Large rock martin

The large rock martin was formally described in 1842 by German physician, explorer and zoologist Hinrich Lichtenstein under the binomial name Hirundo fuligula.{{ cite book | last=Lichtenstein | first=Hinrich | author-link=Hinrich Lichtenstein | date=1842 | title=Verzeichniss einer Sammlung von Säugethieren und Vögeln aus dem Kaffernlande, nebst einer Käfersammlung | trans-title=Directory of a Collection of Mammals and Birds from the Kaffir country | language=de | location=Berlin | publisher=Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences | page=18 | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/29119840 }} The type locality was subsequently designated as the town of Makhanda in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa.{{ cite book | editor1-last=Mayr | editor1-first=Ernst | editor1-link=Ernst Mayr | editor2-last=Greenway | editor2-first=James C. Jr | year=1960 | title=Check-List of Birds of the World | volume=9 | publisher=Museum of Comparative Zoology | place=Cambridge, Massachusetts | page=104 | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/14480779 }} The species is now placed in the genus Ptyonoprogne that was introduced in 1850 by the German ornithologist Heinrich Gustav Reichenbach.{{ cite book | last=Reichenbach | first=Ludwig | author-link=Ludwig Reichenbach | year=1850 | title=Avium Systema Naturale | publisher=Expedition Vollständigsten Naturgeschichte | language=German | location=Dresden and Leipzig | at=Plate LXXXVII | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/47618541 }} The genus name is derived from the Ancient Greek {{transliteration|grc|ptuon}} ({{lang|grc|πτύον}}), "a fan", referring to the shape of the opened tail, and Procne ({{lang|grc|Πρόκνη}}), a mythological girl who was turned into a swallow.{{cite web|last=Scopoli|date=1769|title=Crag Martin Ptyonoprogne rupestris|url=http://blx1.bto.org/birdfacts/results/bob9910.htm|url-status=live|archive-url=https://archive.today/20121220115050/http://blx1.bto.org/birdfacts/results/bob9910.htm|archive-date=20 December 2012|access-date=28 March 2010|work=BirdFacts|publisher=British Trust for Ornithology}} The specific name fuligula means "sooty-throated", from the Latin {{lang|la|fuligo}}, "soot", and {{lang|la|gula}}, "throat".{{cite book|title=The Chambers Dictionary|year=2003|publisher=Chambers Harrap|location=Edinburgh|isbn=0-550-10013-X|edition=ninth|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/chambersdictiona0000unse_x2v6|pages=596, 660}}. The large rock martin was formerly considered to be conspecific with the red-throated rock martin (Ptyonoprogne rufigula) of central Afica with the English name "rock martin" for the combined taxa. The species were split based on morphological differences and phylogenomic analysis.{{Cite journal | last1=Schield | first1=D.R. | last2=Brown | first2=C.E. | last3=Shakya | first3=S.B. | last4=Calabrese | first4=G.M. | last5=Safran | first5=R.J. | last6=Sheldon | first6=F.H. | date=2024 | title=Phylogeny and historical biogeography of the swallow family (Hirundinidae) inferred from comparisons of thousands of UCE loci | journal=Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution | volume=197 | pages=108111 | doi=10.1016/j.ympev.2024.108111}} Other than the red-throated rock martin, its nearest relatives are the three other members of the genus, the pale crag martin (P. obsoleta) of north Africa, the dusky crag martin (P. concolor) of southern Asia and the Eurasian crag martin (P. rupestris).Turner (1989) pp. 158–164.

