{{redirect|European swallow|the well-known plot element|Monty Python and the Holy Grail}}{{redirect|European swallow|the well-known plot element|Monty Python and the Holy Grail}}
{{dablink|For the 1980s British indie rock band, see
The HousemartinsThe Housemartins were an English indie pop band that was active in the 1980s. Many of the Housemartins' lyrics were a mixture of Marxist politics and Christianity, reflecting singer Paul Heaton's beliefs at the time .- Forming :The band was formed in 1983 by Paul Heaton and Stan...
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{{dablink|This article is about the Common House Martin, for the other house martins, see
Asian House MartinThe Asian House Martin is a migratory passerine bird of the swallow family Hirundinidae.It has three subspecies:*D. d. dasypus in the southeast of Russia, the Kuril Islands and Japan*D. d. cashmiriensis in the Himalayas...
and
Nepal House MartinThe Nepal House Martin is a migratory passerine of the family Hirundinidae. It is a bird of the mountains of southern Asia, breeding between 1000 m and 4000 m, but mainly below 3000 m in river valleys and rugged wooded mountain ridges. The nominate race D. n. nipalense is resident in the Himalayas...
}}
{{Taxobox
| name = House Martin
| image_caption = At an official bird ringing station
| status = LC
| status_system = iucn3.1
| status_ref =
| image = Delichon urbica NRM.jpg
| image_width = 250px
| regnum =
AnimalAnimals are a major group of mostly multicellular, eukaryotic organisms of the kingdom Animalia or Metazoa. Their body plan eventually becomes fixed as they develop, although some undergo a process of metamorphosis later on in their life. Most animals are motile, meaning they can move spontaneously...
ia
| phylum =
ChordataChordates are animals which are either vertebrates or one of several closely related invertebrates. They are united by having, for at least some period of their life cycle, a notochord, a hollow dorsal nerve cord, pharyngeal slits, an endostyle, and a post-anal tail...
| classis =
AvesBirds are winged, bipedal, endothermic , vertebrate animals that lay eggs. There are around 10,000 living species, making them the most numerous tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Birds range in size from the Bee Hummingbird to the ...
| ordo =
PasseriformesA passerine is a bird of the order Passeriformes, which includes more than half of all bird species. Sometimes known as perching birds or, less accurately, as songbirds, the passerines form one of the most diverse terrestrial vertebrate orders:...
| familia =
HirundinidaeThe swallows and martins are a group of passerine birds in the family Hirundinidae which are characterised by their adaptation to aerial feeding...
| genus =
DelichonDelichon is a genus of passerine birds in the swallow family, which currently has three species referred to it.-Description:...
| species =
D. urbicum
| binomial =
Delichon urbicum
| binomial_authority = (
LinnaeusCarl Linnaeus was a Swedish botanist, physician, and zoologist, who laid the foundations for the modern scheme of binomial nomenclature...
, 1758)
| range_map = Delichon urbicum.png
| range_map_width = 250px
| range_map_caption = Yellow – breeding range
Blue – wintering range
| synonyms =
Hirundo urbica Linnaeus, 1758
}}
The
House Martin (
Delichon urbicum), sometimes called the
Northern House Martin or
Common House Martin, is a
migratoryBird migration is the regular seasonal journey undertaken by many species of birds. Bird movements include those made in response to changes in food availability, habitat or weather. These however are usually irregular or in only one direction and are termed variously as nomadism, invasions,...
passerineA passerine is a bird of the order Passeriformes, which includes more than half of all bird species. Sometimes known as perching birds or, less accurately, as songbirds, the passerines form one of the most diverse terrestrial vertebrate orders:...
birdBirds are winged, bipedal, endothermic , vertebrate animals that lay eggs. There are around 10,000 living species, making them the most numerous tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Birds range in size from the Bee Hummingbird to the ...
of the
swallowThe swallows and martins are a group of passerine birds in the family Hirundinidae which are characterised by their adaptation to aerial feeding...
family which breeds in
EuropeEurope is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian Sea, the Caucasus Mountains , and the Black Sea to the southeast...
, north
AfricaAfrica is the world's second-largest and second most-populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area. With a billion people in 61 territories, it accounts for about 14.8% of the...
and temperate
AsiaAsia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.6% of the earth's total surface area and with approximately 4 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population.Asia is traditionally defined as part of the...
