Order
Passeriformes
Family
Hirundinidae
Genus
Progne
 
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Version 1.0

This is a historic version of this account.  Current version

SPECIES

Caribbean Martin Progne dominicensis

Nathan R. Williams
Version: 1.0 — Published April 15, 2010

Behavior

Introduction

Forages for insects in flight. Often flies from  tens to hundreds of meters above the ground when foraging, but have also been known to forage low over fields. Flight consists of periods of gliding alternated with gentle flapping (Turner and Rose 1989).

Territoriality

Breeding males defend a territory (Turner and Rose 1989). May nest colonially, however, with up to 30 pairs nesting within a single brick chimney (Turner and Rose 1989).

Sexual Behavior

Males attack intruders to a territory via the Head Forward Thrust display, continuously flicking their wings and tail, snapping their bill, lunging, and sometimes physically fighting.  A retreating rival will use a High-Up display.  The victorious rival will often advertise the territory with a Claiming-Reclaiming display of circling or flying in a figure eight over the nest.  Mates will greet each other using a Gaping display (Turner and Ros, 1989).

Social and interspecific behavior

No information.

Predation

Very little information. Wiley (2010) reports small numbers of Caribbean Martins in the diets of both Ashy-faced Owl (Tyto glaucops) and Barn Owl (Tyto alba) on Hispaniola. Martins were detected at a percent frequency of 0.10 (n = 3827) in regurgitated pellets and prey remains from Tyto glaucops, and at a percent frequency of 0.02 (n = 4495) in the diet of Tyto alba.

Recommended Citation

Williams, N. R. (2010). Caribbean Martin (Progne dominicensis), version 1.0. In Neotropical Birds Online (T. S. Schulenberg, Editor). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/nb.carmar1.01