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Barn swallow at the moment when its beak touches the water to have a drink in Bagmati River, Nepal A reflection flight of barn swallow The barn swallow has an enormous range, with an estimated global extent of about 250,000,000 km 2 (97,000,000 sq mi) and a population of 190 million individuals.
The typical nest is a grass or feather-lined deep closed mud bowl with a small opening at the top, [12] but many Asian house martins leave the top of the nest open. [ 20 ] [ 21 ] [ 22 ] David Winkler and Frederick Sheldon believe that evolutionary development in the mud-building swallows, and individual species follow this order of construction.
The nest, built by both adults over several weeks, is made from several hundred mud pellets and lined with feathers and soft, dry grass, hair, sheep's wool or plant down. [27] It may be a half-cup when constructed under an overhang on a vertical wall or cliff, or shaped as a bowl like that of the barn swallow when placed on a sheltered ledge.
Flamingoes are gregarious wading birds, usually 3 to 5 feet (0.9 to 1.5 m) tall, found in both the Western and Eastern Hemispheres. Flamingos filter-feed on shellfish and algae. Their oddly shaped beaks are adapted to separate mud and silt from the food they consume and, uniquely, are used upside-down. One species has been recorded in Indiana.
It is much more urban than the barn swallow, and will nest even in city centres if the air is clean enough. [14] It is more likely to be found near trees than other Eurasian swallows, since they provide insect food and also roosting sites. This species does not normally use the reed-bed roosts favoured by migrating barn swallows. [16] [17]
The four Ptyonoprogne species are the Eurasian crag martin (P. rupestris) described as Hirundo rupestris by Italian naturalist Giovanni Antonio Scopoli in 1769, the pale crag martin (P. obsoleta), described by Jean Cabanis in 1850, the rock martin (P. fuligula), described by German zoologist Martin Lichtenstein in 1842, and the dusky crag martin (P. concolor) formally described in 1832 as ...
Mud-nesting species in particular are limited in areas of high humidity, which causes the mud nests to crumble. Many cave-, bank-, and cliff-dwelling species of swallows nest in large colonies. Mud nests are constructed by both males and females, and amongst the tunnel diggers, the excavation duties are shared, as well.
Mud dauber (or "mud wasp") is a name commonly applied to a number of wasps from either the family Sphecidae or Crabronidae which build their nests from mud; this excludes members of the family Vespidae (especially the subfamily Eumeninae), which are instead referred to as "potter wasps". Mud daubers are variable in appearance.