The five Ptyonoprogne species are members of the swallow family, and are placed in the subfamily Hirundininae, which comprises all swallows and martins except the very distinctive river martins. DNA sequence studies suggest that there are three major groupings within the Hirundininae, broadly correlating with the type of nest built.{{cite journal | last=Sheldon | first=Frederick H |author-link =Fred Sheldon (ornithologist)|author2=Whittingham, Linda A |author3=Moyle, Robert G |author4=Slikas, Beth |author5= Winkler, David W | year= 2005 | title=Phylogeny of swallows (Aves: Hirundinidae) estimated from nuclear and mitochondrial DNA | journal = Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution | volume=35 | issue =1 | pages= 254–270 | doi=10.1016/j.ympev.2004.11.008 | pmid=15737595}} The groups are the "core martins" including burrowing species like the sand martin, the "nest-adopters", which are birds like the tree swallow that utilise natural cavities, and the "mud nest builders". The Ptyonoprogne species construct open mud nests and therefore belong to the last group. Hirundo species also build open nests, Delichon house martins have a closed nest, and the Cecropis and Petrochelidon swallows have retort-like closed nests with an entrance tunnel.{{cite journal|last=Winkler|first=David W|author2=Sheldon, Frederick H|year=1993|title=Evolution of nest construction in swallows (Hirundinidae): A molecular phylogenetic perspective|journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences|volume=90|issue=12|pages=5705–5707|bibcode=1993PNAS...90.5705W|doi=10.1073/pnas.90.12.5705|pmc=46790|pmid=8516319|doi-access=free}}

The genus Ptyonoprogne is closely related to the larger swallow genus, Hirundo, but a DNA analysis published in 2005 showed that a coherent enlarged Hirundo should contain all mud-builder genera. Although the nests of the Ptyonoprogne crag martins resemble those of typical Hirundo species like the barn swallow, the DNA research suggested that if the Delichon house martins are considered to be a separate genus, as is normally the case, Cecropis, Petrochelidon and Ptyonoprogne should also be split off.

There are several subspecies differing in plumage shade or size, although the differences are clinal, and races interbreed where their ranges meet. The small, pale former subspecies (obsoleta, peroplasta, perpallida, presaharica, spatzi, arabica and buchanani) found in the mountains of North Africa, the Arabian peninsula and southwest Asia are now normally split as a separate species, the pale crag martin,Turner & Rose (1989) pp. 160–163. following German ornithologist Jean Cabanis, who first formally described these birds,{{cite book|last=Cabanis|first=Jean|title=Museum Heineanum Verzeichniss der ornithologischen Sammlung des Oberamtmann Ferdinand Heine auf Gut St. Burchard vor Halberstadt. Mit kritischen Anmerkungen und Beschriebung der neuen Arten, systematisch bearbeitet von Dr. Jean Cabanis, erstem Kustos der Königlichen zoologischen Sammlung zu Berlin|publisher=R. Frantz|year=1850|volume=1|location=Halberstadt|page=50|language=de|trans-title=The directory of the ornithological collection of bailiff Ferdinand Heine at the Museum Heineanum in Gut St. Burchard, Halberstadt. With critical remarks and descriptions of new species by Dr. Jean Cabanis, first curator of the Royal Zoological collection in Berlin.|author-link=Jean Cabanis}} but the changes in size and colour are continuous, and the forms often intergrade where they meet, so the evidence for separate species is not strong. The large rock martin can weigh more than twice as much as the smallest northern subspecies of pale crag martin. The average weight for P. f. fusciventris is {{convert|22.4|g|oz|abbr=on}} against {{convert|10|g|oz|abbr=on}} for P. o. obsoleta.Dunning (1993) p.327. The robust, large-billed southernmost forms (P. f. fuligula, P. f. pretoriae, and P. f. anderssoni) are sufficiently different from dark, fine-billed P. f. fusciventris that the latter could also be regarded as a potentially different species. However, Rhodesian ornithologist Michael Irwin collected specimens from southern Zimbabwe (then Rhodesia) which were dark above like P. f. fusciventris and rich reddish below like P. f. fuligula. This led him to suggest that the two groups had previously been isolated, but were probably hybridising following secondary contact.{{cite journal|last=Irwin|first=Michael P S|author-link=Michael Patrick Stuart Irwin|year=1977|title=Variation, geographical arcs and gene-flow within the populations of the rock martin Hirundo (Ptyonoprogne) fuligula in eastern, southern and south-western Africa|journal=Honeyguide|volume=91|pages=10–19}}

