Western House Martin

Delichon urbicum (Linnaeus, 1758)

13 cmLength29 cmWingspan14 gWeight

It has steel-blue upperparts and a pure white rump and underparts, with white down even on the legs and feet.

Busiest months: May · Most records: United Kingdom, Spain, Portugal

Looks like Barn Swallow, Sand Martin, Eastern Red-rumped Swallow

Least Concern

How to identify

Field marks

White rump conspicuous in flight
Head and upperparts steel-blue
Underparts pure white, underwing also white
Bill small and black; legs and feet with white down, toes pink

Male, female and young

Sexes similar; juvenile is smoky-black, with white tips to some wing coverts and flight feathers.

Voice

Male sings softly throughout the year, giving a melodious twitter; contact call is a hard “chirrrp”, alarm call a sharp “tseep”.

Similar species

Barn Swallow

Western House Martin is distinguished by its white rump, conspicuous in flight, and pure white underparts.

Sand Martin

Western House Martin is distinguished by its white rump, conspicuous in flight, and pure white underparts.

Eastern Red-rumped Swallow

Western House Martin is distinguished by its white rump, conspicuous in flight, and pure white underparts.

Where and when it's recorded

Western House Martin has been recorded at 1,906 of the 8,171 birding hotspots we track, in 124 countries and regions.

Records by month Northern Hemisphere

Where it's recorded most

Desembocadura del Guadalhorce – ÁreaSpain3,437 records
International Birding and Research Center Eilat (IBRCE)Israel2,449 records
Titchwell Marsh RSPB ReserveUnited Kingdom1,857 records

More places

Spurn Bird Observatory Recording AreaUnited Kingdom1,852 records
Brent ReservoirUnited Kingdom1,845 records
Cley & Salthouse Marshes NWT NR – Cley Marshes including Hides and Visitor CentreUnited Kingdom1,498 records
Amwell HMWT NRUnited Kingdom1,347 records
Doñana PN – Marisma de El RocíoSpain1,296 records
Marjal dels Moros – ÁreaSpain1,263 records
Walthamstow WetlandsUnited Kingdom1,220 records

Countries and regions with the most records

United Kingdom Spain Portugal Germany Israel Czechia Poland Greece

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 western house martin (Delichon urbicum), sometimes called the common house martin, northern house martin or, particularly in Europe, just house martin, is a migratory passerine bird of the swallow family which breeds in Europe, north Africa and west-central Asia; and winters in sub-Saharan Africa and southwestern Asia. It feeds on insects which are caught in flight, and it migrates to climates where flying insects are plentiful.

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