; and winters in
sub-SaharanThe Sahara , , "The Greatest Desert") is the world's largest hot desert. At over 9,000,000 square kilometres , it covers most of Northern Africa, making it almost as large as the United States or the continent of Europe. The desert stretches from the Red Sea, including parts of the Mediterranean...
Africa and tropical Asia. It feeds on insects which are caught in flight, and it migrates to climates where flying insects are plentiful. It has a blue head and upperparts, white rump and pure white underparts, and is found in both open country and near human habitation. It is similar in appearance to the two other martin
speciesIn biology, a species is:* a taxonomic rank or* a unit at that rank ....
of the
DelichonDelichon is a genus of passerine birds in the swallow family, which currently has three species referred to it.-Description:...
genus, which are both endemic to eastern and southern Asia. It has two accepted
subspeciesSubspecies in biological classification, is 1) a taxonomic rank subordinate to species, or 2) a taxonomic unit, a taxon in that rank...
.
Both the scientific and colloquial name of the bird are related to its use of man-made structures. It builds a closed cup nest from mud pellets under eaves or similar locations on buildings usually in
coloniesIn biology, a colony refers to several individual organisms of the same species living closely together, usually for mutual benefit, such as stronger defences or the ability to attack bigger prey. Some insects live only in colonies...
, but sometimes fouling below nests can be a problem.
It is hunted by the
Eurasian HobbyThe Eurasian Hobby , or just simply Hobby, is a small slim falcon. It belongs to a rather close-knit group of similar falcons often considered a subgenus Hypotriorchis. This species was first described by Linnaeus in his Systema naturae in 1758 as Falco subbuteo.This species breeds across Europe...
(
Falco subbuteo), and like other birds is affected by internal parasites and external fleas and mites, but its large range and population mean that it is not threatened globally. Its proximity to man is generally accepted leading to some cultural and literary references.
Taxonomy
The House Martin was first described by
LinnaeusCarl Linnaeus was a Swedish botanist, physician, and zoologist, who laid the foundations for the modern scheme of binomial nomenclature...
in his
Systema NaturaeThe book Systema Naturae was one of the major works of the Swedish botanist, zoologist and physician Carolus Linnaeus. Its full title is Systema naturae per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis or translated: "System of...
in 1758 as
Hirundo urbica, but was placed in its current genus
Delichon by
Thomas HorsfieldThomas Horsfield M. D. was an American physician and naturalist.Horsfield was born in Philadelphia and studied medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. In 1800 he travelled to Java for the first time and worked there as a doctor for many years...
and
Frederic MooreFrederic Moore FZS was a British entomologist.Moore was an assistant curator in the East India Company Museum, London. He continued until the museum was disbanded in 1879. He began compiling Lepidoptera indica , a major work on the butterflies of the South Asia in 12 volumes, which was completed...
in 1854.
Delichon is an
anagramAn anagram is a type of word play, the result of rearranging the letters of a word or phrase to produce a new word or phrase, using all the original letters exactly once; e.g., orchestra = carthorse, A decimal point = I'm a dot in place. Someone who creates anagrams is called an anagrammatist...
of the Ancient Greek term
χελιδών (
chelīdōn), meaning 'swallow', and the species name
urbicum (
urbica until 2004, due to a misunderstanding of Latin grammar) means 'of the town' in
LatinLatin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Through the Roman conquest, Latin spread throughout the Mediterranean and a large part of Europe...
.
The
DelichonDelichon is a genus of passerine birds in the swallow family, which currently has three species referred to it.-Description:...
genus is a recent divergence from the
Barn Swallow{{redirect|European swallow|the well-known plot element|Monty Python and the Holy Grail}}{{redirect|European swallow|the well-known plot element|Monty Python and the Holy Grail}}{{Taxobox| name = Barn Swallow| status = LC| status_ref =...
genus
HirundoThe bird genus Hirundo is a group of passerines in the family Hirundinidae . These are the typical swallows, including the widespread Barn Swallow...
, and its three members are similar in appearance with blue upperparts, a contrasting white-rump, and whitish underparts. In the past, the House Martin was sometimes considered to be conspecific with the
Asian House MartinThe Asian House Martin is a migratory passerine bird of the swallow family Hirundinidae.It has three subspecies:*D. d. dasypus in the southeast of Russia, the Kuril Islands and Japan*D. d. cashmiriensis in the Himalayas...
