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Ptyonoprogne fuligula
small brown bird of the swallow family.
Near the waterhole at the lodge in Mt Kenya Nat Park - capturing termites after a brief but heavy rain
I spent quite a bit of time aiming my camera at them. So did my mom, however, she didn't get the clear photos I did, unfortunately. Found an entry for brown throated sand martin - smaller and darker. This seems to be the bird :)
That would make some sense. Interesting that all seemed to be juveniles, and yet were feeding each other. It was a fun spotting, to be sure, and I got a two-fer out of this one... an ID and more exposure for it. Thank you!
It is quite possible they nested elsewhere, maybe a considerable distance away, and then moved on as soon as they fledged to avoid predation and be near a good food source. This is common practice with many bird species.
I never did see any signs of nests on the building - and I looked. Of course there was a roof we couldn't access. Our lodge was the only building for several miles, too. Now, I wonder if anyone can identify the termite species?!
Birdforum have confirmed it as Ptyonoprogne fuligula, Rock Martin.
In Europe Rock Martins are replaced by Crag Martins which are the same genus. In summer they live up in the mountains (crags, rocks) but in winter they move down into the cities where they congregate on buildings at night and visit the marshes to feed during the day.
First response from birdforum says: "I think juvenile Rock martin is a better match (including the fact that they are breeding on buildings), reddish legs a juvenile feature of very young birds"
That photo is much darker than any of mine. There were several of them flying around and all looked about the same- very little to indicate adult/juvenile differences as with our American barn swallows
I uploaded three more photos - I have a couple dozen, but mostly the same as the ones I've uploaded. Hopefully they help. I accessed the swallow/martin page of Zimmerman's book and can only say that it is one of the two... sand/plain or rock. Somewhere in the middle. Thinking more and more they are juveniles. Only spots I could see were at the very edge of the tail - throat seems to be picking up the reddish from the dusky light. I definitely appreciate the help!
http://www.birdforum.net/attachment.php?...
here's another link to try. I am wondering if your birds are juveniles and if juveniles have red legs and feet, I don't know. Anyway, as a member of birdforum I have asked them to take a look at it and will let you know the result. It might turn out to be a flycatcher of some sort!
As far as I am aware all hirundines have black or dark legs, yours have red legs and feet, but maybe young birds do, I don't know. Do you have any more photos, which show the whole bird or the tail fanned open, wings open. I am a member of birdforum so will arrange a reverse search for you and let you know the results.
Thank you for the ID suggestion. We were in tropical forest at the base of Mt Kenya - no rocky outcrop and they didn't have nests on the wooden lodge structure that I could see. No white markings at all. The Wicki link shows black legs and feet, but is a drawing that shows a much longer looking bird than the very short coupled ones we watched. I am not sure if they were adults and juveniles, as they seemed to be indiscriminately feeding each other -- sort of an "here, I caught too many, you try one," maneuver that I've seen practiced by many berry eating birds. Sadly the bird forum link doesn't work for me - says I have to be a member to see the picture. I would love more info and more ID's as sand martin was as close as I could come
Northern Rock Martins have pale throats and undersides and are small but as you move further south they become larger, darker and the throats gain a reddish tinge, check out this photo:
http://www.birdforum.net/gallery/showpho...
The wiki link in my suggestion lists the 17 sub-species, I think your birds might be fusciventris or anderssoni or nearby. Kenya is not specifically mentioned but is close to the borders of perhaps four or five of the sub-species.
A few questions, did these have a white belly, did they have white spots on the tail, are these all youngsters or adults, or both, some have reddish tinged brown throats while others are mostly white with a little pink/brown. Brown-throated Martin has a dull brown, not reddish brown throat, although there are regional variations none of the descriptions I read mention a pinkish or reddish tinge.
Thank you, Ava, I will. Cindy, I hadn't either, but they were plentiful and and I fell in love with them. Larry, I'm loving going through old spottings :)
Nice behavior spotting! I haven't seen this species before. Thank you for sharing!
Spotted on Dec 26, 2010
Submitted on Jun 17, 2011
+2
