Description:

A small martin with distinct dark blue and white colors. Adult told from Asian House Martin by combination of whiter underparts, longer and more deeply forked tail, and paler underwing-coverts. Juvenile has browner upperparts, whitish tips to tertials, and has shallower tail-fork.

Distribution:

Common summer visitor all across Gilgit-Baltistan, except for the north-eastern parts. Mainly occurs in mountain valleys with cliffs and gorges, often near to cultivation and human habitations. In summers observed up to 4500m.

Behavior:

Forages in flocks, sometimes with other aerial feeders. Flight slow, usually high up. Occasionally perches on ground, rocks or vegetation to pick up insects; will follow ploughs and large animals to feed on flushed insects. Diet consists of almost entirely insects, predominantly small flying insects.

Photo Gallery:

Range & Occurrence:

Resident Species

Summer Breeder

Winter Visitor

Passage Migrant

Distribution Map of Common House-Martin in Gilgit-Baltistan (Status: )

Seasonal Occurrence of Common House-Martin

Resources:

Birds of Pakistan: Helm Field Guides (R. Grimmett & T. Inskipp)
The Birds of Pakistan (T. J. Roberts)
Birds of the Indian Subcontinent (C. Inskipp, R. Grimmett & T. Inskipp)
Birds of South Asia: The Ripley Guide (P. Rasmussen & J. Anderton)
Birds of India: Collins Field Guide (N. Arlott)
Handbook of the Birds of India and Pakistan (S. Ali & S. D. Ripley)
Handbook of the Birds of the World (https://www.hbw.com)
The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World, 6th Edition
iNaturalist BoGB (inaturalist.org/projects/birds-of-gilgit-baltistan)
Birds of Gilgit-Baltistan (http://fb.me/birdsgb)

*Gallery images on this page are shared from flickr.com, and are copyrighted to their respective creators or owners.