---
title: "Purple Martin"
description: "Progne subis — Uccelli. The purple martin (Progne subis) is a passerine bird in the swallow family Hirundinidae."
canonical: https://animalchecklist.com/it/animal/purple-martin
last_updated: 2026-09-20
---

# Purple Martin

> Progne subis — Uccelli. The purple martin (Progne subis) is a passerine bird in the swallow family Hirundinidae.

- Scientific name: *Progne subis*
- Category: `birds` (Uccelli)
- Habitats: `urban` (Città e giardini)
- iNaturalist observations: 33748
- Wikidata: [Q1062485](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1062485)
- iNaturalist taxon: [11867](https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/11867)

## Names

- en: Purple Martin
- de: Purpurschwalbe
- es: Golondrina azulnegra
- fr: Hirondelle noire
- nl: Purperzwaluw
- pt: Andorinha-azul / andorinha-roxa
- pl: Jaskółczak modry

## Countries with the most observations

US (25389), CA (4463), MX (483), BR (101), PA (12), CR (11), CU (9), BM (7), HN (7), CO (6), KY (6), BO (4)

## Summary

The purple martin (Progne subis) is a passerine bird in the swallow family Hirundinidae. It is the largest swallow in North America. Despite its name, the purple martin is not truly purple. The dark blackish-blue feathers have an iridescent sheen caused by the diffraction of incident light giving them a bright blue to navy blue or deep purple appearance. In some light, they may even appear green in color.
They are migratory, with their breeding range including all of the eastern United States and southeastern Canada, as well as the coastal Pacific Northwest, Baja California, Arizona, and New Mexico. Most make a brief…

Text: Wikipedia (en), CC BY-SA 4.0 — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Purple_martin

## Photo

![Purple Martin](https://animalchecklist.com/img/animals/purple-martin/medium.jpg)

Photo: Andy Kleinhesselink · CC0 · inaturalist — https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/74952409

## Machine access

`GET https://animalchecklist.com/api/v1/animals/purple-martin?lang=it` — see [openapi.json](https://animalchecklist.com/openapi.json).