Purple martin
Progne subis (Linnaeus, 1758)
The purple martin (Progne subis) is a species in the family Hirundinidae, order Passeriformes. Recorded adults weigh 48 g to 53.8 g and live up to 13.8 years. Its IUCN Red List status is Least Concern.
Quick facts about the purple martin
- Weight
- 48 g – 53.8 gsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Lifespan
- 13.8 yearssrc for Lifespan
- Diet
- Invertivoresrc for Diet
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- forestsrc for Habitat
- Egg incubation
- 15.5 dayssrc for Egg incubation
- Young per litter or clutch
- 4.79src for Young per litter or clutch
- Age at maturity
- 12 monthssrc for Age at maturity
- Litters or clutches a year
- 1src for Litters or clutches a year
- Lifestyle
- Aerialsrc for Lifestyle
- Migration
- Sedentarysrc for Migration
- Conservation status
- Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
Where does the purple martin live?
Not recorded
What is the purple martin?
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.
From the Wikipedia article “Purple martin” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Purple_martin&oldid=1381926061), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.
What does the purple martin sound like?
Is the purple martin endangered?
The purple martin is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.
- LCLeast Concern
- NTNear Threatened
- VUVulnerable
- ENEndangered
- CRCritically Endangered
- EWExtinct in the Wild
- EXExtinct
Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species.
How is the purple martin classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classAves
- orderPasseriformes
- familyHirundinidae
- genusProgne
- SpeciesProgne subis (Linnaeus, 1758)
Synonyms Hirundo purpurea, Hirundo subis
Other names and names in other languages (52)
- KochochohkiAlabama
- خطاف أرجوانيArabic
- oreneta porpraCatalan
- Кого цӹгӓкMari
- ᏧᏧCherokee
- jiřička modroleskláCzech
- gwennol borfforWelsh
- PurpursvaleDanish
- PurpurschwalbeGerman
- ΠορφυροχελίδονοGreek
- purpura hirundoEsperanto
- Martín PurpúreaSpanish
- Golondrina azulnegraSpanish
- Golondrina Migratoria GrandeSpanish
- Golondrina púrpuraSpanish
- Golondrina purpúreaSpanish
- Põhja-türkiispääsukeEstonian
- türkiispääsuke (põhja-türkiispääsuke)Estonian
- sinipääskyFinnish
- Hirondelle noireFrench
- Gabhlán corcraIrish
- Fáinleog chorcraIrish
- Mbyju’i hûGuarani
- Irondèl vyolètHaitian Creole
- סנונית סגולהHebrew
- veliki piljakCroatian
- bíborfecskeHungarian
- Északi bíborfecskeHungarian
- Rondine purpureaItalian
- ムラサキツバメJapanese
- purpurinė miškinė kregždėLithuanian
- purpura čurksteLatvian
- Táshchozhii dootłʼizhíNavajo
- purperzwaluwDutch
- MukudeshaushauwunnibisiOjibwa
- Swalchi AzulPapiamento
- Souchi Grandi BlouPapiamento
- Jaskólczak modryPolish
- jaskółczak modryPolish
- andorinha-roxaPortuguese
- Andorinha-azulPortuguese
- andorinha-púrpuraPortuguese
- Большая ласточкаRussian
- Пурпурная ласточкаRussian
- Пурпурная лесная ласточкаRussian
- lastovička purpurováSlovak
- Ljubičasta lastaSerbian
- blå storsvalaSwedish
- Mor kırlangıçTurkish
- Büyük Mor KırlangıçTurkish
- щурик пурпуровийUkrainian
- 紫崖燕Chinese
Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistTAXREFWikidataWoRMSIUCN Red List
Relatives of the purple martin
Other species in the same genus Progne.
Brown-chested martin
Progne tapera
Grey-breasted martin
Progne chalybea
Peruvian martin
Progne murphyi
Cuban martin
Progne cryptoleuca
Southern martin
Progne elegans
Caribbean martin
Progne dominicensis
ComparePurple martin vs Brown-chested martinPurple martin vs Grey-breasted martinPurple martin vs Peruvian martinPurple martin vs Cuban martin
Common questions
Answered only where our data holds the answer.
How big is the purple martin?
An adult purple martin weighs 48 g – 53.8 g, according to values recorded on Wikidata.
Is the purple martin endangered?
The purple martin is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, meaning it is not currently at risk of extinction.
How long does the purple martin live?
The purple martin has a recorded lifespan of 13.8 years.
What kind of animal is the purple martin?
The purple martin (Progne subis) belongs to the family Hirundinidae in the order Passeriformes.
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · CC0 1.0 · E096-269
Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1 - AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds · CC BY 4.0 · v7
Tobias, J.A. et al. (2022) AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds. Ecology Letters 25: 581–597. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13898. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
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Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Purple martin (Progne subis). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/purple-martin
“Purple martin (Progne subis).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/purple-martin.
@misc{purple_martin_2026,
title = {Purple martin (Progne subis)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/purple-martin},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}