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House Martins have a blue-black back, slender black wings adapted for fast flight, and pure white underparts. Their broad white rump instantly tells them apart from other similar birds. Their black tail is clearly forked which gives them excellent manoeuvrability when in flight. House Martins are perfectly adapted to life in the air and much of their time is spent on the wing, although they readily settle on buildings and telephone wires. They also have to come down to the ground to collect mud for their nests from the fringes of ponds, muddy gateways and roadside puddles. House Martins feed on a wide variety of insects caught high above the ground. House Martins are summer visitors to Britain, they arrive in spring to breed, leaving in September for the long journey back to Africa where they spend the winter. House Martins usually nest in colonies that range from loose gatherings of a few pairs to several hundred closely-packed nests. They build mud nests on the outer walls of buildings, often under the eaves, and are commonly found in villages, towns and even highly urbanised areas. In recent years House Martins have been recorded breeding much nearer the centres of many British cities, illustrating the improvement in air quality in the last 50 years. House Martins are found throughout Europe, up to an altitude of 2000 metres. They are summer visitors and spend the winter in tropical Africa south of the Sahara. They breed across the whole of the UK, with the exception of the Outer Hebrides, Orkney and Shetland. The highest densities occur in East Anglia, parts of S and W Scotland, the West Midlands and Yorkshire. There have been no major changes in distribution of House Martins since the early 1970s. There have been some changes at the edge of their range but on the whole the distribution of the species is regarded as being static. It is estimated that there are 250,000 to 500,000 pairs of House Martin in Britain. Nationally the population appears to be undergoing a slow, shallow decline, although firm evidence of the rate and extent of such a decline is lacking and there is significant variation from place to place. The House Martin appears on the UK Biodiversity Steering Group 'Long List of Threatened/Declining Species' but does not appear on the RSPB Red or Amber list of 'Birds of Conservation Concern'. The House Martin is a sparsely distributed breeding bird throughout the Hull area but is a common passage migrant and a familiar summer visitor. House Martins tend to arrive in Hull in the last week of April and records illustrate that they have been breeding around Hull for many years. Small colonies have existed on Chanterlands Avenue and Newland Avenue for over 100 years. It is thought that the number of House Martins in Hull has declined markedly since the 1980s. CURRENT FACTORS AFFECTING HOUSE MARTINS
House Martins are protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act (1981). It is illegal intentionally to use any method to disturb or kill them, and to take, damage or destroy their nests while the nest is in use or being built. House Martins tend to suffer from intentional nest destruction because people do not always appreciate them nesting on their houses. Householders should be aware that destruction of nests carries a maximum penalty of £5000 or a six-month prison sentence. Management, Research and Guidance Concern for House Martins was raised in 1998 when reports to RSPB suggested many birds failed to return to their traditional nesting sites. Since 1998 the RSPB have been asking for information from everyone with House Martins nesting on their houses. It is hoped that annual monitoring schemes will help to show whether numbers are declining. There is no current conservation action for House Martins nationally, although advice is provided by the RSPB.
Broughton, R.K. (2002) Birds of the Hull Area. Kingston Press, Hull. Gibbons, D.W. (1993) New Atlas of Breeding Birds in Britain and Ireland: 1988-1991. Poyser, London. RSPB. Information: House Martins. RSPB, Sandy. |
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