Purple Martin

Purple Martin ( Progne subis )

The purple martin ( Progne subis ) is an American Singvogelart.

Features

With 20 cm in length, the purple martin is the largest representative of the swallows in North America. While the male has a shiny metallic black - blue plumage, the female is gray on the upper side black and blue and hand. The above gray - brown and whitish below fledglings get purple feathers in the first winter. The tail of the purple martin is forked. She catches insects in the air and even drinks in flight by flying low over the water surface and absorbs water with its beak.

Occurrence

The purple martin breeds of southern Canada to Mexico and winters in the Amazon basin. She lives in different habitats, both urban and agricultural areas as well as open forests and rainforests.

Reproduction

While the purple martin in the east broods almost exclusively in nest boxes, it benefits elsewhere abandoned woodpecker holes, holes in cacti and trees, and even rock cliffs for nesting. The breeding pairs that stay together for life, jointly build a cup-shaped nest of mud and plant material. The female incubates alone to seven eggs about two weeks off. The male helps again in the rearing of young birds. This fledge after four weeks, but are still another two weeks supplied by the parents with food.