Wikipedia talk:Featured article candidates/Brazza's Martin/archive1

Blurb

1894 painting by Richard Bowdler Sharpe

Brazza's martin (Phedinopsis brazzae) is a bird in the swallow family with grey-brown upperparts, black-streaked white underparts, and a brownish breast. The sexes are similar, but juveniles have more diffuse breast streaking. The song is of a series of short notes of increasing frequency, followed by a complex buzz that is sometimes completed by a number of clicks. The range lies within Angola, the Republic of the Congo, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Nesting in burrows in river banks, it lays a clutch of three white eggs. It feeds on flying insects, including termites, and may hunt over rivers or savanna. It forms mixed flocks with other swallows, but is identifiable by its brown upperparts, streaked underparts and square tail. This little-known bird appears to be common and widespread, and it has been listed as a species of Least Concern since 2008. There may be some hunting of this martin for food, but the species does not appear to be facing any serious short-term threats. (Full article...)