Bird Watch: Dusky Crag Martin, a bird that loves to build half-cup mud nests

The Dusky Crag Martin breeds mainly in February and March, and again after the rains start in July and August; usually, two broods are raised. The nest, built by both adults, is an open half-cup made of mud and lined with soft material such as feathers or dry grass. It is constructed under an overhang or in a crevice on a cliff or man-made structure.

The Dusky Crag Martin feeds mainly on insects caught in flight. When nesting, birds often fly back and forth near a rock face or building hunting for their prey. This martin is more gregarious outside the breeding season and may form small flocks where food is abundant.

The speed with which the Dusky Crag Martin catches insects to feed its chicks is admirable. It does not take time to shift the prey from its beak to the already-open mouth of its chick before returning to catch another prey.

Its ideal habitats are mountain areas with cliffs, old buildings and bridges where it constructs half-cup mud nests under overhangs. People entering old buildings can often find small, brown-coloured, cup-like nests in the corner of the roof housing many pairs of Dusky Crag Martins.

The bird can be spotted in many such buildings in Chandigarh, including the police headquarters, Sector 9, Old District Courts Complex in Sector 17 where the Chandigarh Arbitration Centre is functioning, and even the underneath portion of the Regulatory End of Sukhna Lake.

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