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TREE MARTIN FACTS |
Description
Medium-small stocky swallow. Head, nape and back glossy blue-black. Sides of neck and breast mottled and streaked buff or white; front part of forehead red-brown. Rump light grey. Length 12 cm; wingspan to 28 cm. This bird can be mistaken for a Fairy Martin (Hirundo ariel) but the Fairy Martin’s cap is reddish, while the Tree Martin’s is glossy blue-black. The Fairy Martin is also paler underneath.
These birds eat ants, beetles, bugs, flies and wasps, which they forage for in flight, sometimes rapidly accelerating in pursuit. They have a pleasant twittering song.
Author credit: Alexis Tindall / South Australian Museum
Habitat
Very diverse habitats, open, shrublands, woodlands and coasts. Often around wetlands, including freshwater and salt.
Food
Insectivore
Range
Across Australia
Credits:
Map is from Atlas of Living Australia website at https://biocache.ala.org.au licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
Species Description is from Museums Field Guide, Atlas of Living Australia at website at https://lists.ala.org.au Licensed under Creative Commons Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
Classification
| Class: | Aves | | Order: | Passeriformes | | Family: | Hirundinidae | | Genus: | Petrochelidon | | Species: | nigricans | | Common Name: | Tree Martin |
Relatives in same Genus
Fairy Martin (P. ariel)
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