Sizeable flock of Purple Martins in the mountains of central Bolivia

During 9–11 October 2012 a group of c. 50 Purple Martins (Progne subis) was recorded at the San Carlos cliffs, in the municipality of Omereque, Cochabamba, Bolivia, where a colony of Red-fronted Macaws (Ara rubrogenys) is protected within a local reserve. The martins were seen both perching on the cliffs and feeding in flight over the river below the cliffs (Río Mizque), at an altitude of c. 1600 m. The flock comprised males, females, and probably also juveniles or immatures. The Purple Martin winters in South America, mainly in the lowlands east of the Andes, but the precise winter range is imperfectly known, although main wintering areas appear to be in eastern Bolivia and in the Brazilian states of Mato Grosso do Sul, São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and Espírito Santo (Tarof & Brown 2013).

Reference:

Tarof, S. & Brown, C.R. (2013). Purple Martin (Progne subis), The Birds of North America Online (A. Poole, Ed.). Ithaca: Cornell Lab of Ornithology; retrieved from the Birds of North America Online: http://bna.birds.cornell.edu.bnaproxy.birds.cornell.edu/bna/species/287