Page 274 - Complete Birds of Britain and Europe (DK - RSPB)

MARTINS AND SWALLOWS
Family Hirundinidae
MARTINS AND SWALLOWS

OLLECTIVELY KNOWN AS “hirundines”,
Cthese are highly aerial birds, feeding almost
entirely by catching flying insects while on the
wing.They have tiny bills but wide mouths.
Their feet are very small, but strong enough to
give a good grasp on a wire or twig: they perch
frequently, unlike swifts.
MARTINS
Martins are stockier than most swallows and
lack the very long outer tail feathers that are so
SUN-BATHING
prominent on their close relatives.They have House Martins take advantage of a rooftop in warm autumn sunlight.
rather broad-based wings that taper to a point Their white rumps are fluffed out and obvious.
and deeply forked tails on a barrel-shaped body.
House Martins make obvious mud-pellet nests larger prey, with a more fluent, swooping flight.
on buildings while Sand Martins tunnel into All have elongated outer tail feathers, which are
sand cliffs in sizeable colonies. longest on the oldest and fittest males. Red-
rumped Swallows make mud-pellet nests like
SWALLOWS House Martins, but with an entrance “porch”,
The most elegant of the group, the swallows tend while Swallows nest inside small buildings in
to feed lower down than the martins, and on a more concealed position.
In late summer and autumn, flocks of swallows
and martins gather together, often using reed-
beds as roosts, before migrating to Africa. House
Martins seem to remain at great heights while
in Africa and are little observed. Swallows from
Europe occupy different parts of southern Africa
during their stay there.

WIRE BIRDS
An important social trait of
swallows is their habit of gathering
on wires before migrating south.

272