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House
martins bask in sun |
30.09.2000
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Michael Woods |
Every morning during the hot weather at
the end of August, Ian Jackson looked out of the window of
his fifth floor flat and saw hundreds of house martins
clustered on a nearby roof. The black slates face the rising
sun and absorb the warmth of its weak rays. The martins were
standing with their backs to the sun, sunbathing with their
wings spread. We usually see birds sunbathing in the full
heat of the day and the behaviour of these house martins
reminded me of butterflies that bask in the morning sun to
warm their flight muscles before take-off. This is pretty
much what the martins were doing.
Their roosting habits after the
breeding season have always been something of a mystery,
although some have been seen perching in trees, on buildings
or huddling in their old nests. Increasingly, many people
believe that house martins roost on the wing, as swifts are
known to do.
House martins have been heard calling
high overhead at night and seen dropping earthwards in the
morning. Birds caught after the descent have been cold to
the touch. This is evidence not only that the birds have
spent the night at high altitude but that sunbathing on a
warm roof is as beneficial for them as huddling round the
fire after a cold walk is for us.
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