Eurasian Crag Martin
Crag Martin ( Ptyonoprogne rupestris )
The Crag Martin ( Ptyonoprogne rupestris ) is quite similar, but with a height of 14-15 cm slightly larger the sand martin. This swallow adheres to almost always near cliffs and rarely high in the air.
Description
Top and bottom are brown. On the tail feathers are white spots that are seen only in spread- tail in flight. A chest strap is not available. The wingspan is about 26 cm. The voice of the Crag Martin is quiet and rarely heard. The song is hasty, rough twittering. She gets hard " prrit " or " pritprit ".
Habitat
The Crag Martin lives in Southern Europe in cliffs, gorges, bridges and tunnels on the water. North Tirol is the Crag Martin populated increasingly buildings such as hotels, private houses, farmhouses and antennas. Preferred nest site is the ridge beam of the house. Thus, the Crag Martin, as once smoke and House Martin, becoming the synanthropic. Many rock walls in North Tyrol, who were known as breeding sites of earlier have already left. Similar trends are known from Switzerland and South Tyrol.
Reproduction
The nesting areas are protected from the wind, dry and often sunny rock walls. In the northern and eastern Alps brood walls are usually low over a wide valley in the west and in the Southern Alps also high above the valley floor. To the north and west exposed walls are usually shunned. Are typical in the Alps mostly small colonies of two to five breeding pairs. Breeding grounds with more than 15 breeding pairs represent exceptions
The breeding season runs from May and July. Cliff swallows come partly at the end of February at their breeding sites. In climatically favorable years to complete two years broods. Then the breeding period may last until early October. The nest is a brick made of mud and saliva tray under overhanging rock, preferably at houses on the ridge board or under eaves, also closely over busy roads. Even during the breeding business improvements and additions are made to the nest. In contrast to the House Martin is the nest, similar to the Barn Swallow, open at the top. The nest consists of two to five eggs. The laying interval is one day. The eggs are oblong elliptical. They are white with a few red and gray spots, which are mostly focused on the blunt end. Incubation period is fourteen to fifteen days. It breeds mainly the female parent bird that is not fed by the male. The nestling period is 24 to 28 days. The young are fed after leaving nest for another 14 days.
Food
Flying insects, which get lost due to wind in the restricted airspace of the rock Schwalbe are caught in flight.
Stock development
The Crag Martin was until the 1960s a local breeding bird of the central Alpine areas and foothills in the south of Central Europe. In the north of the Alpine area she was rare, in the canton of Jura she was missing since the 19th century. Since the 1980s there has been a sometimes considerable portfolio growth in the north and east of the Alps. It is possible that both in the Alps and in the wintering areas in the Mediterranean play a role in climatically favorable years. The population increase has led in part to a significant expansion in the area foothills of the Alps. Since 1980, Rock swallows nest again in the canton of Jura. The current northern breeding areas in central Europe are currently in Lower Austria. A strong growth and spread tendency is also for Styria, western Switzerland and the south of Bavaria detectable.