Trinidad: Grey-breasted Martin - Progne chalybea

On one of day trips away from Asa Wright we stopped for lunch at a beach. On the wires along the road were a number of perched birds, most of which proved to be Gray-breasted Martins, Progne chalybea. They are gregarious fly-catching birds that often fly high to catch their insect prey. Most are resident in Trinidad, although their subspecies, P. c. chalybea, has a range that includes extends from Mexico down to central Brazil. Rarely ever seen in Tobago. On at least 2 occasions they have strayed from northern Mexico into southern Texas. They are about 7" long, and nest in cavities.

As you can see, the male and female are quite different, as seen in our Purple Martins and others. The male see here has blue-black upperparts, dark gray on the breast and streaky gray below that gets lighter toward the vent. The female is a dull borwnish-black version of the male. The similar Caribbean Martin has a black breast.

Taxonomy: All 9 species in the Genus Progne are called "Martin including our Purple Martin, P. subis. I gather that "Martin" sort of mean "a large swallow". The family Hirundidae, the Swallows and Martins, totals about 83 species. Besides the 9 Progne Martins, there are 15 other swallow species with "Martin" in their name, and about 5 swallow species called "Sawwings". The remainder are all called Swallow. The Progne Martins are only in the New World, but other Martins are found in Eurasia and Africa.