(
D. dasypus), which breeds in the mountains of central and eastern Asia and winters in
Southeast AsiaManila
Bangkok
Ho Chi Minh City
Kuala Lumpur
Singapore
Yangon
Bandung
Hanoi
Surabaya
Taichung
Kaohsiung
Medan|-|}...
, and it also closely resembles the
Nepal House MartinThe Nepal House Martin is a migratory passerine of the family Hirundinidae. It is a bird of the mountains of southern Asia, breeding between 1000 m and 4000 m, but mainly below 3000 m in river valleys and rugged wooded mountain ridges. The nominate race D. n. nipalense is resident in the Himalayas...
(
D. nipalense), a resident in the mountains of southern Asia. Although the three
Delichon martins are similar in appearance, only
D. urbicum has a pure white rump and underparts.
The House Martin has two geographical
subspeciesSubspecies in biological classification, is 1) a taxonomic rank subordinate to species, or 2) a taxonomic unit, a taxon in that rank...
, the western nominate subspecies
D. u. urbicum, and the eastern
D. u. lagopodum, which was described by
GermanGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium,...
zoologistZoology, also spelled zoölogy, is the branch of biology that focuses on the structure, function, behavior, and evolution of animals. The zoologist's pronunciation of "zoology" is , though a common spelling pronunciation is .-Systems of classification:...
Peter Simon PallasPeter Simon Pallas was a German zoologist and botanist who worked in Russia.- Life and work :...
in 1811. Other races, like
meridionalis from around the Mediterranean have been described, but the claimed differences from the nominate race are
clinalIn biology, an ecocline or simply cline is a term used to describe an ecotone in which a series of biocommunities display continuous gradient....
, and therefore probably invalid.
Distribution
The subspecies
D. u. urbicum breeds across temperate
EurasiaEurasia is a large landmass covering about 52,990,000 km
2 or about 10.6% of the Earth's surface...
east to central
MongoliaMongolia is a landlocked country in East and Central Asia. It borders Russia to the north and the People's Republic of China to the south, east and west. Although Mongolia does not share a border with Kazakhstan, its western-most point is only 24 miles from Kazakhstan's eastern tip. Ulan Bator,...
and the
Yenisei RiverYenisei is the greatest river system flowing to the Arctic Ocean, and at 5,539 km is the fifth longest river in the world. Rising in Mongolia, it follows a northerly course to the Yenisei Gulf in the Kara Sea, draining a large part of central Siberia, the longest stream following the...
, and in
MoroccoMorocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country located in North Africa with a population of nearly 32 million and an area just under . Its capital is Rabat, and its largest city is Casablanca. Morocco has a coast on the Atlantic Ocean that reaches past the Strait of Gibraltar into the...
,
TunisiaTunisia , officially the Tunisian Republic , is a country located in North Africa. It is bordered by Algeria to the west and Libya to the southeast. Tunisia is located southwest of the island of Sicily and south of Sardinia. Its size is almost 165,000 km² with an estimated population of just...
and northern
AlgeriaAlgeria , officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country located in North Africa. It is the largest country on the Mediterranean sea, the second largest on the African continent and the eleventh-largest country in the world in terms of land area.It is bordered by Tunisia in...
, and migrates on a broad front to winter in
sub-SaharanThe Sahara , , "The Greatest Desert") is the world's largest hot desert. At over 9,000,000 square kilometres , it covers most of Northern Africa, making it almost as large as the United States or the continent of Europe. The desert stretches from the Red Sea, including parts of the Mediterranean...
Africa.
D. u. lagopodum breeds eastwards of the Yenisei to
KolymaThe Kolyma region is located in the far north-eastern area of Russia in what is commonly known as Siberia but is actually part of the Russian Far East. It is bounded by the East Siberian Sea and the Arctic Ocean in the north and the Sea of Okhotsk to the south...
and south to northern
MongoliaMongolia is a landlocked country in East and Central Asia. It borders Russia to the north and the People's Republic of China to the south, east and west. Although Mongolia does not share a border with Kazakhstan, its western-most point is only 24 miles from Kazakhstan's eastern tip. Ulan Bator,...
and northern
ChinaChina is a cultural region, an ancient civilization, and, depending on perspective, a national or multinational entity extending over a large area in East Asia....
; it winters in southern China and
Southeast AsiaManila
Bangkok
Ho Chi Minh City
Kuala Lumpur
Singapore
Yangon
Bandung
Hanoi
Surabaya
Taichung
Kaohsiung
Medan|-|}...
.
