The African river martin is a large swallow, mainly black with a blue-green gloss to the head and a greener tint to the back and wings. The main breeding areas are in the Democratic Republic of the Congo along the Congo River and its tributary, the Ubangi. It is migratory, wintering in coastal savanna in southern Gabon and the Republic of Congo. The species is thought to be the most primitive of the swallows.
About African river martin in brief
The African river martin is a large swallow, mainly black with a blue-green gloss to the head and a greener tint to the back and wings. This martin has red eyes, a broad orange-red bill and a black, square tail. The main breeding areas are in the Democratic Republic of the Congo along the Congo River and its tributary, the Ubangi. It is migratory, wintering in coastal savanna in southern Gabon and the Republic of Congo. It nests in burrows in river sand banks, often alongside rosy bee-eaters, but its incubation and fledging times are not known. It appears to be common within its restricted range, despite being caught in large numbers by the local population for food, and large flocks are sometimes seen. However, due to a lack of detailed information about its breeding range and population numbers, this species is classed as Data Deficient by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. The African and Asian Pseudochelidon species differ markedly in the size of their bills and eyes, suggesting that they have different feeding ecologies, with the African martin probably able to take much larger prey. The species name Eurystomus reflects the superficial similarity of the genus to the rollers, meaning “swallow” or “rollers” The species is thought to be the most primitive of the swallows, and may be relict populations of a group of species that diverged from the main swallow lineage early in its evolutionary history.
The only other member of the subfamily is the white-eyed river mart in Thailand, known only from one site in Thailand and possibly extinct. These two species possess a number of features which distinguish them from other swallows and martins, including their robust legs and feet, stout bills, large syrinxes and different bronchial structure. Genetic studies confirmed that the two river martins form a distinct clade from the typical swallows in thesubfamily Hirundininae. The bill of the African rivermartin averages 22% wider than that of its Thai relative, with a softer flesh, much less prominent gape, and a much more prominent gape on the head. The African and Asian PseudOChelidon species are the only two members of the river martin subfamily of the swallow family, Hirundinidae and are thought to have a much larger feeding ecologist than the Asian white-eyed river martin.
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This page is based on the article African river martin published in Wikipedia (as of Nov. 06, 2020) and was automatically summarized using artificial intelligence.