File:2008 02 27 Rock Martin.jpg

The large rock martin of the nominate subspecies P. f. fuligula is {{convert|12|-|15|cm|in|abbr=on}} long, with earth-brown upperparts and a short square tail that has small white patches near the tips of all but the central and outermost pairs of feathers. It has a cinnamon chin, throat, upper breast and underwing coverts, with the rest of the underparts being a similar brown to the upperparts. The eyes are brown, the small bill is mainly black, and the legs are brownish-pink. The sexes are similar in appearance, but juveniles have pale edges to the upperparts and flight feathers. The other subspecies differ from the nominate form as detailed above.

The large rock martin's flight is slow, with rapid wing beats interspersed with flat-winged glides, and it is more acrobatic than the larger Eurasian crag martin. It is a quiet bird; the song is a muffled twitter, and other calls include a {{'}}trrt{{'}} resembling the call of the common house martin, a nasal {{'}}vick{{'}},Mullarney et al. (1999) p. 240. and a high-pitched {{'}}twee{{'}} contact call.

The large rock martin is much drabber than most African swallows, and confusion is unlikely except with other crag martins or with sand martins of the genus Riparia. The pale crag martin is smaller, paler and greyer than its southern relative.Snow & Perrins (1998) pp. 1058–1059. Although only slightly larger than the sand martin and brown-throated sand martin, the large rock martin is more robust, has white tail spots, and lacks a breast band. It is paler on the throat, breast and underwings than the all-dark form of the brown-throated sand martin.Sinclair et al. (2002) p. 298.

The large rock martin breeds in suitable habitat in much of South Africa and Namibia. It is more patchily distributed in Zimbabwe and is absent from most of Botswana. It is largely resident apart from local movements or a descent to lower altitudes after breeding.{{ cite book | last=Earlé | first=R.A. | chapter=Rock Martin | editor1-last=Harrison | editor1-first=J.A. | editor2-last=Allan | editor2-first=D.G. | editor3-last=Underhill | editor3-first=L.G. | editor4-last=Herremans | editor4-first=M. | editor5-last=Tree | editor5-first=A.J. | editor6-last=Parker | editor6-first=V. | editor7-last=Brown | editor7-first=C.J. | year=1997 | title=The Atlas of Southern African Birds | volume=2: Passerines | location=Johannesburg | publisher=BirdLife South Africa | isbn=978-0-620-20731-7 | pages=70-71 | chapter-url=http://sabap2.adu.org.za/docs/sabap1/529.pdf }}

The natural breeding habitat is hilly or mountainous country with cliffs and escarpment ridges, often far from water. When breeding it readily uses man-made structures as a substitute for natural rock faces.

Large rock martin pairs often nest alone, although where suitable sites are available small loose colonies may form with up to 40 pairs. These martins aggressively defend their nesting territory against conspecifics and other species. Breeding dates vary geographically and with local weather conditions. Two broods are common, and three have been raised in a season. Breeding occurs mainly through August and September. The nest, built by both adults over several weeks, is made from several hundred mud pellets and lined with soft dry grass or sometimes feathers. It may be a half-cup when constructed under an overhang on a vertical wall or cliff, or bowl-shaped like that of the barn swallow when placed on a sheltered ledge. The nest may be built on a rock cliff face, in a crevice or on a man-made structure, and is often re-used for the second brood and in subsequent years.Baker (1926) pp. [https://archive.org/stream/BakerFbiBirds3/BakerFBI3#page/n261/mode/1up/ 238–239]

The clutch is usually two or three buff-white eggs blotched with sepia or grey-brown particularly at the wide end. The average egg size in South Africa was {{convert|20.8|x|14.1|mm|in|abbr=on}} with a weight of {{convert|2.17|g|oz|abbr=on}}. Both adults incubate the eggs for 16–19 days prior to hatching and feed the chicks about ten times an hour until they fledge and for several days after they can fly. The fledging time can vary from 22–24 days to 25–30 days, though the latter estimates probably take into account fledged young returning to the nest for food.

