House Martin
Delichon urbica
  |
|
Distribution Britain 2,393 (-1.3%) Ireland 810 (-9.4%)
Numbers breeding: Britain 375,000 Ireland 105,000 European status: 12,000,000 (4% in Britain and Ireland =9) British population trend: apparently stable but some bad losses{-1%} How likely are you to record it? 1518 squares (33.8%) Ranked 33 [29=] |
There are still natural breeding House Martin nests on coastal cliffs, particularly in Scotland and Ireland, and a very few inland (sometimes in quarries). However most nest on buildings and have done for many years. The range of the birds seems not to have changed much with sporadic breeding in the Shetland and the Western Isles and sparse nesting in Orkney, the Inner Hebrides, North-west Scotland and Western Ireland. The air pollution in industrial areas and city centres forced the birds out but they returned, to a certain extent, after the passing of the Clean Air Act in 1956. The long term study in Scotland does not show consistent population changes but declines, and total losses, are reported from the Home Counties. Several rural towns with dozens of pairs 20 years ago are now reporting no more than four or five pairs. This has been related to loss of livestock from local farms, increased use of pesticides and the loss of muddy puddles. The latter may be very important as the birds have to use liquid mud, which will stick well, within 200 metres of the nest site or it will become too dry in flight. There is some evidence that the birds are arriving later and departing earlier from their nesting sites in South-east England and this may be driving a local decline. There may be a serious, local, problem but this has yet to be proved. Let's hope the birds come through OK!
From
The
State of the Nations Birds
Copyright © 2000 by Chris Mead