Progne dominicensis
The Caribbean Martin (Progne dominicensis) is a medium-sized, sleek aerial insectivore belonging to the swallow family, Hirundinidae. Adult males are strikingly iridescent blue-black across their upperparts, contrasting sharply with their clean white belly and undertail coverts, giving them a distinctive 'two-toned' appearance. Measuring approximately 18-19 cm (7-7.5 inches) in length with a wingspan around 38 cm (15 inches) and weighing 38-51g, they possess a moderately forked tail well-suit...
Found in open country, coastal cliffs, urban areas, and savannas, typically at low to moderate elevations from sea level up to around 1,000 meters.
Their diet consists almost exclusively of a wide variety of flying insects, including flies, beetles, dragonflies, moths, bees, and wasps, all caught on the wing through aerial hawking.
Caribbean Martins are highly social and diurnal birds, often seen foraging in graceful, swooping flight over open fields or water. Outside the breeding season, they form large, communal roosts, sometimes numbering in the thousands. During courtship, males engage in aerial displays, chasing female...
The breeding range of the Caribbean Martin spans across the Greater Antilles, including Cuba, Jamaica, Hispaniola (Dominican Republic and Haiti), and Puerto Rico, as well as extending throughout most of the Lesser Antilles. While occasionally observed as a vagrant in the Bahamas and Florida, thes...
Least Concern
- Caribbean Martins are one of the most acrobatic fliers among swallows, capable of rapid dives and turns while hunting. - Unlike many migratory birds that cross large landmasses, this species undertakes significant overwater migrations between its Caribbean breeding grounds and South American wi...