Tree Martin
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The tree martin (''Petrochelidon nigricans'') is a member of the
swallow The swallows, martins, and saw-wings, or Hirundinidae are a family of passerine songbirds found around the world on all continents, including occasionally in Antarctica. Highly adapted to aerial feeding, they have a distinctive appearance. The ...
family of
passerine A passerine () is any bird of the order Passeriformes (; from Latin 'sparrow' and '-shaped') which includes more than half of all bird species. Sometimes known as perching birds, passerines generally have an anisodactyl arrangement of their ...
bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class (biology), class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the Oviparity, laying of Eggshell, hard-shelled eggs, a high Metabolism, metabolic rate, a fou ...
s. It breeds in
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
, mostly south of latitude 20°S and on
Timor Timor (, , ) is an island at the southern end of Maritime Southeast Asia, in the north of the Timor Sea. The island is Indonesia–Timor-Leste border, divided between the sovereign states of Timor-Leste in the eastern part and Indonesia in the ...
island. It is migratory, wintering through most of Australia,
New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; , fossilized , also known as Papua or historically ) is the List of islands by area, world's second-largest island, with an area of . Located in Melanesia in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is ...
,
Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...
east of the
Wallace Line The Wallace Line or Wallace's Line is a faunal boundary line drawn in 1859 by the British naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace and named by the English biologist Thomas Henry Huxley. It separates the biogeographic realms of Asia and 'Wallacea', a ...
and the
Solomon Islands Solomon Islands, also known simply as the Solomons,John Prados, ''Islands of Destiny'', Dutton Caliber, 2012, p,20 and passim is an island country consisting of six major islands and over 1000 smaller islands in Melanesia, part of Oceania, t ...
. It is a vagrant to
New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...
, where it has bred, and
New Caledonia New Caledonia ( ; ) is a group of islands in the southwest Pacific Ocean, southwest of Vanuatu and east of Australia. Located from Metropolitan France, it forms a Overseas France#Sui generis collectivity, ''sui generis'' collectivity of t ...
. This species is frequently placed in the genus ''Hirundo'' as ''Hirundo nigricans''. This is a bird of open woodland, preferably with large trees to provide nest holes. It is increasingly common in urban and suburban areas.


Taxonomy

The tree martin was formally described in 1817 by the French ornithologist Louis Vieillot under the
binomial name In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, both of which use Latin grammatical forms, altho ...
''Hirundo nigricans''. The specific epithet is
Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...
meaning "blackish". Vieillot gave the type locality as "Nouvelle-Hollande" (New South Wales) but this has been corrected to
Hobart Hobart ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the island state of Tasmania, Australia. Located in Tasmania's south-east on the estuary of the River Derwent, it is the southernmost capital city in Australia. Despite containing nearly hal ...
, Tasmania. The tree martin is now one of ten swallows placed in the genus ''
Petrochelidon ''Petrochelidon'' is a genus of birds known as cliff-nesting swallows. The genus name ''Petrochelidon'' is from the Greek words ''petra'', "rock", and ''khelidon'', "swallow". The genus includes all of the five species of birds commonly called ...
'' that was introduced in 1851 by the German ornithologist
Jean Cabanis Jean Louis Cabanis (8 March 1816 – 20 February 1906) was a German ornithologist. He worked at the bird collections of the Natural History Museum in Berlin becoming its first curator of birds in 1850. He founded the ''Journal für Ornithologie ...
. Three
subspecies In Taxonomy (biology), biological classification, subspecies (: subspecies) is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (Morphology (biology), morpholog ...
are recognised: *''P. n. timoriensis'' Sharpe, 1885 – the smallest subspecies, breeds on
Sumba Sumba (; ), natively also spelt as Humba, Hubba, Suba, or Zuba (in Sumba languages) is an Indonesian island (part of the Lesser Sunda Archipelago group) located in the Eastern Indonesia and administratively part of the East Nusa Tenggara pro ...
,
Timor Timor (, , ) is an island at the southern end of Maritime Southeast Asia, in the north of the Timor Sea. The island is Indonesia–Timor-Leste border, divided between the sovereign states of Timor-Leste in the eastern part and Indonesia in the ...
and Alor Island (southwest, east
Lesser Sunda Islands The Lesser Sunda Islands (, , ), now known as Nusa Tenggara Islands (, or "Southeast Islands"), are an archipelago in the Indonesian archipelago. Most of the Lesser Sunda Islands are located within the Wallacea region, except for the Bali pro ...
). It has dark streaks on the throat and neck. *''P. n. neglecta'' Mathews, 1912 – breeds in western and northern Australia. It is slightly smaller than nominate ''nigricans'' at in length. *''P. n. nigricans'' ( Vieillot, 1817) – the largest subspecies, breeds in eastern Australia, except northern
Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...
and Tasmania. It is the form that has bred in New Zealand.


Description

The tree martin averages in length and has a shallowly forked tail. The adult has an iridescent blue back and crown, brown wings and tail, a
rufous Rufous () is a color that may be described as reddish-brown or brownish- red, as of rust or oxidised iron. The first recorded use of ''rufous'' as a color name in English was in 1782. However, the color is also recorded earlier in 1527 as a d ...
forehead and a whitish rump. The underparts are white. The sexes are similar, but young birds are duller and browner, with a paler forehead and pale fringes to the back and wing feathers. The call of this vocal swallow is a ''tsweet'' and the song is a high-pitched twitter. This species can be distinguished from other Australian swallows by its tail shape and pale rump. The most similar species, the fairy martin, has a rufous head and nape.


Behaviour

Tree martins breed, depending on region, from July through to January, either in pairs or semi-colonially depending on nest site availability. Nests are constructed in natural holes in dead trees or rock crevices, but increasingly in artificial sites on bridges and buildings. This is most common in western Australia, where breeding occurs even in large cities like
Adelaide Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...
and
Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...
. Tree martins also occasionally reline the nests of
welcome swallow The welcome swallow (''Hirundo neoxena'') is a small passerine bird in the swallow family Hirundinidae that is native to Australia and Melanesia, nearby islands. It has self-introduced into New Zealand in the middle of the twentieth century. It ...
s, and may displace the owners to obtain the nest. The nest, unusually for a cliff swallow, is often made just from grass and leaves, but may be reinforced with mud. A mud and plant fibre cement is also used to reduce the width of the entrance to the breeding hole. The clutch is 3–5, usually four, brown and mauve-spotted white eggs, and this species is often double-brooded. Tree martins have a fast twisting flight and feed higher than welcome swallows, often more than 6 m above the ground. They are frequently seen above the canopy of tall eucalyptus trees catching aerial
insect Insects (from Latin ') are Hexapoda, hexapod invertebrates of the class (biology), class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body (Insect morphology#Head, head, ...
s, but will also feed on insect swarms low over water. This species can be highly gregarious when not breeding, and will form mixed flocks with fairy martins. Tree martin (Petrochelidon nigricans nigricans) South Bruny.jpg, with nesting material, South Bruny Tree martin (Petrochelidon nigricans nigricans) in fight Maria Island.jpg, Maria Island Image:Tree Martin and chicks in nest.jpg, Tree martin with two hungry chicks.


References


Further reading

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q2668013 tree martin Birds of Australia Birds of Timor tree martin Taxa named by Louis Pierre Vieillot