Petrochelidon nigricans
Silhouette: Andy Wilson · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~80% in a week >90%
The tree martin (Petrochelidon nigricans) is a member of the swallow family of passerine birds. It breeds in Australia, mostly south of latitude 20°S, and on Timor island. It is migratory, wintering through most of Australia, New Guinea, Indonesia east of the Wallace Line, and the Solomon Islands. It is a vagrant to New Zealand, where it has bred, and New Caledonia. This species is frequently placed in the genus Hirundo as Hirundo nigricans.
This is a bird of open woodland, preferably with large trees to provide nest holes. It is increasingly common in urban and suburban areas. The tree martin was formally described in 1817 by the French ornithologist Louis Vieillot under the binomial name Hirundo nigricans. The specific epithet is Latin meaning "blackish". Vieillot gave the type locality as "Nouvelle-Hollande" (New South Wales) but this has been corrected to Hobart, Tasmania. The tree martin is now one of ten swallows placed in the genus Petrochelidon that was introduced in 1851 by the German ornithologist Jean Cabanis.
Three subspecies are recognised: Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Maria Island National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 2 | Rottnest Island | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 3 | Flinders Ranges National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 4 | Flinders Chase | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 5 | Daintree National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 6 | Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 7 | Cape Range | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 8 | Ningaloo Marine Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 9 | Freycinet National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 10 | Hattah-Kulkyne National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 11 | Litchfield National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 12 | Grampians National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 13 | Kosciuszko National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 14 | Great Otway National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 15 | Noosa National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 16 | Blue Mountains National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 17 | Springbrook National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 18 | Cradle Mountain-Lake St Clair National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 19 | Lamington National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 20 | Wilsons Promontory National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 21 | Kakadu National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 22 | Royal National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia |
Likely
About 50% of wildlife watchers report a Tree Martin sighting in Rottnest Island on a given day, based on 207 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 21st most-seen of the 81 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 80%, and over a week to over 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
January
In that month about 70% of wildlife watchers report a Tree Martin in Rottnest Island on a given day, against about 30% in April, June and September, the lowest months. That is one of Rottnest Island's driest months, with about 20 mm of rain against 120 mm in June.
Between 8 and 11 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Tree Martin sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
2nd of 22
Of the 22 parks where we can rate Tree Martin sightings, Rottnest Island ranks 2nd at about 50%. The best odds are in Maria Island National Park (Australia, about 60%). All parks ranked.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Tree Martin is recorded against all the birds logged in Rottnest Island (207 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