Habitat
The preferred habitat of the House Martin is open country with low vegetation, such as pasture, meadows and farmland, and preferably near water, although it is also found in mountains up to at least 2,200 metres (7,200 ft) altitude. It is much more urban than the Barn Swallow, and will nest even in city centres if the air is clean enough. It is more likely to be found near trees than other Eurasian swallows, since they provide insect food and also roosting sites. This species does not normally use the reed-bed roosts favoured by migrating Barn Swallows.
It uses similar open habitats on the wintering grounds, but the House Martin is less conspicuous than wintering Barn Swallows, tending to fly higher and be more nomadic. In the tropical parts of its wintering range, like
East AfricaEast Africa or Eastern Africa is the easterly region of the African continent, variably defined by geography or geopolitics. In the UN scheme of geographic regions, 19 territories constitute Eastern Africa:...
and
ThailandThe Kingdom of Thailand is an independent country that lies in the heart of Southeast Asia.It is bordered to the north by Laos and Burma, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the west by the Andaman Sea and Burma...
, it appears to be mainly found in the higher areas.
Migration
The House Martin is a
migrantBird migration is the regular seasonal journey undertaken by many species of birds. Bird movements include those made in response to changes in food availability, habitat or weather. These however are usually irregular or in only one direction and are termed variously as nomadism, invasions,...
which moves on a broad-front (i.e. European birds are not funnelled through the short sea crossings used by large soaring birds, but cross the Mediterranean and
SaharaThe Sahara , , "The Greatest Desert") is the world's largest hot desert. At over 9,000,000 square kilometres , it covers most of Northern Africa, making it almost as large as the United States or the continent of Europe. The desert stretches from the Red Sea, including parts of the Mediterranean...
). While migrating they feed in the air on insects, and they generally travel in daylight, although some birds may move at night. Migration brings its own hazards; in 1974, several hundred thousand birds of this species were found dead or dying in the
Swiss AlpsThe Swiss Alps are the portion of the Alps mountain range that lies within Switzerland. Because of their central position with the entire Alpine range, they are also known as the Central Alps....
and surrounding areas, caught by heavy snowfall and low temperatures. Adult survival on autumn migration depends mainly on temperature, with precipitation another major factor, but for juveniles low temperatures during the breeding season are more critical. It is anticipated that since extreme weather is predicted to become more frequent with
climate changeClimate change is a change in the statistical distribution of weather over periods of time that range from decades to millions of years. It can be a change in the average weather or a change in the distribution of weather events around an average...
, future survival rates will depend more on adverse weather conditions than at present.
The House Martin returns to the breeding grounds a few days after the first Barn Swallows; like that species, particularly when the weather is poor, it seldom goes straight to the nesting sites, but hunts for food over large fresh water bodies. There are records of migrant House Martins staying to breed in
NamibiaNamibia, officially the Republic of Namibia , is a country in Southern Africa whose western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares borders with Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana and Zimbabwe to the east, and South Africa to the south and east...
and
South AfricaThe Republic of South Africa is a country located at the southern tip of Africa, with a coastline on the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. To the north lie Namibia, Botswana and Zimbabwe, to the east are Mozambique and Swaziland, while Lesotho is an independent country surrounded by South Africa.Modern...
instead of returning north. As would be expected for a long distance migrant, it has occurred as a vagrant eastwards to
AlaskaAlaska is the largest state of the United States of America by area; it is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...
and west to Newfoundland,
BermudaBermuda is a British overseas territory in the North Atlantic Ocean. Located off the east coast of the United States, it is situated around 1,770 kilometres northeast of Miami, Florida, and 1,350 kilometres south of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada...
and the
AzoresThe Azores is a Portuguese archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, about from Lisbon and about from the east coast of North America. The two westernmost Azorean islands actually lie on the North American plate...
.
Description
The adult House Martin of the western nominate race is 13 centimetres (5.1 in) long, with a wing span of 26–29 centimetres (10.2–11.4 in) and a weight averaging 18.3 grammes (0.65 oz). It is steel-blue above with a white rump, and white underparts, including the underwings; even its short legs have white downy feathering. It has brown eyes and a small black bill, and its toes and exposed parts of the legs are pink. The sexes are similar, but the juvenile bird is sooty black, and some of its wing
covertsA covert feather on a bird is one of a set of feathers, called coverts, which as the name implies, cover other feathers. The coverts help to smooth airflow over the wings and tail.- Wing-coverts :...
and quills have white tips and edgings.
