Tuesday 23 July 2013

Asian House Martin (Delichon dasypus)

OTHER NAMES: N/A
Latin Etymology: Delichon (anagram of genus Chelidon) dasypus ("hairy footed")
 Adult Asian House Martin (subspecies D. d. dasypus) at Arashiyama, Japan - July 2013

Featured Subspecies: Delichon dasypus dasypus
Weight: 15-18g  /  Length: 13cm  /  Wingspan: ?
NO UK STATUS IUCN Red List: Least Concern 

As the name suggests, the Asian House Martin is very similar to it's European equivalent in both form and habit. As with our local species, it is a Summer migrant, and thus we only encountered them on our original Kyoto/Osaka trip.  Unfortunately, as with any hirundine in flight, photographing them is very difficult and this was made more difficult by a mechanical problem with my camera at the time, meaning this terrible shot is the only one I managed.  Hopefully, a future trip will remedy that.

Related Species:
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Hirundinidae
Genus: Delichon
Subspecies: D. d. dasypus, D. d. cashmiriensis

- Sighting Locations -
JAPAN - Japanese - イワツバメ  /  Iwa-tsubame ("Rock Swallow")
A common Summer migrant.
 - KYOTO/OSAKA 2013 TRIP: A common bird in Kyoto, Arashiyama and Osaka

Further Notes: BirdForum Opus, IUCN Red ListRSPB, Wikipedia, Xeno-canto

No comments:

Post a Comment