Small bird (about 14 cm or 5.5 in), swallow-type but different from this species by the absence of a long and forked tail. It is a songbird with bluish black upperparts and white underparts. Long and pointed wings and short tail with black tips. Fast and agile flight. Frequently perched on the ground or on electricity wires and cornices.
Urban environments
It is an urban bird present in cities, villages and rural and farm houses.
Present in Malaga only during the summer season. The Common House Martin breeds from April and May, making two annual layings of 3 to 5 eggs. It is a colonial bird (unlike swallows) which lives and nests in groups. The nest is built by both parents, made of mud and clay and attached to window sills and ledges of external walls of houses and buildings. It consists of a closed hemisphere with a small entrance on the upper edge (those of swallows lack this entrance and are not hemispherical). This bird feeds on small flying insects that it catches very quickly. It is an effective controller of the summer presence of aphids, flies and mosquitoes.
It is a very frequent and abundant bird that can be seen in any urban or rural space of the province and in almost any stage of the Great Path.
Common House Martins are true artisan potters. They make elaborate mosaics with clay balls to build their nests. But the most curious thing is that the colonies follow a family pattern. The central nest is owned by the couple of older house martins, while the adjacent ones are owned by their descendants, children and grandchildren. The family is extremely faithful to its breeding colony. Each family has its zone delimited in the colony so that the nests of different families do not mix.
- Campillos – Sierra de Yeguas
- Genil River banks
- Great Malaga Path (GR 249). Stage 09. Periana - Riogordo
- Great Malaga Path (GR 249). Stage 02. Rincón de la Victoria - Vélez-Málaga
- Great Malaga Path (GR 249). Stage 07. Cómpeta - Canillas de Aceituno
- Great Malaga Path (GR 249). Stage 10. Riogordo - Alfarnate
- Great Malaga Path (GR 249). Stage 11. Alfarnate - Villanueva del Rosario
- Great Malaga Path (GR 249). Stage 14. Villanueva de Tapia - Villanueva de Algaidas
- Great Malaga Path (GR 249). Stage 15. Villanueva de Algaidas - Cuevas Bajas
- Great Malaga Path (GR 249). Stage 19. Campillos - Embalses del Guadalhorce
- Great Malaga Path (GR 249). Stage 20. Embalses del Guadalhorce - Estación de El Chorro (Álora)
- Great Malaga Path (GR 249). Stage 22. Ardales - El Burgo
- Great Malaga Path (GR 249). Stage 23. El Burgo - Ronda
- Great Malaga Path (GR 249). Stage 24. Ronda - Estación de Benaoján
- Great Malaga Path (GR 249). Stage 25. Estación de Benaoján - Jimera de Líbar
- Great Malaga Path (GR 249). Stage 28. Genalguacil - Casares
- Great Malaga Path (GR 249). Stage 31. Marbella - Ojén
- Great Malaga Path (GR 249). Stage 32. Ojén - Mijas
- Great Malaga Path (GR 249). Stage 33. Mijas - Benalmádena
- Great Malaga Path (GR 249). Stage 35. Alhaurín de la Torre - Málaga
- Mouth of the Guadalhorce Nature Reserve
- Río del Burgo
- Río Guadalmina
- The Mouth of Rio Velez
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