page_title: Mascarene martin
section_title: Taxonomy
hierarchical_section_title: Mascarene martin / Taxonomy
caption_attribution_description: English: «&#160;Phedina borbonica&#160;» = Phedina borbonica borbonica (Subspecies of Mascarene Martin) Français&#160;: «&#160;Phedina borbonica&#160;» = Phedina borbonica borbonica (Sous-espèce de Hirondelle des Mascareignes)
context_page_description: The Mascarene martin or Mascarene swallow is a passerine bird in the swallow family that breeds in Madagascar and in the Mascarene Islands. The nominate subspecies occurs on Mauritius and Réunion and has never been found away from the Mascarene Islands, but the smaller Madagascan subspecies, P. b. madagascariensis, is migratory and has been recorded wintering in East Africa or wandering to other Indian Ocean islands.
  The Mascarene martin is a small swallow that has grey-brown underparts becoming white on the throat and lower abdomen, dark grey-brown upperparts and a slightly forked tail. The underparts are heavily streaked with black. It nests in small colonies anywhere with suitably sheltered sites for constructing a nest, such as ledges, buildings, tunnels, caves or amongst rocks. The nest is a shallow cup of twigs and other plant material, and the normal clutch is two or three brown-spotted white eggs. The incubation and fledging times are unknown. The Mascarene martin has a heavy flight with slow wingbeats interspersed with glides, and frequently perches on wires. It feeds on insects in flight, often hunting low over the ground or vegetation.
context_section_description: The Mascarene martin was first formally described in 1789 as Hirundo borbonica by German zoologist Johann Friedrich Gmelin in his 13th edition of Linnaeus's Systema Naturae. It is likely that the species had previously been described by French naturalist Philibert Commerson who died in Mauritius in 1773. His huge collection of specimens and notes was sent back to the Paris Museum in 1774, but destroyed by sulphur fumigation in about 1810. French biologist Charles Lucien Bonaparte moved the martin to his newly created genus Phedina in 1855. The genus name is derived from the Greek phaios (φαιός) "brown" and the Italian rondine "swallow", and the species name refers to the Île de Bourbon (old French name for Réunion). There are two subspecies, nominate P. borbonica borbonica on Mauritius and Réunion, and P. b. madagascariensis in Madagascar.
  The Phedina swallows are placed within the Hirundininae subfamily, which comprises all swallows and martins except the very distinctive river martins. DNA sequence studies suggest that there are three major groupings within the Hirundininae, broadly correlating with the type of nest built. These groups are the "core martins", including burrowing species like the sand martin; the "nest-adopters", which are birds like the tree swallow that utilise natural cavities; and the "mud nest builders", such as the barn swallow, which build a nest from mud. The Phedina species nest in burrows and therefore belong to the "core martins".
  The genus Phedina is thought to be an early offshoot from the main swallow lineage, although the striped plumage of its two species suggests a distant relationship with streaked African Hirundo species. The other member of the genus is the Brazza's martin P. brazzae, although in the past it has sometimes been suggested that Brazza's martin should be moved to its own genus, Phedinopsis, due to the significant differences in vocalisations and nest type from its relative. The nearest relation of the two Phedina martins is the banded martin, Riparia cincta, which appears not to be closely related to the other members of its current genus and resembles Brazza's martin in its nesting habits and calls. The current Association of European Rarities Committees (AERC)-recommended practice is to move the banded martin to its own genus as Neophedina cincta, rather than to merge it into Phedina, since the banded martin's larger size, different bill and nostril shape and non-colonial nesting are differences from the current Phedina species.
  German ornithologist Gustav Hartlaub separated the Madagascan population of the Mascarene martin as a full species, P. madagascariensis, but more recent authorities have considered it to be only a subspecies, P. b. madagascariensis.
caption: Mascarene subspecies by Claude W. Wyatt, 1894
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