Gray-breasted Martin

Gray-breasted Martins perched on the roadside power-lines as we drove through marshes in northern Costa Rica on 12 July 2017. We also saw them in cities, where they nest under eaves or in drainpipes. In more wild settings, they use natural cavities or old woodpecker holes (Lagasse 2016). Both sexes of this species look much like female Purple Martins.

These swallows breed from northern Mexico south to central Argentina. Most populations are local residents. Northern birds, however, migrate south in the winter, while southern ones fly north in the non-breeding season. The details of these movements remain unstudied (Lagasse 2016).