The rock martin feeds mainly on insects caught in flight, although it will occasionally feed on the ground. When breeding, birds often fly back and forth along a rock face catching insects in their bills and feed close to the nesting territory. At other times, they may hunt low over open ground. The insects caught depend on what is locally available, but may include mosquitoes and other flies, Hymenoptera, ants and beetles. This martin often feeds alone, but sizeable groups may gather at grass fires to feast on the fleeing insects, and outside the breeding season flocks of up to 300 may form where food is abundant. Cliff faces generate standing waves in the airflow which concentrate insects near vertical areas. Crag martins exploit the area close to the cliff when they hunt, relying on their high manoeuvrability and ability to perform tight turns.{{cite journal|last=Fantur|first=von Roman|year=1997|title=Die Jagdstrategie der Felsenschwalbe (Hirundo rupestris)|trans-title=The hunting strategy of the crag martin|url=http://www.biologiezentrum.at/pdf_frei_remote/CAR_187_107_0229-0252.pdf|url-status=live|journal=Carinthia|language=de, en|volume=187|issue=107|pages=229–252|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200426025714/https://www.zobodat.at/pdf/CAR_187_107_0229-0252.pdf|archive-date=2020-04-26}}

A study of nine bird species including four hirundines showed that the more young there are in a nest, the more frequent are the parents' feeding visits, but the visits do not increase in proportion to the number of young. On average a solitary nestling therefore gets more food than a member of a pair or of a trio. Since the nestling period is not prolonged in proportion to the drop in feeding rate, an individual fledgling from a larger brood is likely to weigh less when it leaves the nest. However, a subspecies of the rock martin (P. f. fusciventris) was an anomaly in respect of both feeding rate and nestling time. There was no difference in parental feeding rate for members of a pair and members of a trio, but the nestling period averaged 1.5 days longer for trios than pairs.{{cite journal|last=Moreau|first=R E|author-link=Reginald Ernest Moreau|year=1947|title=Relations between number in brood, feeding-rate and nestling period in nine species of birds in Tanganyika Territory|journal=Journal of Animal Ecology|volume=16|issue=2|pages=205–209|doi=10.2307/1495|jstor=1495|bibcode=1947JAnEc..16..205M }}

Some falcons have the speed and agility to catch swallows and martins in flight, and large rock martins may be hunted by species such as the peregrine falcon,{{cite book|last1=Simmons|first1= Robert E.|last2= Jenkins|first2= Andrew R.|last3= Brown|first3= Christopher J. |chapter=A review of the population status and threats to Peregrine Falcons throughout Namibia|date=2009|title=Peregrine Falcon Populations Status and Perspectives in the 21st Century|pages=597–606|citeseerx=10.1.1.489.4622|editor-last1= Sielicki |editor-first1=Janusz|editor-last2=Mizera|editor-first2=Tadeusz|publisher=Turul|isbn=9788392096962}} Taita falcon,{{cite journal|last=Dowsett|first=R J|year=2008|title=Breeding and other observations on the Taita Falcon Falco fasciinucha|journal=Ibis|volume=125|issue=3|pages=362–366|doi=10.1111/j.1474-919X.1983.tb03122.x}} African hobby and wintering Eurasian hobby.Barlow et al. (1997) p. 165. Large rock martins often share their nesting sites with little swifts,Chantler & Driessens (2000) p. 241 which sometimes forcibly take over the martin's nests.{{cite journal|last=Carr|first=B A|year=1984|title=Nest eviction of rock martins by little swifts|journal=Ostrich|volume=55|issue=4|pages=223–224|doi=10.1080/00306525.1984.9634491}} In 1975, one of the first findings of the tick Argas (A.) africolumbae was in a nest of Ptyonoprogne f. fusciventris in Kenya,{{cite journal|last=Hoogstraal|first=Harry|author-link=Harry Hoogstraal|author2=Kaiser, Makram N|author-link2=Makram N. Kaiser|author3=Walker, Jane B|author4=Ledger, John A|author5=Converse, James D|author6=Rice, Robin G A|date=June 1975|title=Observations on the subgenus Argas (Ixodoidea: Argasidae: Argas) 10. A. (A.) africolumbae, n. sp., a Pretoria virus-infected parasite of birds in southern and eastern Africa|journal=Journal of Medical Entomology|volume=12|issue=2|pages=194–210|doi=10.1093/jmedent/12.2.194|pmid=1159742}} at that time the martin was described under its synonym Ptyonoprogne fuligula rufigula (Fischer & Reichenow).{{cite journal | last= Bergier | first= Patrick | year= 2007| title= L'Hirondelle isabelline Ptyonoprogne fuligula au Maroc [The Rock Martin in Morocco]| journal= Go-South Bulletin | volume= 4|language = fr | pages= 6–25 }}

