Brown-chested Martin

The brown-chested martin is 16 to 18 cm (6.3 to 7.1 in) long and weighs 30 to 40 g (1.1 to 1.4 oz). The sexes have the same plumage. Adults of the nominate subspecies have a mostly sandy brown head with a white chin and throat. Their upperparts are sandy brown. Their tail is slightly forked; it and their wings are a darker brown than the upperparts. Their underparts are mostly white with an indistinct brown band across the breast. Subspecies P. t. fusca is larger and overall darker than the nominate with a more defined breast band and dusky markings on the lower breast and belly. Juveniles have a more squared tail than adults and a grey-brown wash on the sides of the throat.

The nominate subspecies of the brown-chested martin is found from northern and eastern Colombia east through Venezuela, the Guianas, and far northern and northeastern Brazil and separately on the west side of the Andes from Los Ríos Province in southwestern Ecuador south into northwestern Peru's Tumbes Department. The range of subspecies P. t. fusca overlaps that of the nominate. It is found in Panama and throughout South America east of the Andes as far south as La Pampa and Buenos Aires provinces in Argentina. The brown-chested martin inhabits semi-open to open landscapes such as grasslands, cultivated areas, clearings in forest, and human settlements. It favors areas near water. In Venezuela the nominate is found below 1,000 m (3,300 ft); subspecies P. t. fusca is found mostly below 400 m (1,300 ft) but has sight records up to 1,900 m (6,200 ft). The species reaches 2,500 m (8,200 ft) in Colombia and 600 m (2,000 ft) in Ecuador and Peru.

The brown-chested martin feeds on a wide variety of insects captured in mid-air. A population in São Paulo fed mostly on winged ants and termites. It forages singly or in small flocks, flying fast and low over vegetation and water and more slowly among trees and over open land. It also flies higher when feeding in swarms of flying ants and termites.