Difference between revisions of "Purple Martin" - BirdForum Opus

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]:

P. s. subis - much of eastern 3/4 North America from Canada to Mexico, winters in Amazonian Brazil
P. s. arboricola - western North America, winters in Atlantic South East Brazil
P. s. hesperia - Arizona and western Mexico, winters in South America

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

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/
Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive (retrieved August 2017)
Wikipedia

List of references

Recommended Citation

BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Purple Martin. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 12 May 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Purple_Martin

External Links

Search for photos of Purple Martin in the gallery

GSearch checked for 2020 platform.1

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-;Progne subis
+[[Image:Purple_Martin.jpg|thumb|550px|right|Male<br />Photo &copy; by {{user|HelenB|HelenB}} <br/>Houston, [[Texas]], [[USA]]]]
-[[Image:Purple_Martin.jpg|thumb|550px|right|Photo by HelenB]]
+;[[:Category:Progne|Progne]] subis
-Photographed near Houston, Texas, USA.
-==Identification: ==
--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.
-The Purple Martin (Progne subis) is the largest North American swallow at 20 cm length. Adults have a slightly forked tail. These "aerial acrobats" have speed and agility in flight, and when approaching their housing, will dive from the sky with their wings tucked at great speeds.
-Proper identification of Purple Martins is determined by their age. It takes two years for this species to reach their full adult breeding plumage. This makes identification complicated. There are some common acronyms used in identifying the age and sex of Purple Martins. "HY" means "hatching year", "SY" means "second year" and "ASY" means "after second year".
-ASY (adult birds)
-Adult males are entirely black with glossy steel blue sheen, and adult females are dark on top with some steel blue sheen, and lighter underparts.
-SY (subadult birds)
-Females look similar to "ASY" females minus the steel blue sheen on the back. Males look very much like females at this age, but they will have solid black feathers starting to emerge on their chest in a blotchy, random pattern as they moult to their adult plumage.
+==Identification==
+-8 1/2" (18-22 cm).<br />
+The adult male is a dark steel-blue. <br />
+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====
+[[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 ]]
+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 southward, but absent from interior western mountains and Great Basin. Winters in tropics.  Their breeding habitat is open areas across eastern North America, and also some locations on the west coast from British Columbia to Mexico. It is seldom found in Florida (AOU 2000). This species typically breeds in colonies located in close proximity to human housing.
+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====
+[[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]]
+This is a [[Dictionary_M-S#P|polytypic]] species<sup>[[#References|[1]]]</sup> consisting of three subspecies<sup>[[#References|[1]]]</sup>:
+*''P. s. subis'' - much of eastern 3/4 [[North America]] from [[Canada]] to [[Mexico]], winters in Amazonian [[Brazil]]
+*''P. s. arboricola'' - western North America, winters in Atlantic South East Brazil
+*''P. s. hesperia'' - [[Arizona]] and western Mexico, winters in [[South America]]
 ==Habitat==
-Open woodlands, residential areas, and agricultural land.
+Forest edges, open woodlands, residential areas, and agricultural land. Often near water.
 ==Behaviour==
-Purple martins are aerial insectivores, meaning that they catch insects from the air. The birds are agile hunters and eat a variety of winged insects. Rarely, on occasion, they will come to the ground to eat insects. They usually fly relatively high, so, contrary to popular opinion, mosquitos do not form a large part of their diet.
+====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.
-The call is described as: "Throaty and rich tchew-wew, etc., or pew pew. Song gurgling, ending in a succession of low rich gutturals".[
+====Vocalisation====
+The call is ''tchew-wew'', or ''pew pew''.
-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.
+==References==
+#{{Ref-Clements6thAug17}}#Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive (retrieved August 2017)
+#Wikipedia
+{{ref}}
+==External Links==
+{{GSearch|"Progne subis" {{!}} "Purple Martin"}}
+{{GS-checked}}1
+<br />
+<br />
-Its voice is a liquid gurgling warble. Also a penetrating tee-tee-tee.
+[[Category:Birds]] [[Category:Progne]]
-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.
-==External Links==
-*[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]
-[[Category:Birds]]