Fairy Martin
Petrochelidon ariel
Small swallow dark above, pale below, with white rump, reddish crown, and notched tail. Nests colonially over much of Australia. Unique "bottle" nests constructed from mud usually found under building eves, bridges, culverts, and cliffs. Call a dry buzzing "frrrtt," very different from twittering of Tree Martin.
识别特征
The fairy martin is dumpy and square tailed. It averages 12 centimetres (4.7 in) long and weighs 11 grams (0.39 oz). The adult has an iridescent blue back, brown wings and tail, a rufous crown and nape, and a whitish rump. The underparts are dull white. The sexes are similar, but young birds are duller and browner, with a paler forehead and pale fringes to the back and wing feathers.<p>This species can be distinguished from other Australian swallows by its pale rump. The most similar species, the tree martin, has a shallowly forked tail and blue-black head and nape.<p>The call of this vocal swallow is a chrrrr and the song is a high-pitched twitter. The vocalizations are higher pitched than those of the tree martin.
分类信息
- 学名
- Petrochelidon ariel
- 命名信息
- (Gould, 1842)
- 目
- Passeriformes
- 科
- Hirundinidae
- 属
- Petrochelidon
分布与栖息地
- 繁殖区
- AU : Australia (except Tasmania, se Australia)
- 非繁殖区
- s populations move n
- 迁徙
- Complete migrants
行为
Fairy martins breed from August through to January in colonies usually of a few tens of nests, but the largest known site had 700 nests. Nests are constructed in natural holes in dead trees, riverbanks, cliff faces or rock crevices, but increasingly in artificial sites on bridges, in culverts and pipes, and on buildings.<p>The nest is a retort- or bottle-shaped structure, made from up to a thousand mud pellets and lined with dried grasses and feathers. The bowl is about 15 centimetres (5.9 in) in diameter, and the entrance tunnel is 5–30 centimetres (2.0–11.8 in) long. The nests in a colony are clustered together. Both sexes build the nest and share incubation and care of the young.<p>The clutch is usually four, sometimes five, reddish-brown speckled white eggs, and this species is often double or triple brooded.<p>The fairy martin feeds high in the air on flying insects, usually in large flocks. Fairy martins have a slow fluttering flight and feed higher than welcome swallows. They will also feed on insect swarms low over water, and have been recorded feeding on injured moths on a newly cut lawn. This species is highly gregarious and forms large flocks, often with tree martins. When the mud nest is vacated after breeding, it may become occupied by several species of microbats. These opportunists include the wattle bats of genus Chalinolobus (Chalinolobus morio, C. dwyeri and C. gouldii), and the small long-eared bat Nyctophilus geoffroyi.
保护状况
- 种群趋势
- rising
照片
分布
鸟叫声
其他鸟类
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Euphonia hirundinacea
Tiny finch of tropical lowlands and foothills, mainly in humid areas. Found in forest canopy, adjacent clearings with trees, gardens. Usually in pairs, sometimes small groups that associate readily with other euphonias, especially when feeding at mistletoe. Male has rich yellow throat and underparts (lacks black throat of male Scrub Euphonia); female has pale grayish throat and yellow sides creating a vested appearance. Young male looks like female with an adult male head stuck on.
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Blotchy hummingbird restricted to a tiny, remote area in the Andes of northern Peru. Plumage is bronzy-brown with irregular white patches on the face, throat, and belly, and white teardrop-shaped spots on breast. Adult male has an iridescent purple and green lower back, but this is indistinct or lacking on females and younger birds.
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