Progne
Progne is a genus of passerine birds in the swallow family Hirundinidae. The species are found in the New World and all have "martin" in their common name.
Taxonomy
The genus Progne was introduced in 1826 by the German zoologist Friedrich Boie for the purple martin. The genus name refers to Procne, a Greek mythological queen who was turned into a swallow to save her from her husband Tereus. She had killed their son Itys to avenge the rape of her sister Philomela.The genus contains nine species:
| Image | Scientific name | Common name | Distribution |
| Progne tapera | Brown-chested martin | Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Puerto Rico, Suriname, the United States, Uruguay, Venezuela, a vagrant to Chile and the Falkland Islands | |
| Progne murphyi | Peruvian martin | Peru and far northern Chile | |
| Progne modesta | Galapagos martin | Galápagos Islands | |
| Progne subis | Purple martin | West Coast from British Columbia to Mexico, to East Coast | |
| Progne elegans | Southern martin | Argentina and southern Bolivia | |
| Progne chalybea | Grey-breasted martin | Central and South America | |
| Progne sinaloae | Sinaloa martin | Mexico | |
| Progne cryptoleuca | Cuban martin | Cuba | |
| Progne dominicensis | Caribbean martin | Mainland Central and South America, Caribbean islands from Jamaica east to Tobago |