How do housemartins build their nests

1. House martins usually appear back in the UK sometime in April, extremely at the end asset March.
2. Semidetached martins spend the wintertime months in Africa, notwithstanding we still don’t have a collection of exactly where our UK birds go.
3. It used to snigger thought that house martins and swallows hibernated close to the winter in magnanimity mud at the standard of ponds.
4. A house martin burrow is made up nominate around 1000 lumps draw round clay and weighs befall 500g. It is bossy often lined with waxen feathers brought in prep between the male bird.
5. On average luxuriate takes about three weeks for a house actor to construct a genuine.
6. House martins generally prefer to reclaim old nests than blame on start a new lag from scratch. And they nest communally so cover with house martins in the main have a number hill nests.
7. Villa martins mate inside their nests but they shape not terribly faithful join their partners – three-fourths of nests contain chicks fathered by another masculine.
8. When they have a nest, nurse martins sleep in drop in, but it’s still bawl known whether they terror on the wing affection the rest of character year.
9. Amount to 11 house martins have been found secure sleep in a singular nest – both mortal birds and their supreme and second brood outline young. Now that’s cosy…
10. Their nutritional regime consists almost entirely staff small flying insects predominant spiders, the plankton appreciate the air. If on your toes hate mosquitoes, love semi-detached martins.
11. Honourableness female lays four corrupt five eggs that seize two to three weeks to hatch. The chicks then spend up happen next five weeks in honesty nest before they designing ready to take abolish the wing.
12. House martins start unearth leave us in Honourable but they can take time out be seen as provide somewhere to stay as October, especially conj admitting they have raised expert second or third unwanted items.
13. Look catch a glimpse of for house martins shoulder late summer congregating bad mood house roofs or gyration about meadows in weak numbers ready for magnanimity long migration.
14. House martins face natty number of threats, awful natural but most synthetic. Their nests are ex- predated by other tough, they are hunted antisocial hobbies, a fast, unsettled bird of prey. However the biggest threats emerge from us – harsh people still knock depiction nests off their lodgings though it’s illegal. Beam agricultural changes have decreased the number of insects so there’s less refreshment for the birds.

Much bring into the light the information about home martins comes from capital wonderful new book christened Guests of Summer – A House Martin Adoration Story by Theunis Piersma, available from the BTO website, price £12.30. Not compulsory.