Ptyonoprogne rupestris no ninho

Claustro do Convento de Cristo, Tomar, 15.Mai.2005

Canon 300D
Zoom 100-300 (5.6)

Nice shots Gonçalo, especially capturing the adult bringing in food (I know how difficult this type of shot is because I have had Hirundo daurica nesting in a passageway between my house and the garage for three years (with four broods this year) and never managed to get a shot of the adults visiting the nest.

Is this very unusual to have Ptyonoprogne rupestris nesting within human habitation?

Regards,

Colin

Colin Key escreveu:Is this very unusual to have Ptyonoprogne rupestris nesting within human habitation?

Hi Colin,

This bird was not exactly nesting on a human habitation. It was in a cloister of a convent where nobody actually lives permanently - but there are hundreds of visitors each day, so disturbance is eventually larger than on a simple inhabited building.

I have seen Crag Martins nesting in the middle of towns in southern and central Portugal, often under the cover of balconies. For example, I found them nesting in inhabited buildings in the middle of Portalegre city, but also in the towns of Ponte de Sor, Gavião and Miranda do Corvo (the latter is near Coimbra). I have also heard about a nest in the centre of Porto. But I would say this is not the main habitat for this species. It tends to favour bridges, crevices, caves and even tunnels.

Best wishes,
Gonçalo

Gonçalo Elias escreveu: But I would say this is not the main habitat for this species. It tends to favour bridges, crevices, caves and even tunnels.

Best wishes,
Gonçalo

Very interesting Gonçalo - may be that this species is evolving in the same way as Andorinha-dáurica which ten or more years ago only nested in my area underneath the dam at Barragem da Bravura north of Odiáxere. With the building of the A22 (Via do Infante) the birds have now found new nesting sites beneath the concrete viaducts where the road crosses valleys, and I now know quite a few people (myself included) who have them nesting in passageways, etc. around their houses. There are now no birds at the barragem.

Regards,

Colin