Nepal House Martin

How to identify

Field marks

1. Upperparts blue-black, underparts white
2. Rump pure white, contrasting strongly
3. Chin black, the extent of black varying by region
4. Undertail-coverts black, tail rather square

Male, female and young

Sexes look alike; juvenile has less metallic gloss, a dusky throat and a pale yellow wash on the underparts.

Voice

Occasionally gives a short “chi-i” in flight.

Similar species

Asian House Martin

Nepal House Martin has a black chin and undertail-coverts, and a much squarer tail; Asian House Martin lacks these features.

Where and when it's recorded

Busiest months: April · Most records: Bhutan, India, Nepal

Nepal House Martin has been recorded at 130 of the 8,276 birding hotspots we track, in 7 countries and regions.

Records by month Northern Hemisphere

Where it's recorded most

1. Mahananda WLS – LatpancharIndia93 records
2. Lingmethang Rd – Namling mid-elevation forestBhutan84 records
3. Mahananda WLS – Rongtong and Shivakhola ForestIndia78 records

Countries and regions with the most records

BhutanIndiaNepalChinaMyanmar (Burma)LaosThailand

eBird records via GBIF up to 2024-12-31. A record means someone listed it; more records partly mean more birders, not more birds.

About

The Nepal house martin (Delichon nipalense) is a non-migratory passerine of the swallow family Hirundinidae. Its two subspecies breed in the Himalayas from northwestern India through Nepal to Myanmar, northern Vietnam, and just into China. It occurs in river valleys and rugged wooded mountain ridges at heights between 1,000–4,000 m (3,300–13,100 ft) altitude, where it nests in colonies beneath overhangs on vertical cliffs, laying three or four white eggs in an enclosed mud nest.

Excerpt from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0 · authors · Read more on Wikipedia

Questions