Purple Martin (Progne subis) [XC14955]
by Bernabe Lopez-Lanus from California Park, Routt Co., Colorado, United States (call)
Purple Martin (Progne subis) [XC228616]
by . High Pass Filter to 2200Hz with a rolloff of 24dB to remove nearby road noise. \r\n\r\nWell known Purple Finch colony in Belgrade, Maine. The colony consists of I think 6 multi unit houses that have been there a while and a new gourd setup. Both male and females observed. Also some hungry mouths out of some of the houses would have appeared to been nestlings. \r\n\r\nSound type marked as song as there was a lot of the noise made while hunting insects. However at one point a Tree Swallow encroached on the area while I was watching a few minutes later so it is possible there is some alarm call as a few of the Purple Martins engaged that Tree Swallow to run him off. With the hungry mouths showing out the side of some of the boxes it is possible there are some begging calls in there as well. \r\nPlumage was a mix of the male and female, rich in color. \r\nWeather was bright and sunny and clear. Light wind enough to allow the bugs up so they were out hunting in numbers. from Fort Smith, AR, United States (call)
Subspecies
Forms a superspecies with all congeners except Brown-chested Martin (Progne tapera). Sometimes considered conspecific with Cuban Martin (Progne cryptoleuca), Caribbean Martin (Progne dominicensis) and Sinaloa Martin (Progne sinaloae). Taxonomy uncertain, and subspecific status of birds in northern Rockies, on Pacific coast, and in south-western USA and Mexico unclear. Birds from southern Arizona described as subspecies oberholseri, usually considered synonymous with hesperia.
The following 3 subspecies are recognised:
arboricola Behle, 1968 - Mountains of western North America (probably including Pacific North-west) east to Rocky Mts and south to north-western and northern Mexico (including northern Baja California). Winters probably in South America.
subis (Linnaeus, 1758) - East of Rocky Mts, from southern Canada (central Alberta and central Saskatchewan east to south-western and southern Ontario, southern Quebec, eastern New Brunswick and north-western Nova Scotia) south to southern USA (eastern from central Plains States, western Kansas and central and south-western Texas) and central Mexican Highlands. Winters in South America east of Andes.
hesperia Brewster, 1889 - South-western USA (southern Arizona lowlands) and north-western Mexico (southern Baja California, and lowlands south to south-central Sonora, possibly along coast to northern Sinaloa and on Gulf of California islands); probably winters in South America.