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Fairy Martin (Petrochelidon [Hirundo] ariel) Alternate name(s): "Bottle Swallow", "Cliff Swallow", "Land Swallow" Aboriginal name(s): "boodibodi" (WA) Size: 12-13 cm Body mass: 9-12 g

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Similar species

Description     Classification     Distribution     Sightings     Photos     Breeding     Nest     Eggs     Behaviour     Food     Call/s

Physical description Click here for a physical description Fairy Martins are similar in size to Tree Martins, while swallows are larger. They have a creamy to grey front with buff flanks, a rufous cap and black back, while the rump is creamy. The flight feathers are dark-grey, with rufous leading edges. The end of short tail is square. The eyes have dark irises. The very short bill is black; the legs and feet are grey. Juveniles have duller colours. Twitcher's tip Compared with Tree Martins, Fairy Martins have a rufous cap, less colour contrast in their plumage and no striation on the front.

Taxonomy, classification See Fairy Martin at Wikipedia .

Range, habitat, finding this species Click here for information on habitat and range The overall distribution of this species can be assessed, and specific locations where birds have been spotted can be found, based on individual sighting reports submitted by birdwatchers to ebird.org . The global distribution of the Fairy Martin is available HERE . Fairy Martins can be found in Australia and in New Guinea. In Australia, Fairy Martins populate most of the continent, with a few exceptions, but they are not found in Tasmania. On the continent, they avoid the major sandy deserts of WA and the Lake Eyre Basin, but also Arnhemland, NT. They are rarely found in southern central SA and southern central WA (on the fringes of the Nullarbor, which they avoid entirely). During their breeding season they are usally in the southern three quarters of their range, up to about Cairns, QLD, Mt. Isa, QLD, and Broome, WA. During the rest of the year they also populate the far North of the continent, but are rarely seen on Cape York peninsula. Fairy Martins breed only in Australia. Fairy Martins have a preference for open country, not far from water and suitable nest sites, such as bridges, culverts or overhanging rocks, e.g. in escarpments. Where to look? How to find this species? The easiest way to find Fairy Martins, or at least their favoured nest sites, is to stop by road bridges or culverts and check the underside for bottle-shaped mud nests. If there is an active colony, Fairy Martins will be swarming around the bridge in droves.

Sightings Click here for sighting information Spotted only occasionally in 2005, Fairy Martins came to our neighbour's semi-permanent waterhole, 20 km South of Narrabri, where they hunted from dead trees standing in the water. They returned to the same place in September 2006. Since then we find Fairy Martins regularly at Eulah Creek, 20 km East of Narrabri, and many other locations in inland NSW, such as e.g. Deriah Aboriginal Area, Narrabri Lake, Maules Creek, Yarrie Lake, Barraba and Manilla, NSW. C. Hayne reports seeing Fairy Martins regularly on cotton farms near Moree, NSW. R. Plumtree reports spotting Fairy Martins near Ensay, East Gippsland, VIC, in September 2014. J. Greaves reports finding Fairy Martins building their nests at Boolardy Station, Murchison, WA, in July 2015, after significant rainfall in inland WA. B. Hensen found Fairy Martins found Fairy Martins nesting near Eastlakes Golf Course, Sydney, NSW, in December 2017. P. Brown reports finding Fairy Martins at the Timber Creek airport, Timber Creek, NT, in November 2018. M. Eaton reports finding Fairy Martins breeding at Postman's Track, Lake Samsonvale, QLD, in November 2019. C. Pears reports spotting Fairy Martins in two locations in WA, at Coalseam NP and at Mellenby Station, ca. 50 km NE of Morawa, in September 2022.

Photos

ADULT

Sex unknown

Frontal view of a Fairy Martin collecting mud (photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[Eastlakes Golf Course, Sydney, NSW, December 2017]

Frontal view of Fairy Martins collecting mud (photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[Eastlakes Golf Course, Sydney, NSW, December 2017]

Frontal view of Fairy Martins lined up on a fence (photo courtesy of P. Brown)
[Timber Creek airport, Timber Creek, NT, November 2018]

Lateral view of two Fairy Martins on the ground collecting nesting material; based on their normal behaviour one might think that they were after mud, but there is no mud here - this photo shows that they were also collecting ash of a woodfire
[Eulah Creek, NSW, September 2007]

Lateral/dorsal view of preening Fairy Martins perched in the top of a dead tree
[Walgett, NSW, September 2017]

Near-lateral/ventral view of a Tree Martin (lower left) and a Fairy Martin (upper right)
[Yarrie Lake, near Wee Waa, NSW, August 2013]

Not often seen together: lateral/near-dorsal view of Fairy Martins, with orange-brown caps, and Tree Martins, with black caps (photo courtesy of C. Hayne)

Lateral/dorsal view of Fairy Martins collecting mud
[Narrabri Lake, NSW, September 2014]

Frontal view of Fairy Martins taking off from a dead tree top
[Eulah Creek, NSW, September 2007]

Near-frontal view of a Fairy Martin in low flight
[Narrabri Lake, NSW, September 2014]

Near-frontal/ventral view of a Fairy Martin carrying mud for its nest (photo courtesy of J. Boettcher, FNQ Nature Tours)
[Mareeba, QLD, November 2022]

IMMATURE/JUVENILE

Fairy Martin "rookery" (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Postman's Track, Lake Samsonvale, QLD, November 2019]

Fledgling Fairy Martin sitting on a gravel road, begging for food (photo courtesy of R. Plumtree)
[Ensay South, East Gippsland, VIC, February 2015]

Breeding information

Breeding season: Jul - Dec

Eggs: 4 - 6

Incubation period: 14 - 16 days

Fledging age: 14 days

Fairy Martins can, given the right conditions, breed any time of the year. They nest in colonies. Male and female share the incubation and feeding duties. During the breeding season adult birds will roost in the nest.

