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Eurasian Crag Martin

Eurasian Crag Martin

Ptyonoprogne rupestris

Identify the Eurasian Crag Martin by sound or photo and log your sightings with Birdpass.

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The Eurasian Crag Martin is a sturdy, ash-brown swallow with a square tail marked by a row of white spots. It breeds on rocky cliffs from southern Europe and north-west Africa across the Palearctic, and increasingly on buildings and bridges. Many European birds stay year-round, while northern and Asian breeders winter in North Africa, the Middle East and India. Its range is expanding.

Did you know?

  • It often nests under eaves and bridges instead of cliffs.
  • The white tail spots flash in flight when it spreads its tail.

Voice

Song
Call

About the species

Identification

A rather dark, brownish swallow with fairly broad wings and a short, slightly notched tail. The best mark is the row of white spots on the spread tail, visible in flight. The underwing coverts are dark. It differs from Sand Martin in its darker overall look, broader wings, tail spots and lack of a breast band.

Family

Hirundinidae

Size

Small (sparrow)

Colours

brown, grey, white

About the habitat

Mountains, gorges and sea cliffs with overhangs, as well as buildings, bridges and dams; it forages over cliffs, streams and meadows.

Diet

Flying insects caught while cruising along cliff faces and over streams and alpine meadows.

Behaviour

Breeds singly or in small loose groups, building a neat half-cup of mud lined with feathers and grass under an overhang. The female does most of the incubating, and both parents feed the young. Outside the breeding season it becomes quite gregarious. Its flight is unhurried for a swallow, mixing quick wingbeats with flat glides close to rock faces.

Sources

Photo: Francesco Veronesi from Italy, CC BY-SA 2.0 https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Eurasian Crag-Martin - Estremadurai 1779 (16772419967).jpg

Sound: Pascal Christe, XC982921, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://xeno-canto.org/982921

Sound: Pascal Christe, XC580313, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://xeno-canto.org/580313

Text: Wikipedia (English), CC BY-SA 4.0 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eurasian_crag_martin

See also