[:Category:Progne|Progne]] subis
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==Description==
 
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</i>
 
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<p>
 
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==Identification: ==
 
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7-8 1/2" (18-22 cm). Adult male dark steel-blue. Female and immature male duller above, pale gray below. Overhead, similar in shape to European Starling, but flight more buoyant and gliding.
 
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<p>
 
  
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==Habitat: ==
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==Identification==
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  Open woodlands, residential areas, and agricultural land.
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7-8 1/2" (18-22 cm).<br />
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<p>
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The adult male is a dark steel-blue. <br />
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Females and Juveniles are duller, with grey underparts.  It takes 2 years for these birds to attain full adult breeding plumage. This can make it difficult to identify the birds.
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====Flight====
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[[Image:Purple Martin Progne subis subis male McAllen Nature Center.jpg|thumb|350px|right|First Summer male<br />Photo &copy; by {{user|Stanley+Jones|Stanley Jones}}<br />McAllen Nature Center, McAllen, Hidalgo County, [[Texas]], [[USA]], April 2017 ]]
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Overhead is similar in shape to the [[European Starling]], but flight more buoyant and gliding.
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==Distribution==
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Breeds from [[British Columbia]], central interior [[Canada]], and [[Nova Scotia]], south to [[Mexico]], but absent from interior western mountains and Great Basin..
  
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==Nesting: ==
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Winters in tropics. Migrates south to [[Brazil]]. Common in the state of São Paulo.
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4 or 5 white eggs in a mass of grass and other plant material placed in a cavity -- sometimes a hole in a tree or a martin house with many separate compartments, where the birds nest in a colony.
 
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<p>
 
  
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==Range: ==
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Accidental vagrant to the [[UK]] and to [[Argentina]].
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Breeds from British Columbia, central interior Canada, and Nova Scotia southward, but absent from interior western mountains and Great Basin. Winters in tropics.
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==Taxonomy==
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<p>
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====Subspecies====
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[[Image:Purple Martin 2016-30.jpg|thumb|350px|right|Likely a female<br />Photo &copy; by {{user|Hughv|Hughv}}<br />College Park, [[Maryland]], May 2016]]
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This is a [[Dictionary_M-S#P|polytypic]] species<sup>[[#References|[1]]]</sup> consisting of three subspecies<sup>[[#References|[1]]]</sup>:
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*''P. s. subis'' - much of eastern 3/4 [[North America]] from [[Canada]] to [[Mexico]], winters in Amazonian [[Brazil]]
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*''P. s. arboricola'' - western North America, winters in Atlantic South East Brazil
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*''P. s. hesperia'' - [[Arizona]] and western Mexico, winters in [[South America]]
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==Habitat==
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Forest edges, open woodlands, residential areas, and agricultural land. Often near water.
  
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==Voice: ==
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==Behaviour==
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Liquid gurgling warble. Also a penetrating tee-tee-tee.
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====Diet====
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<p>
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Their diet consists almost entirely of air-borne insects, particularly ants, wasps and bees.
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====Breeding====
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Their nest is made of grass and plant material. In most of their range they will nest exclusively in man-made nest boxes, though some birds will use tree cavities west of the Rocky Mountains. The clutch consists of 4-5 white eggs.
  
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==Discussion: ==
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====Vocalisation====
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The custom of erecting a martin house to attract these beneficial birds was practiced by the early settlers and, before them, by the southern Indian tribes, who hung clusters of hollow gourds in trees near their gardens. In other areas, the species nested in tall dead trees riddled with woodpecker holes, but these original colonies never reached the size -- as many as 200 pairs -- of colonies found in large martin houses today. In the West, it tends not to occupy martin houses, preferring the open countryside or downtown areas, and is becoming scarcer, probably due to competition with European Starlings for nest sites.
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The call is ''tchew-wew'', or ''pew pew''.
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==Identification==
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==References==
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Photographed near Houston, Texas, USA.
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#{{Ref-Clements6thAug17}}#Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive (retrieved August 2017)
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#Wikipedia
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{{ref}}
 
==External Links==
 
==External Links==
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*[http://www.birdforum.net/pp_gallery/showgallery.php?si=+Progne+subis&x=11&y=8&perpage=24&sort=1&cat=all&ppuser=&friendemail=email%40yourfriend.com&password= View more images of Purple Martin in the gallery]
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{{GSearch|"Progne subis" {{!}} "Purple Martin"}}
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[[Category:Birds]]
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{{GS-checked}}1
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<br />
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<br />
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[[Category:Birds]] [[Category:Progne]]

Latest revision as of 15:40, 9 June 2023

Male
Photo © by HelenB
Houston, Texas, USA
Progne subis

Identification

7-8 1/2" (18-22 cm).
The adult male is a dark steel-blue.
Females and Juveniles are duller, with grey underparts. It takes 2 years for these birds to attain full adult breeding plumage. This can make it difficult to identify the birds.

Flight

First Summer male
Photo © by Stanley Jones
McAllen Nature Center, McAllen, Hidalgo County, Texas, USA, April 2017

Overhead is similar in shape to the European Starling, but flight more buoyant and gliding.

Distribution

Breeds from British Columbia, central interior Canada, and Nova Scotia, south to Mexico, but absent from interior western mountains and Great Basin..

Winters in tropics. Migrates south to Brazil. Common in the state of São Paulo.

Accidental vagrant to the UK and to Argentina.

Taxonomy

Subspecies

Likely a female
Photo © by Hughv
College Park, Maryland, May 2016

This is a polytypic species[1] consisting of three subspecies[1]:

Habitat

Forest edges, open woodlands, residential areas, and agricultural land. Often near water.

Behaviour

Diet

Their diet consists almost entirely of air-borne insects, particularly ants, wasps and bees.

Breeding

Their nest is made of grass and plant material. In most of their range they will nest exclusively in man-made nest boxes, though some birds will use tree cavities west of the Rocky Mountains. The clutch consists of 4-5 white eggs.

Vocalisation

The call is tchew-wew, or pew pew.

References

  1. Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2017. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: v2017, with updates to August 2017. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
  2. Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive (retrieved August 2017)
  3. Wikipedia

Recommended Citation

External Links

GSearch checked for 2020 platform.1

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