D. u. lagopodum differs from the nominate race in that its white rump extends much further onto the tail, and the fork of its tail is intermediate in depth between that of
D. u. urbicum and that of the Asian House Martin.
The white rump and underparts of the House Martin, very noticeable in flight, prevent confusion with other widespread Palaeoarctic swallows such as the Barn Swallow (
Hirundo rustica),
Sand MartinThe Sand Martin is a migratory passerine bird in the swallow family. It has a wide range in summer, embracing practically the whole of Europe and the Mediterranean countries, part of northern Asia and also North America. It winters in eastern and southern Africa, South America and South Asia...
(
Riparia riparia) or
Red-rumped SwallowThe Red-rumped Swallow is a small passerine bird in the swallow family. It breeds in open hilly country of temperate southern Europe and Asia from Portugal and Spain to Japan, India and tropical Africa. The Indian and African birds are resident, but European and other Asian birds are migratory...
(
Cecropis daurica). In Africa, confusion with
Grey-rumped SwallowThe Grey-rumped Swallow is a species of bird in the Hirundinidae family.It is found in Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana,...
(
Pseudhirundo griseopyga) is possible, but that species has a grey rump, off-white underparts and long, deeply forked tail. The House Martin flies with a wing beat averaging 5.3 beats per second, which is faster than the wing beat of 4.4 beats per second for the Barn Swallow.
The House Martin is a noisy species, especially at its breeding colonies. The male's song, given throughout the year, is a soft twitter of melodious chirps. The contact call, also given on the wintering grounds, is a hard
chirrrp, and the alarm is a shrill
tseep.
Breeding
The House Martin was originally a cliff and cave nester, and some cliff-nesting colonies still exist, with the nests built below an overhanging rock. It now largely uses human structures such as bridges and houses. Unlike the Barn Swallow, it uses the outside of inhabited buildings, rather than the inside of barns or stables. The nests are built at the junction of a vertical surface and an overhang, such as on house eaves, so that they may be strengthened by attachment to both planes.
Breeding birds return to Europe between April and May, and nest building starts between late March in North Africa and mid-June in Lapland. The nest is a neat closed convex cup fixed below a suitable ledge, with a narrow opening at the top. It is constructed by both sexes with mud pellets collected in their beaks, and lined with grasses, hair or other soft materials. The mud, added in successive layers, is collected from ponds, streams or puddles.
House SparrowThe House Sparrow is a member of the Old World sparrow family Passeridae, considered by some to be a relative of the Weaver Finch Family.It occurs naturally in most of Europe and much of Asia...
s frequently attempt take over the nest during construction, with the House Martins rebuilding elsewhere if they are successful. The entrance at the top of the cup is so small that the sparrows cannot take over the nest once it is complete.
The House Martin tends to breed colonially, and nests may be built in contact with each other. A
colony sizeMany animals, including humans, tend to live in groups, herds, flocks, bands, packs, shoals, or colonies of conspecific individuals. The size of these groups, as expressed by the number of participant individuals, is an important aspect of their social environment...
of less than 10 nests is typical, but there are records of colonies with thousands of nests. Four or five white eggs are usually laid, which average 1.9 x 1.33 centimetres (0.75 x 0.52 in) in size, and weigh 1.7 grammes (0.06 oz). The female does most of the incubation, which normally lasts 14-16 days. The newly hatched chicks are
altricialAltricial, meaning "requiring nourishment", refers to a pattern of growth and development in organisms which are incapable of moving around on their own soon after hatching or being born...
, and after a further 22–32 days, depending on weather, the chicks leave the nest. The fledged young stay with, and are fed by, the parents for about a week after leaving the nest. Occasionally, first-year birds from the first brood will assist in feeding the second brood.
There are normally two broods each year, the nest being reused for the second brood, and repaired and used again in subsequent years. Hatching success is 90%, and fledging survival 60–80%. Average mortality for the adult is 40–70%. Third broods are not uncommon, though late nestlings are often left to starve. Although individuals aged 10 and 14 years have been recorded, most survive less than five years. For weeks after leaving the nest the young congregate in ever-increasing flocks which, as the season advances, may be seen gathering in trees or on housetops, or on the wires with Swallows. By the end of October, most Martins have left their breeding areas in western and central Europe, though late birds in November and December are not uncommon, and further south migration finishes later anyway.
