Peruvian Martin

About the Peruvian Martin

The Peruvian martin (Progne murphyi) is a Near Threatened species of bird in the family Hirundinidae, the swallows and martins. It is found in primarily in Peru and far northern Chile with some records in Colombia. The Peruvian martin was originally described by Frank M. Chapman as Progne murphyi. Chapman named it honor of Robert Cushman Murphy, who collected the specimens that enabled him to describe the new species. For much of the twentieth century many authors treated the Peruvian martin and southern martin (P. elegans) as conspecific with the Galapagos martin (P. modesta). By the end of the century this treatment was in question and a study published in 2008 confirmed it as a separate species.

The Peruvian martin is monotypic. The Peruvian martin is 16.5 to 17 cm (6.5 to 6.7 in) long and weighs 30 to 37 g (1.1 to 1.3 oz). The sexes are dimorphic. Adult males have a glossy blue-black head and upperparts. Their tail is slightly forked; it and their wings are fuscous-black with a slight bluish sheen on their coverts. Their underparts are somewhat bluer and duller than their upperparts with fuscous-black undertail coverts. Females have... Wikipedia →