Nepal House Martin
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| Nepal House Martin | ||||||||||||||
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| Delichon nipalensis Horsfield & Moore, 1854 |
The Nepal House Martin (Delichon nipalensis) is a migratory passerine of the family Hirundinidae. It is a bird of the mountains of southern Asia, breeding between 1000 m and 4000 m, but mainly below 3000 m in river valleys and rugged wooded mountain ridges. The nominate race D. n. nipalense is resident in the Himalayas from Garhwal through Nepal and east to western Myanmar. The eastern form D. n. cuttingi is found in northern Myanmar, just over the China border in Yunnan, and in northern Tonkin, Vietnam.
[edit] Description
The adult Nepal House Martin is 13 cm long, steel blue above with a white rump, and with white underparts, including the underwings. It differs from Asian House Martin and House Martin in that it has a black throat, black undertail coverts and a squarer tail. D. n. cuttingi is larger and has a more extensively black throat than the nominate subspecies.
The young bird is duller, with buff underparts and a less black throat.
These are largely silent birds, with an occasional chi-i given in flight.
[edit] Behaviour
The Nepal House Martin is a cliff nester, breeding in colonies sited under an overhang on a vertical cliff. They only rarely nest on buildings. The nest is a deep mud bowl lined with grasses or feathers. Three or four white eggs are the normal clutch, and this species is double-brooded. Both sexes build the nest, incubate the eggs and feed the chicks.
This species feeds on insects taken in flight.
[edit] References
- Turner, Angela K; Rose, Chris (1989). A handbook to the swallows and martins of the world. Christopher Helm. ISBN 0-7470-3202-5.
