Tree Martin
Encyclopedia
The Tree Martin is a member of the swallow
family of passerine
bird
s. It breeds in Australia
, mostly south of latitude 20°S
, and in Timor
. It is migratory
wintering through most of Australia, New Guinea
, Indonesia
east of the Wallace Line
and the Solomon Islands
. It is a vagrant to New Zealand
, where it has bred, and New Caledonia
. 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.
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
The Tree Martin has three subspecies:
and Perth
. Tree Martins also occasionally reline the nests of Welcome Swallow
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 tall eucalyptus trees catching aerial insect
s above the canopy, 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.
Swallow
The swallows and martins are a group of passerine birds in the family Hirundinidae which are characterised by their adaptation to aerial feeding...
family of passerine
Passerine
A passerine is a bird of the order Passeriformes, which includes more than half of all bird species. Sometimes known as perching birds or, less accurately, as songbirds, the passerines form one of the most diverse terrestrial vertebrate orders: with over 5,000 identified species, it has roughly...
bird
Bird
Birds are feathered, winged, bipedal, endothermic , egg-laying, vertebrate animals. Around 10,000 living species and 188 families makes them the most speciose class of tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Extant birds range in size from...
s. It breeds in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, mostly south of latitude 20°S
20th parallel south
The 20th parallel south is a circle of latitude that is 20 degrees south of the Earth's equatorial plane. It crosses the Atlantic Ocean, Africa, the Indian Ocean, Australasia, the Pacific Ocean and South America....
, and in Timor
Timor
Timor is an island at the southern end of Maritime Southeast Asia, north of the Timor Sea. It is divided between the independent state of East Timor, and West Timor, belonging to the Indonesian province of East Nusa Tenggara. The island's surface is 30,777 square kilometres...
. It is migratory
Bird migration
Bird migration is the regular seasonal journey undertaken by many species of birds. Bird movements include those made in response to changes in food availability, habitat or weather. Sometimes, journeys are not termed "true migration" because they are irregular or in only one direction...
wintering through most of Australia, New Guinea
New Guinea
New Guinea is the world's second largest island, after Greenland, covering a land area of 786,000 km2. Located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, it lies geographically to the east of the Malay Archipelago, with which it is sometimes included as part of a greater Indo-Australian Archipelago...
, Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
east of the Wallace Line
Wallace Line
The Wallace Line separates the ecozones of Asia and Wallacea, a transitional zone between Asia and Australia. West of the line are found organisms related to Asiatic species; to the east, a mixture of species of Asian and Australian origin is present...
and the Solomon Islands
Solomon Islands
Solomon Islands is a sovereign state in Oceania, east of Papua New Guinea, consisting of nearly one thousand islands. It covers a land mass of . The capital, Honiara, is located on the island of Guadalcanal...
. It is a vagrant to New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
, where it has bred, and New Caledonia
New Caledonia
New Caledonia is a special collectivity of France located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, east of Australia and about from Metropolitan France. The archipelago, part of the Melanesia subregion, includes the main island of Grande Terre, the Loyalty Islands, the Belep archipelago, the Isle of...
. 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.
Description
The Tree Martin averages 13 cm long and has a shallowly forked tail. The adult has an iridescent blue back and crown, brown wings and tail, a rufous 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
Fairy Martin
The Fairy Martin is a member of the swallow family of passerine birds which breeds in Australia. It is migratory wintering through most of Australia, with some birds reaching New Guinea and Indonesia. It is increasing a wanderer to New Zealand, and may have bred. This species is frequently placed...
, has a rufous head and nape
The Tree Martin has three subspecies:
- H. n. nigricans, the largest subspecies, breeds in eastern Australia, except northern QueenslandQueenslandQueensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...
, and is the form that has bred in New Zealand. - H. n.neglecta breeds in western and northern Australia. It is slightly smaller than nominate nigricans at 11–12 cm length.
- H. n. timoriensis, the smallest subspecies, breeds mainly in Timor. It has dark streaks on the troat and neck.
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 AdelaideAdelaide
Adelaide is the capital city of South Australia and the fifth-largest city in Australia. Adelaide has an estimated population of more than 1.2 million...
and Perth
Perth, Western Australia
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia and the fourth most populous city in Australia. The Perth metropolitan area has an estimated population of almost 1,700,000....
. Tree Martins also occasionally reline the nests of Welcome Swallow
Welcome Swallow
The Welcome Swallow is a small passerine bird in the swallow family.It is a species native to Australia and nearby islands, but not until recently to New Zealand, which has been colonised in the last half century...
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 tall eucalyptus trees catching aerial insect
Insect
Insects are a class of living creatures within the arthropods that have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body , three pairs of jointed legs, compound eyes, and two antennae...
s above the canopy, 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.