NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Purple Martin
Progne subis (Linnaeus, 1758)
Source-backed taxonomic record
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Open encyclopedia reference
The purple martin (Progne subis) is a passerine bird in the swallow family Hirundinidae. It is the largest swallow in North America. They breed across the eastern United States and southeastern Canada, as well as the coastal Pacific Northwest, Baja California, Arizona, and New Mexico. Most make a brief stopover in the Yucatán Peninsula or Cuba during pre-breeding migration to North America and during post-breeding migration before reaching their overwintering sites in South America.
They are known for their speed, agility, and their characteristic mix of rapid, flapping, and gliding flight patterns. When approaching their nesting site, they will dive from the sky at great speeds with their wings tucked, just like the peregrine falcon does when hunting smaller birds.
Wikipedia contributors, Purple martin; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T03:30:31.792260+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Progne subis (Linnaeus, 1758)
- Name authority
- (Linnaeus, 1758)
- Common name
- Purple Martin
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Aves
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Hirundinidae
- Genus
- Progne
- Extinction status
- Recorded extant
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- megaclassTetrapoda
- classAves
- orderPasseriformes
- familyHirundinidae Rafinesque, 1815
- genusProgne F. Boie, 1826
- speciesProgne subis (Linnaeus, 1758)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Progne. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Cuban MartinProgne cryptoleuca S. F. Baird, 1865 | HirundinidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Caribbean MartinProgne dominicensis (J. F. Gmelin, 1789) | HirundinidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Southern MartinProgne elegans S. F. Baird, 1865 | HirundinidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Galapagos MartinProgne modesta Gould, 1838 | HirundinidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Peruvian MartinProgne murphyi Chapman, 1925 | HirundinidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Brown-chested MartinProgne tapera (Linnaeus, 1766) | HirundinidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Sinaloa MartinProgne sinaloae Nelson, 1898 | HirundinidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Hirundo purpurea Linnaeus, 1766 Linnaeus, 1766 | synonym |
| Hirundo subis Linnaeus, 1758 Linnaeus, 1758 | synonym |
Documented distribution
Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.
Middle America
North America
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=178464 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:4MR33. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.