Other Scientific Names
Delichon urbica [BirdLife International (2004)], Delichon urbica [Sibley and Monroe (1990, 1993)], Delichon urbica [Cramp and Simmons (1977-1994)], Delichon urbica [Dowsett and Forbes-Watson (1993)]
Other Names (World)
Northern House Martin, Northern House-Martin, House Martin, Common House Martin, European House Martin, Western House Martin, Common House-Martin
Afghanistan (B), Albania (B), Algeria, Andorra (B), Angola, Armenia (B), Austria (B), Azerbaijan (B), Bahrain (P), Belarus (B), Belgium (B), Benin, Bosnia and Herzegovina (B), Botswana, Bulgaria (B), Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, China (mainland) (B), Congo [The Democratic Republic of the], Congo [The Democratic Republic of the], Côte dIvoire, Croatia (Local Name: Hrvatska) (B), Cyprus (B), Czech Republic (B), Denmark (B) (P), Egypt, Eritrea, Estonia (B), Ethiopia, Faroe Islands (B), Finland (B) (P), France (B) (P), Gabon, Gambia, Georgia (B), Germany (B) (P), Ghana, Gibraltar (B), Greece (B) (P), Guinea, Guinea-bissau, Hungary (B), Iceland (B), India (B), Iran [Islamic Republic of] (B), Iraq (B) (P), Ireland (B), Israel (B), Italy (B), Jordan (P), Kazakhstan (B), Kenya, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan (B), Laos, Latvia (B), Lebanon (B), Lesotho, Liberia, Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, Liechtenstein (B), Lithuania (B), Luxembourg (B), Macedonia [The Former Yugoslav Republic of] (B), Malawi, Mali, Malta (B), Mauritania, Moldova [Republic of] (B), Mongolia (B), Montenegro (B), Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar, Namibia, Netherlands Antilles (B), Niger, Nigeria, North Korea, Norway (B), Oman, Pakistan (B), Poland (B), Portugal (B) (NB), Qatar, Romania (B), Russia (Asian) (B), Russia (Central Asian) (B), Russia (European) (B), Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Serbia (B), Sierra Leone, Slovakia (Slovak Republic) (B), Slovenia (B), Somalia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain (B) (NB), Sudan, Swaziland, Sweden (B), Switzerland (B), Syrian Arab Republic (B), Tajikistan (B), Tanzania [United Republic of], Thailand, Togo, Tunisia, Turkey (B), Turkmenistan (B), Uganda, Ukraine (B) (P), United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom (B), Uzbekistan (B), Vietnam, Western Sahara, Yemen, Zambia, Zimbabwe.
Vagrant to Barbados, Bermuda, Comoros, Djibouti, Greenland, Maldives, Nepal, Seychelles, St Helena, St Pierre and Miquelon (P), Svalbard and Jan Mayen Islands, USA.
Population
Estimated population is 60,000,000 - 300,000,000 (2010).
Common House Martin (Delichon urbicum) [XC175888]
by Niels Krabbe from Ryedale District (near Helperthorpe), North Yorkshire, England, United Kingdom (begging call)
Common House Martin (Delichon urbicum) [XC175934]
by Esperanza Poveda from Ryedale District (near Helperthorpe), North Yorkshire, England, United Kingdom (call, flight call)
Nest
A half-cup of mud, pellets and feathers, attached to a vertical surface, usually a building.
Subspecies
Forms a superspecies with Asian House Martin (Delichon dasypus) and sometimes considered conspecific, but breeding ranges overlap (e.g. south of L Baikal).
Birds in west-central Europe sometimes separated as subspecies fenestrarum. Subspecies lagopodum and nominate breed parapatrically in Buryatia (southern and east of L Baikal.
Occasionally hybridizes with Barn Swallow (Hirundo rustica).
The following 3 subspecies are recognised:
urbicum (Linnaeus, 1758) - Western, central and northern Europe east to western Siberia. Winters mainly sub-Saharan Africa.
meridionale (Hartert, 1910) - Southern Europe, northern Africa and west-central Asia (east to Tien Shan and Kashmir). Winters Africa and south-western Asia.
lagopodum (Pallas, 1811) - Eastern Asia from middle and upper R Yenisey, Altai Mts and northern Mongolia east to Anadyrland, Sea of Okhotsk and north-eastern China; probably winters mainly south-eastern Asia. Considered by some authors to be a distinct species, Eastern House Martin (Delichon lagopodum).
The Reader's Digest Book of British Birds 1980, 3rd Edition, Drive Publications Ltd ISBN 0 340 25308 8
Birds in Colour Campbell, B., 1960, Penguin Books Ltd
The Pocket Guide to Nest and Eggs Fitter, R.S.R., 1954, Collins
RSPB Handbook of British Birds Holden, P., Cleeves, T., 2002, A & C Black ISBN 0 7136 5713 8
Birds of Britain and Europe Sterry, P., et al., 2001, AA Publishing ISBN 0 7495 3068 5
The Popular Handbook of British Birds Hollom, P.A.D., 1973, H.F. & G. Witherby Ltd ISBN 0 85493 002 7
BirdLife International Species Factsheet