Nest

"bungobittah", "lar", "malunna", "jindi" [bundjalung] = nest [Aboriginal]

Type: Bottle-shaped mud nest

Material: Mud glued to overhanging surface

Height above ground: >2 m

All Fairy Martin nests shown below, built under man-made structures such as bridges, culverts or awnings, are substitutes for this type of natural setting - an overhanging sandstone escarpment (photo courtesy of P. Brown)
[Nitmiluk NP (Katherine Gorge), NT, December 2017]

Closer look at Fairy Martin nests under an overhanging sandstone escarpment (photo courtesy of P. Brown)
[Nitmiluk NP (Katherine Gorge), NT, December 2017]

Another example of a Fairy Martin nest in a natural setting, under an overhanging rock (photo courtesy of C. Pears)
[Coalseam National Park, WA, September 2022]

Obviously, Fairy Martin nests will be reddish when made from red soil
[Near Brewarrina, NSW, October 2010]

Fairy Martin nests made from red soil (photo courtesy of J. Greaves)
[Boolarday Station, Murchison, WA, July 2015]

Here the Fairy Martin builders are shown (photo courtesy of J. Greaves)
[Boolarday Station, Murchison, WA, July 2015]

... if grey soil is available, the outcome will look like this
[Near Brewarrina, NSW, October 2010]

The more discerning customers go for this multi-coloured "avant garde" model (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Gatton, QLD, August 2017]

Colony of Fairy Martin nests under a bridge across the Namoi River south of Narrabri; one chick can be seen waiting outside the nest, two others are looking out the entrance
[Near Narrabri, NSW, October 2007]

These Fairy Martin nests... (photo courtesy of R. Plumtree)
[Near Ensay, East Gippsland, VIC, September 2014]

... are located in a low and narrow culvert (photo courtesy of R. Plumtree)
[Near Ensay, East Gippsland, VIC, September 2014]

Frontal view of a Fairy Martin collecting mud from a puddle
[Narrabri Lake, NSW, September 2014]

Close-up view of Fairy Martins collecting mud from the edge of a creek
[Narrabri Lake, NSW, September 2014]

Close-up lateral view of two Fairy Martins collecting mud from a puddle
[Yarrie Lake, near Wee Waa, NSW, October 2020]

Lateral view of a Fairy Martin collecting mud from a puddle
[Narrabri Lake, NSW, September 2014]

Fairy Martins seen collecting red-soil mud from the edges of puddles (photo courtesy of J. Greaves)
[Boolarday Station, Murchison, WA, July 2015]

Fairy Martins collecting black soil, which will turn grey when dry (photo courtesy of C. Hayne)

These Fairy Martins are after dry grass, possibly for use as lining or binding material
[Narrabri Lake, NSW, August 2011]

Abandoned, or temporarily vacant, Fairy Martin nests can provide shelter for spiders (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Lake Clarendon, QLD, July 2018]

Eggs

"boyanga", "booyanga", "derinya", "dirandil", "koomura", "mirk", "ngampu", "nooluk", "pateena", "pum-pum" = Egg; "dirundirri" = eggs [Aboriginal]; "gawu" = eggs [gamilaraay]

Size: 17 x 12 mm

Colour: Pale creamy with light-brown speckles

Shape: Tapered oval

Behaviour

Social behaviour: Communal

Mobility: Migratory

Elementary unit: Flock

As opposed to other swallows, Fairy Martins hunt in flocks. They also go to ground in flocks of 10 to 20. It is now clear that they collected ash from the ground, probably as a binding agent for their nests (see photos above). Normally we see them collecting mud, not ash.

Fairy Martins are shier than other types of swallows and will not nest close to humans.

Like other types of swallows, Fairy Martins scoop up water in flight
[Narrabri Lake, NSW, September 2011]

Food, Diet

Adults: Small insects

Dependents: As adults

Water intake: Daily(?)

Like all other swallows known to us, Fairy Martins are insect hunters. They feed in-flight on small insects.

To the best of our knowledge this Fairy Martin made a mistake; rather than scooping up water in flight like all its mates, it nose-dived into the water, only to come out again a second later (unless this is their way of taking a bath...?)
[Yarrie Lake, near Wee Waa, NSW, September 2012]

Call(s)/Song

For this species we have recorded the following call(s)/song. The interpretation of their meaning is our own; comments and suggestions for improvement are welcome.

fmartin_20190621.m4a	(NW NSW)	Contact/warning calls (flock, in-flight)	© MD
fmartin_20220729.m4a	(NW NSW)	Contact/warning calls (flock, in-flight)	© MD
fmartin_20240827.m4a	(NW NSW)	Alarm calls (human near nests; flock, in-flight)	© MD

More Fairy Martin sound recordings are available at xeno-canto.org .

These pages are largely based on our own observations and those of our contributors. The structure of these bird pages is explained HERE. For more salient facts on any bird species please refer to a field guide.

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