Once established, pairs remain together to breed for life; however, extra-pair copulations are common, making this species genetically polygamous, despite being socially monogamous. A
ScottishScotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
study showed that 15% of nestlings were not related to their putative fathers, and 32% of broods contained at least one extra-pair chick. Extra-pair males, usually from nests where laying had already taken place, were often seen to enter other nests. The paired male initially ensured that his female spent little time alone at the nest, and accompanied her on flights, but the mate-guarding slackened after egg laying began, so the youngest nestling was the most likely to have a different father.
The House Martin has been regularly recorded as hybridising with the Barn Swallow, this being one of the most common passerine interspecific crosses. The frequency of this hybrid has led to suggestions that
Delichon is not sufficiently separated genetically from
Hirundo to be considered a separate genus.
Diet
The House Martin is similar in habits to other aerial
insectivoreAn insectivore is a type of carnivore with a diet that consists chiefly of insects and similar small creatures.Although individually small, insects exist in enormous numbers and make up a very large part of the animal biomass in almost all non-marine environments...
s, including other swallows and martins and the unrelated
swiftThe swifts are a family, Apodidae, of highly aerial birds. They are superficially similar to swallows but are actually not closely related to thorre passerine species at all; swifts are in the separate order Apodiformes, which they share with the hummingbirds...
s, and catches insects in flight. In the breeding areas,
fliesTrue flies are insects of the order Diptera , possessing a single pair of wings on the mesothorax and a pair of halteres, derived from the hind wings, on the metathorax....
and
aphidAphids, also known as plant lice , are small plant-eating insects, and members of the superfamily Aphidoidea. Aphids are among the most destructive insect pests on cultivated plants in temperate regions...
s make up much of the diet, and in Europe, the House Martin takes a larger proportion of aphids and small flies than the Barn Swallow. As with that species,
Hymenoptera Hymenoptera is one of the largest orders of insects, comprising the sawflies, wasps, bees, and ants. The name refers to the heavy wings of the insects, and is derived from the Ancient Greek ὑμήν : membrane and πτερόν : wing...
, especially flying
antAnts are social insects of the family Formicidae , and along with the related wasps and bees, they belong to the order Hymenoptera. Ants evolved from wasp-like ancestors in the mid-Cretaceous period between 110 and 130 million years ago and diversified after the rise of flowering plants...
s, are important food items in the wintering area.
This species hunts at an average height of 21 metres (70 ft) during the breeding season, but lower in wet conditions. The hunting grounds are typically within 450 metres (1,500 ft) of the nest, with a preference for open ground or water, the latter especially in poor weather, but the martins will also follow the plough or large animals to catch disturbed insects. On the wintering grounds, hunting takes place at a greater height of over 50 metres (165 ft).
Predators and parasites
Although the House Martin is hunted by the
HobbyThe Eurasian Hobby , or just simply Hobby, is a small slim falcon. It belongs to a rather close-knit group of similar falcons often considered a subgenus Hypotriorchis. This species was first described by Linnaeus in his Systema naturae in 1758 as Falco subbuteo.This species breeds across Europe...
(
Falco subbuteo), its aerial skills enable it to evade most predators. It is most vulnerable when collecting mud from the ground. This has therefore become a communal activity, with a group of birds descending suddenly on a patch of mud.
It is parasitised externally by fleas and
mitesMITES, or Minority Introduction to Engineering and Science, is a six-week summer program for rising high school seniors held at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Its purpose is to expose students from minority, or otherwise disadvantaged backgrounds, to the fields of science and engineering...
, including the "House Martin Flea",
Ceratophyllus hirundinis, and internally by endoparasites such as
Haemoproteus prognei (avian
malariaMalaria is a vector-borne infectious disease caused by a eukaryotic protist of the genus Plasmodium. It is widespread in tropical and subtropical regions, including parts of the Americas, Asia, and Africa. Each year, there are approximately 350–500 million cases of malaria, killing between one and...
), which are transmitted by blood-sucking insects including mosquitoes. A Polish study showed that nests typically contained more than 29 specimens of ectoparasite, with
C. hirundinis and
Oeciacus hirundinis the most abundant.
Conservation status
The House Martin has a large range, with an estimated global extent of 10 million square kilometres. Its European population is estimated to be 20–48 million individuals. Global population trends have not been quantified, although there is evidence of population fluctuations. For these reasons, the species is evaluated as "least concern" on the 2007 IUCN Red List, and has no special status under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) which regulates international trade in specimens of wild animals and plants. In Europe and Britain however, population numbers indicate a declining trend, and leading conservation groups in Britain have updated the conservations status to amber indicating medium conservation concern there.
