HI ALL:
I thought someone might be interested in this. The House Martin is
UNrelated to our Purple Martin. Sand Martin = Bank Swallow.

Ian Paulsen
Bainbridge Island, WA, USA
ipaulsen at krl.org
A.K.A.: "Birdbooker"
"Rallidae all the way"

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Sun, 16 Jun 2002 18:45:17 +0200
From: EDDIE CHAPMAN <echapman at online.no>
To: UKBN <ukbirdnet at dcs.bbk.ac.uk>
Subject: [UKBN] House Martin and Sand Martin playing with feather.

Hello all,
Today at one of my local marshes I witnessed a House Martin pick up a
feather from a sandbank where some Herring Gulls had been preening. The
House Martin then flew up with the feather in its bill. It then dropped the
feather which started to drift downwards at which a Sand Martin flew in and
snatched the feather in midair. The Sand Martin then proceeded to gain
height and eventually dropped the feather. This time it was the House Martin
that caught the feather. This "game" continued between the two species for a
few minuets before both birds seemed to lose interest and let the feather
drift down and land on the water.

I have witnessed a White Wagtail sliding down the glass on a roof window (I
was on the inside watching) The wagtail did this several times, and seemed
to be doing it because it enjoyed the experience. However I have never heard
of two separate species (even if related) seeming to be playing with
an object together. Anyone heard of anything similar.

All the best,
Eddie Chapman. Voss, Norway. echapman at online.no
Bird Watching In Norway: http://hjem.sol.no/echapman/?noframes
Birding Holidays - Norwegian Rare Bird Alert.


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