| Banded martin | |
|---|---|
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| Nominate subspecies atRietvlei inPretoria | |
Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Passeriformes |
| Family: | Hirundinidae |
| Genus: | Neophedina Roberts, 1922 |
| Species: | N. cincta |
| Binomial name | |
| Neophedina cincta (Boddaert, 1783) | |
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resident breeding visitor non-breeding visitor | |
Thebanded martin orbanded sand martin (Neophedina cincta) is a small passerine bird in the swallow familyHirundinidae that is endemic to Africa. It is the only species placed in thegenusNeophedina.
The banded martin was described by the French polymathGeorges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon in 1780 in hisHistoire Naturelle des Oiseaux from a specimen collected from theCape of Good Hope.[2] The bird was also illustrated in a hand-coloured plate engraved byFrançois-Nicolas Martinet in thePlanches Enluminées D'Histoire Naturelle which was produced under the supervision ofEdme-Louis Daubenton to accompany Buffon's text.[3] Neither the plate caption nor Buffon's description included a scientific name but in 1783 the Dutch naturalistPieter Boddaert coined thebinomial nameHirundo cincta in his catalogue of thePlanches Enluminées.[4]
The banded martin was formerly placed in the genusRiparia. A genetic study found that it belonged to a different clade to other members of the genus,[5] and it was moved to thegenusNeophedina that had been introduced in 1922 by the South African zoologistAustin Roberts.[6][7] The specific epithetcincta is from Latincinctus meaning "banded".[8]
Fivesubspecies are recognised:[6]
The 15–17 cm (5.9–6.7 in) long banded martin has earth-brown upper parts, except for a white stripe above the eye. Its underparts are white, as are the underwing coverts, and it has a dark brown breast band, and sometimes a thin dark line across the vent. Sexes are similar, but the young have a paler breast band and golden tips to the upper part feathers.
It is easily distinguished from the smallersand martin by its square tail and white on the underwings, and from thebrown-throated sand martin by its white throat. It is less gregarious than those species, and is typically seen in pairs or small flocks.
The subspecies differ in size and in the plumage tones of the upper parts or breast band. ThenominateR. c. cincta of southern Africa is the palest form.
The banded martin is found in open habitats such as farmland, grassland and savannah, usually near water. It breeds acrossAfrica fromCameroon andZaire toEthiopia south to the Cape inSouth Africa, although it is absent from the driest regions of western South Africa and southernNamibia.
The southern nominate subspecies of South Africa andZimbabwe, ismigratory, wintering further north, particularly in the west, where it can move sometimes as far asGambia.N. c. xerica also leaves its drier breeding grounds inBotswana and northern Namibia in the southern winter. Other subspecies undertake local or altitudinal movements often dependent on the rainfall pattern.
This species has a slow erratic flight and frequently perches. Its diet consists ofinsects, usually taken in flight over grassland. The flight call ische-che-che, and the song is a twittering jumble ofchip choop sounds.
The banded martin, unlike the other members of its genus, is not colonial in its nesting habits. Its nest is at the end of a 60–90 cm (24–35 in) long tunnel usually excavated by the birds in a natural sand bank or earth mound. The actual nest is a litter of straw and feathers in a chamber at the end of the burrow. The two to five white eggs are incubated by both parents.