The large rock martin has a very large range. The total global population is unknown, but the bird is described as generally common, although scarce in Botswana and Namibia. The population is thought to be stable, mainly due to the absence of evidence of any declines or substantial threats. Its large range and presumably high numbers mean that the rock martin is not considered to be threatened, and it is classed as least concern on the IUCN Red List.

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{{Reflist}}

• {{cite book| title=Fauna of British India. Birds | volume=3 |edition=2nd |author=Baker, E C S|author-link=E. C. Stuart Baker| year=1926 | publisher= Taylor and Francis| location = London }}
• {{cite book |title=A field guide to birds of The Gambia and Senegal |last= Barlow |first=Clive |author2= Wacher, Tim|author3=Disley, Tony |publisher=Pica Press|location = Robertsbridge | year=1997 |isbn= 1-873403-32-1 }}
• {{cite book| last = Chantler | first = Phil |author2=Driessens, Gerald | title = Swifts | year = 2000| publisher = Pica Press | location = Robertsbridge | isbn = 1-873403-83-6}}
• {{cite book | last = Dunning | first = John Barnard | title = CRC handbook of avian body masses | year = 1993 | publisher = CRC Press| location = Boca Raton | isbn = 0-8493-4258-9}}
• {{cite book |last = Mullarney |first = Killian |author-link=Killian Mullarney|author2=Svensson, Lars|author3=Zetterström, Dan|author-link3=Dan Zetterström|author4=Grant, Peter |title = Collins Bird Guide |year = 1999 |location = London |publisher = HarperCollins |isbn = 0-00-219728-6}}
• {{cite book | last = Sielicki | first = Janusz |editor=Mizera, Tadeusz| title = Peregrine Falcon Populations – status and perspectives in the 21st Century | year = 2008 | publisher = Turul and University of Life Sciences | location = Warsaw and Poznań | isbn =978-83-920969-6-2}}
• {{cite book|last=Sinclair|first=Ian|author2=Hockey, Phil |author3=Tarboton, Warwick |title=SASOL Birds of Southern Africa|year=2002| publisher = Struik | location = Cape Town | isbn=1-86872-721-1 }}
• {{cite book |last = Snow |first = David|author-link=David Snow (ornithologist) |editor= Perrins, Christopher M |editor-link=Chris Perrins|title = The Birds of the Western Palearctic concise edition (2 volumes) | publisher = Oxford University Press |year = 1998 |location = Oxford |isbn = 0-19-854099-X }}
• {{cite book | last = Turner | first = Angela K |author2=Rose, Chris | title = A Handbook to the Swallows and Martins of the World | year = 1989 | publisher = Christopher Helm | location = London | isbn = 0-7470-3202-5 | url=https://archive.org/details/handbooktoswallo0000turn |url-access=registration | ref=none}}

• {{Commons category-inline|Ptyonoprogne fuligula|Ptyonoprogne fuligula}}
• {{Wikispecies-inline|Ptyonoprogne obsoleta|Ptyonoprogne fuligula}}

{{Hirundinidae}}

{{Taxonbar|from=Q1584095|from2=Q25252247}}

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Category:Ptyonoprogne

Category:Birds of Sub-Saharan Africa

Category:Birds described in 1842

Category:Taxa named by Hinrich Lichtenstein