Overview

House Martin: Small swallow, metallic dark blue mantle and crown; wings and tail are black-grey. White underparts. Forked tail. Solid white rump distinguishes it from other swallows. Legs covered in white down. Graceful flight, swift and direct with rapid wing beats. Soars on wide triangular wings.

House Martin: Summer visitor to most of the UK and Ireland, more common in the south and east. Arrives in April and leaves by October. Winters in tropical Africa. Found in varying open habitats, from sea cliffs to lowland farms, also seen in towns and villages. Often perches on utility cables.

Jean Roche Sound

House Martin 2

• Recordist: Jean Roche
• Title: House Martin 2
• Description: Song is a collection of trills and chirps.
• Location: uk
• Date: "February 7, 2011"

House Martin 4

• Title: House Martin 4
• Description: Typical song.
• Recordist: Jean Roche
• Date Imported: "February 7, 2011"
• Location: uk

House Martin 3

• Title: House Martin 3
• Description: Song mixed with calls.
• Recordist: Jean Roche
• Date Imported: "February 7, 2011"
• Location: uk

House Martin 1

• Recordist: Jean Roche
• Title: House Martin 1
• Description: Various calls.
• Location: uk
• Date: "February 7, 2011"

Voice Text

"prrrtt", "prrrtt", "prrrtt"

• The House Martin was first described by Linnaeus in his Systema Naturae in 1758 as Hirundo urbica, but was placed in its current genus Delichon by Thomas Horsfield and Frederic Moore in 1854.
• Delichon is an anagram of the Ancient Greek term chelidon, meaning 'swallow', and the species name urbicum (urbica until 2004, due to a misunderstanding of Latin grammar) means 'of the town' in Latin.
• This species has greatly benefited from forest clearing, which create the open habitats it prefers, and from human habitation which have given it an abundance of safe man-made nest sites.
• A group of martins has many collective nouns, including a "circlage", "flight", "gulp", "richness", and "swoop" of martins.

• Swallow
• Leach's Petrel
• Swift
• Sand Martin
• Storm Petrel

Swallows (Hirundinidae)

ORDER

The swallows are one of the one hundred eighteen families of birds in the order PASSERIFORMES (pronounced pas-ser-i-FOR-meez); a large taxonomic order that includes waxwings, tanagers, finches, and swallows.

FAMILY TAXONOMY

A family distributed throughout most continents, the Hirundinidae (pronounced hir-un-DIN-uh-dee) are composed of eighty-eight species in nineteen genera (IOC World Bird List, version 2.3).

EUROPE

There are ten species of swallows in Europe in seven genera. European swallow species include well known birds such as the Barn Swallow and Common House Martin, and the less familiar Eurasian Crag Martin.

KNOWN FOR

The swallows are best known for their graceful, swooping flight and for nesting in barns, under bridges, and upon other human-made structures. The Sand Martin in particular is well known for nesting colonially in sandy river banks.

PHYSICAL

The long, pointed wings and streamlined bodies of swallows are evolutionary adaptations for their life in the air. These small birds have medium length to long tails that can be squared or forked in shape. Their bills are short with wide gapes, and their legs short with small feet.

COLORATION

Swallows come in variety of colours, although European species are often fairly dull overall with browns and white predominating. A few species, though, have upperparts with a bluish sheen, and reddish patches on the face and rump.

GEOGRAPHIC HABITAT

This family is found throughout Europe except for Iceland and in the most inhospitable of tundra habitats. Swallows utilize a wide variety of non-forest habitats, but are most common around rivers, lakes, and wetlands that provide abundant food in the form of flying insects and nesting sites in the form of bridges, riverbanks, cliffs, and dead snags.

MIGRATION

Most swallow species are long distance migrants to Africa.

HABITS

Swallows are very social birds with many species nesting in colonies and foraging in flocks. Different species employ a variety of nesting techniques that include nesting in holes in the banks of rivers and lakes, in the hollows of dead trees, and mud nests which they build in caves, cliffs, and on structures such as bridges, barns, and buildings. Foraging for flying insects and other arthropods is done in the air with fast, graceful, swooping flight.

CONSERVATION

In Europe, no swallow species are threatened. This might be related to their preference for open, non-forest habitats, and their ability to nest on human-built structures.

INTERESTING FACTS

In North America, eastern populations of the Purple Martin became adapted to breeding in gourds set out by Native Americans before Europeans arrived. Eventually, they became so used to breeding in structures set up by people that these eastern populations have become reliant upon bird boxes for breeding and no longer use natural cavities as their western North American cousins still do.

Author

Artist

Michael Oberhofer