The Purple Martin (Progne subis) is our largest swallow, and one of the largest of the world's 89 swallow species. Most commonly seen in the eastern half of the U.S., where the species takes readily to "martin houses". In Northern California Purple Martins breed locally in smaller numbers along Bolinas Ridge and Inverness Ridge (see Shuford's Marin County Breeding Bird Atlas), nesting in old woodpecker holes. Nesting sites may be limited in some areas due to pre-emptive use by Starlings or House Sparrows, and western populations have significantly declined over the years.
The male is a study in glossy black, with a forked tail and long wings. They often use the martin house as a perch between foraging flights:
The Purple Martin hunts higher than other swallows, flying in a flap-and-glide circle about 50' in diameter like a Tree Swallow, eating all variety of flying insects. We like to think swallows eat mosquitoes, and maybe some do, but the Purple Martin flies too high to find any, and prefers larger prey, even eating dragonflies and cicadas. The young quickly learn to forage for themselves, and here a young male (right) returns to the family home, displacing an adult male from his perch:
Purple Martin is a long-distance migrant, traveling as far as southern Brazil for the winter. Male and female distinctly different, while some species of Martins such as Gray-breasted and Brown-chested are monomorphic. The Purple is the only Martin seen regularly in the U.S. The female and the juveniles are similar, and the bird that displaced the adult is likely a juvenile male:
We saw the Purple Martins flying above ponds and open fields, but landing only on Martin condos present at most refuges. These Purple Martins were seen at Hammonasset State Beach, CT, in August, 2014. This large dark swallow is not easily confused with other species seen in the U.S.
The genus Progne takes it name from Procne, a woman in greek mytholgy. Procne, a daughter of Pandion (a mythological king of Athens) was turned into a swallow by the gods as punishment for committing infanticide, the details of which are rather distasteful. Her co-conspirator sister Philomena was turned into a Nightengale, and the object of their heinous crime was Tereus, the King of Thrace, who was turned into a hawk, or maybe a hoopoe.
