- Neophedina cincta
Riparia cincta
Identification
Length 17-18 cm, mass 26 g. A large Martin with a square tail.
Adult: Upper parts brown; a short (diagnostic) white eyebrow extends from the bill to above the eye. The under parts are white except for a broad brown breast band, a narrow brown line accross the vent (sometimes absent), and a brown undertail.
Juvenile: Similar to the adult but scaled buff above; eyebrow less prominent.
Distribution
Sub-Saharan Africa; an intra-African migrant.
Taxonomy
This is a polytypic species[1] consisting of 5 subspecies.
Subspecies[1]
- N. c. erlangeri:
- N. c. suahelica:
- Southern South Sudan to eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda, western Kenya, Rwanda, Burundi, western Tanzania, Zambia, Malawi, Zimbabwe, and western Mozambique
- N. c. parvula:
- N. c. xerica:
- N. c. cincta:
- Zimbabwe and KwaZulu-Natal to Cape Province
Habitat
Grasslands, shrublands and wetlands.
Behaviour
Usually seen singly or in pairs, but roosts communally.
Diet
Forages for insects in slow, floating flight over grassland; attracted to grassland fires and grazing animals.
Breeding
Nests in a chamber at the end of a burrow (45-60 cm long) excavated in a bank. Two to four eggs are laid August to March. Parasitised by Greater Honeyguide.
References
- Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, S. M. Billerman, T. A. Fredericks, J. A. Gerbracht, D. Lepage, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2021. The eBird/Clements checklist of Birds of the World: v2021. Downloaded from https://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Banded Martin. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 25 April 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Banded_Martin
External Links
GSearch checked for 2020 platform.
