Progne elegans
Silhouette: Andy Wilson · PhyloPic
In 3 days <5%
The southern martin (Progne elegans) is a species of bird in the family Hirundinidae, the swallows and martins. One source states that it is known in every mainland South American country except Colombia, Guyana, and Venezuela, and there are undocumented sight records in those three countries. It has occurred as a vagrant in the Malvinas/Falkland Islands and the U.S. state of Florida
The southern martin was originally described with its present binomial Progne elegans. For much of the twentieth century many authors treated the southern martin and Peruvian martin (P. murphyi) as conspecific with the Galapagos martin (P. modesta).
The southern martin is monotypic. The southern martin is 17 to 20 cm (6.7 to 7.9 in) long. The sexes are dimorphic though both have a deeply forked tail. Adult males are almost entirely glossy steel-blue with blacker wings and tail. Females have duller steel-blue upperparts than males. Their underparts are mostly dusky brown with paler feather edges that give a scaly appearance; their undertail coverts are white with dusky streaks. Juveniles resemble adult females.
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| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Península Valdés | 🇦🇷 Argentina | |
| 2 | Amboró National Park | 🇧🇴 Bolivia | |
| 3 | Amacayacu National Natural Park | 🇨🇴 Colombia | |
| 4 | Anavilhanas National Park | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 5 | Yasuní National Park | 🇪🇨 Ecuador | |
| 6 | Soberanía National Park | 🇵🇦 Panama |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mendoza | 🇦🇷 Argentina | |
| 2 | Cordoba | 🇦🇷 Argentina | |
| 3 | Buenos Aires | 🇦🇷 Argentina | |
| 4 | Montevideo | 🇺🇾 Uruguay | |
| 5 | Asuncion | 🇵🇾 Paraguay |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Southern Martin sighting in Yasuní National Park on a given day, based on 11 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 498th most-seen of the 533 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to under 5%, if each day is a fresh chance.
Any time of year
In every month with enough records, under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Southern Martin in Yasuní National Park on a given day, so our monthly data shows no clear season.
Between 8 and 11 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Southern Martin sightings with a recorded time, and about 8 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
5th of 6
Of the 6 parks where we can rate Southern Martin sightings, Yasuní National Park ranks 5th at under 5%. The best odds are in Península Valdés (Argentina, about 50%), Amboró National Park (Bolivia, under 5%) and Amacayacu National Natural Park (Colombia, under 5%).
Same genus: Progne
The closest relatives of the Southern Martin that you can see in Yasuní National Park (genus Progne, New World Martins) are Gray-breasted Martin (about 30%) and Brown-chested Martin (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Southern Martin is recorded against all the birds logged in Yasuní National Park (11 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.
