Common House-martin
A species of House-martins, Also known as House Martin Scientific name : Delichon urbicum Genus : House-martins
Common House-martin, A species of House-martins
Also known as:
House Martin
Botanical name: Delichon urbicum
Genus: House-martins
Content
Description People often ask General Info
Photo By Andreas Trepte , used under CC-BY-SA-2.5 /Cropped and compressed from original
Description
A small, multicolored swallow, the common House-martin has benefited greatly from human habitation and forest clearing, which has created the open habitats and safe man-made nests it prefers. These birds almost always make their homes near water and often perch on utility wires.
Size
13 cm
Life Expectancy
15 years
Feeding Habits
Common House-martin primarily consumes flying insects, having a penchant for aphids and small flies, particularly in their European breeding areas. Their feeding technique involves aerial foraging, catching prey in flight like other insectivores. During winters, flying ants, among other hymenopterans, become a significant part of their diet.
Habitat
Common House-martin predominantly thrives in open terrains featuring meadows, farmlands, and areas near water, extending into urban environments with clean air. These birds are comfortable in regions with low vegetation, although they can also be spotted at higher elevations in mountainous landscapes, reaching 4,500 m in Central Asia. Common House-martin is more common in proximity to trees than its swallow counterparts, relying on them for food and rest. Habitually roosting in nests, on cliffs, or trees, they sometimes sleep aloft and are found across broad geographic zones from coastal cliffs to towns, even venturing up to 2,565 m over forests during winter.
Dite type
Insectivorous
People often ask
General Info
Feeding Habits
Bird Feeder Type
Platform
Sounds
Call
Recording location: Belgium
Call
Recording location: Belgium
Song
Recording location: Belgium
Distribution Area
The subspecies D. u. urbicum breeds across temperate Eurosiberia east to central Mongolia and the Yenisei River, and in Morocco, Tunisia and northern Algeria, and migrates on a broad front to winter in sub-Saharan Africa. D. u. lagopodum breeds eastwards of the Yenisei to Kolyma and south to northern Mongolia and northern China; it winters in southern China and Southeast Asia.
Species Status
The species is evaluated as Least Concern on the 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.
Photo By Andreas Trepte , used under CC-BY-SA-2.5 /Cropped and compressed from original
Scientific Classification
Phylum
Chordates Class
Birds Order
Perching birds Family
Swallows Genus
House-martins Species
Common House-martin