.jpg)
This is a species which has greatly benefited historically from forest clearance creating the open habitats it prefers, and from human habitation which have both given it an abundance of safe man-made nest sites. However, populations can fluctuate locally for a number of reasons. New housing has created more nest sites, and clean air legislation has enabled breeding in the centre of major cities like
London[]London is the capital of England and the United Kingdom. It has been a major settlement for two millennia, and the history of London goes back to its founding by the Romans, when it was named Londinium. London's core, the ancient City of London, the 'square mile', retains its medieval boundaries...
. The population of House Martins in Sheffield, central UK, has been estimated at 12,353 individuals. Conversely, poor weather, poisoning by agricultural pesticides, lack of mud for nest building and competition with House Sparrows can reduce numbers. Widespread declines in House Martin numbers have been reported from central and northern Europe since 1970. As an attractive bird which feeds on flying insects, the House Martin has usually been tolerated by humans when it shares their buildings for nesting, although the accumulation of droppings below breeding birds can be a nuisance leading to some destruction of nests.
In literature and culture
This species lacks the wealth of literary references associated with its relative, the Barn Swallow, although it is possible that some of the older mentions for that bird might equally well refer to the House Martin.
William ShakespeareWilliam Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's preeminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
was clearly describing the House Martin when
BanquoBanquo is a character in William Shakespeare's 1606 play Macbeth. Banquo is at first an ally to Macbeth, his co-captain in the battle against the rebels, and they are together when they meet the Three Witches. After prophesying that Macbeth will become king, the witches tell Banquo that he will not...
brings the nests and birds to the attention of
DuncanDonnchad mac Crínáin anglicised as Duncan I, and nicknamed An t-Ilgarach, "the Diseased" or "the Sick" was king of Scotland...
at Macbeth's castle,
InvernessInverness is a city in northern Scotland. The city is the administrative centre for the Highland council area, and is promoted as the capital of the Highlands of Scotland...
:
"This guest of summer,
The temple-haunting martlet, does approve
By his loved mansionry that the heaven's breath
Smells wooingly here. No jutty, frieze,
Buttress, nor coign of vantage, but this bird
Hath made his pendant bed and procreant cradle;
Where they most breed and haunt, I have observed
The air is delicate." (MacbethThe Tragedy of Macbeth, commonly just Macbeth, is a play by William Shakespeare about a regicide and its aftermath. It is Shakespeare's shortest tragedy and is believed to have been written sometime between 1603 and 1607...
, Act I, scene VI).
There are old legends, with no basis in fact, that House Martins would wall-up House Sparrows by closing the entrance of the mud nest with the intruder inside, or that they would gather en masse to kill a Sparrow.
The
martletrightA martlet is a heraldic charge depicting a stylized bird with short tufts of feathers in the place of legs. Swifts, formerly also called martlets, have such small legs that they were believed to have none at all.-Appearance in Civic Heraldry:...
, often believed to refer to the House Martin, or possibly a swallow, was a
heraldicHeraldry is the profession, study, or art of devising, granting, and blazoning arms and ruling on questions of rank or protocol, as exercised by an officer of arms. Heraldry comes from Anglo-Norman herald, from the Germanic compound *harja-waldaz, "army commander"...
bird with short tufts of feathers in the place of legs. It was the
cadencyIn heraldry, cadency is any systematic way of distinguishing similar coats of arms belonging to members of the same family. Cadency is necessary in heraldic systems in which a given design may be owned by only one person at once...
mark of the fourth son of a noble family, and features in many
coats of armsA coat of arms, more properly called an armorial achievement, armorial bearings or often just arms for short, in European tradition, is a design belonging to a particular person and used by them in a wide variety of ways. Historically, they were used by knights to identify them apart from enemy...
, including the
PlantagenetThe House of Plantagenet , or First House of Anjou, was a royal house founded by Henry II of England, son of Geoffrey V of Anjou. The Plantagenet kings first ruled the Kingdom of England in the 12th century. Their male line originated in Gâtinais, while their direct ancestors had ruled the County...
s. The lack of feet signified its inability to land, which explained its link to a younger son, also landless. It also represented swiftness.
External links
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{{wikispecies|Delichon urbica}}
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