Brown-throated martin
The brown-throated martin or brown-throated sand martin is a small passerine bird in the swallow family, Hirundinidae, that is widely distributed across Africa. It was formerly regarded as conspecific with the grey-throated martin and the Madagascar martin.
Taxonomy
The brown-throated martin was formally described in 1817 by the French ornithologist Louis Pierre Vieillot. He placed it in the genus Hirundo and coined the binomial name Hirundo paludicola. The specific epithet paludicola is Latin meaning "marsh-dweller" and the Madagascar martin.Six subspecies are recognised. They differ in size and plumage tones of the upperparts or underparts.R. p. mauritanica – west MoroccoR. p. minor – Senegal and Gambia to north EthiopiaR. p. schoensis Reichenow, 1920 – central EthiopiaR. p. newtoni Bannerman, 1937 – northeast Nigeria and west CameroonR. p. ducis Reichenow, 1908 – east DRCongo, Uganda, Kenya and north, central TanzaniaR. p. paludicola – Angola to south Tanzania and south to South Africa
Description
The 12 cm long brown-throated martin is brown above and white or pale brown below. It lacks the narrow brown band on the breast shown by the sand martin; the bill is black and the legs are brown. Sexes are similar, but the young have pale tips to the feathers on the rump and wings.The twittering song of the brown-throated martin is continuous when the birds are on the wing, and becomes a conversational undertone after they have settled in the roost. There is also a harsh alarm call.