Listen to the Purple martin
Tip: press play to see the sound's live frequency spectrum in blue over the waveform.
About the Purple martin
The Purple martin is a bird in the family Hirundinidae (order Passeriformes). Its conservation status on the IUCN Red List is “least concern”. Adults weigh around 48 g.
What does the Purple martin sound like?
Birds produce sound with the syrinx, a vocal organ deep in the chest that can make two independent sounds at once. Songs tend to be long and patterned and are used to hold territory and attract a mate; calls are short signals for contact, alarm and flight.
The recordings here are labelled as call and song. Listen for differences in rhythm, pitch and repetition – the spectrum display makes it easy to see whether a sound is a pure whistle (a thin line), a harsh call (a broad band) or a trill (rapid repeated marks).
From Wikipedia
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.
Related birds in the genus Progne
More from the family Hirundinidae
Barn swallow
Hirundo rustica
Sand martin
Riparia riparia
Western house martin
Delichon urbicum
Eurasian crag martin
Ptyonoprogne rupestris
Eastern red-rumped swallow
Cecropis daurica
Wire-tailed swallow
Hirundo smithii
Tree swallow
Tachycineta bicolor
Cliff swallow
Petrochelidon pyrrhonota
Lesser striped swallow
Cecropis abyssinica
Blue-and-white swallow
Pygochelidon cyanoleuca
Violet-green swallow
Tachycineta thalassina
Frequently asked questions
What does a Purple martin sound like?
You can hear 3 recordings of the Purple martin on this page, including its call and song. Birds produce sound with the syrinx, a vocal organ deep in the chest that can make two independent sounds at once.
Is the Purple martin endangered?
The IUCN Red List classifies the Purple martin as “least concern”.
What family does the Purple martin belong to?
The Purple martin (Progne subis) belongs to the family Hirundinidae in the order Passeriformes.
Sources & credits
- Progne subis - Purple Martin by Jonathon Jongsma – CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
- Call · Dordt College Campus, Sioux, Iowa, United States by Jonathon Jongsma – CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
- Call, song by Jonathon Jongsma – CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
- Wikidata Q1062485 – CC0
- Wikipedia: Purple martin – CC BY-SA 4.0
- Photo by JJ Cadiz, Cajay – CC BY 3.0