Banded Martin (Neophedina cincta) [XC758520]
by id from Chikuni, Bangweulu, Zambia (flight call)
Banded Martin (Neophedina cincta) [XC398157]
by Tony Archer from Plains around Chelinda, Nyika NP, Malawi (call)
Subspecies
Relationship to others in genus not clear. Has sometimes been placed in a monotypic genus Neophedina on basis of its large size, bill and nostril shapes, loral bristles, squarer tail and more solitary lifestyle. Initial DNA-DNA hybridization studies also did not support a close relationship, but cytochrome b data suggest that this species and Sand Martin (Riparia riparia) are sister-taxa.
The following 5 subspecies are recognised:
erlangeri Reichenow, 1905 - Ethiopia.
suahelica van Someren, 1922 - Southern Sudan, eastern and south-eastern DRCongo, Uganda, western Kenya, Rwanda, Burundi, north-western and southern Tanzania, Zambia, Malawi, northern Zimbabwe and western Mozambique.
parvula Amadon, 1954 - Northern Angola (northern Bengo east to Lunda Norte), south-western DRCongo and north-western Zambia, possibly also southern Gabon and southern PRCongo; migrates northern at least to Cameroon.
xerica Clancey & Irwin, 1966 - Western and southern Angola (Cabinda, and southern Bengo and Luanda east to southern Lunda Sul and Moxico and south to Huíla), northern Namibia and northern Botswana, possibly also north-western Zimbabwe.
cincta (Boddaert, 1783) - Southern Zimbabwe, south-eastern Botswana, South Africa, Lesotho and Swaziland; migrates northern at least to Angola and DRCongo.
BirdLife International Species Factsheet