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.

This species was first described by Linnaeus in his Systema naturae in 1758 as Hirundo subis.^[1]

Description

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.

West Coast Purple Martins on a nest box near Fern Ridge Reservoir, Oregon

The paler subspecies P. s. hesperia of Arizona and western Mexico uses only woodpecker holes in Saguaro and other large cacti, and the large pale west coast form P. s. arboricola utilises woodpecker and other natural cavities as well as nesting boxes and gourds.

The call is described as: "Throaty and rich tchew-wew, etc., or pew pew. Song gurgling, ending in a succession of low rich gutturals".^[2] Purple Martins also have a "dawnsong". Tapes of this song are sold to attract martins to newly established birdhouses.

Distribution and ecology

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^[3]. This species typically breeds in colonies located in close proximity to human housing.

The Purple Martin migrates to the Amazon basin in winter. Its winter range extends into Ecuador^[4] but does not seem to ascend far up the Andean foothills.

The first record of this species in Europe was a single bird on Lewis, Scotland on 5-6 September 2004, and the second was on the Azores on 6 September 2004.

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.

See also

• Tree Swallow - many similar characteristics
• Barn Swallow - these Swallows may be attracted to "Purple Martin Houses" and thus confused with Purple Martins

Footnotes

References

• (AOU) (2000): Forty-second supplement to the American Ornithologists' Union Check-list of North American Birds. Auk 117(3): 847?858. DOI: 10.1642/0004-8038(2000)117[0847:FSSTTA]2.0.CO;2
• Database entry includes justification for why this species is of least concern
• (2006): Información sobre la distribución de algunas especies de aves de Ecuador. ["Information on the distribution of some species of birds of Ecuador"]. Boletín de la Sociedad Antioqueña de Ornitología 16(1): 7-16. [Spanish with English abstract] PDF fulltext
• (2002): The Purple Martin. University of Texas Press. ISBN 9780292716155
• (1980): A Completely New Guide to All the Birds of Eastern and Central North America (4th ed.). Houghton Mifflin, Boston. ISBN 999751436X

External links

• Purple Martin Conservation Association
• The Purple Martin Society, NA
• Minnesota Purple Martins
• 
• Stamps (for Saint Vincent and the Grenadines)
• Purple Martin videos on the Internet Bird Collection
• How to Help Purple Martins - National Audubon Society

• Purple Martin photo gallery VIREO

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