NOVA FALCONS, A COMPANY SPECIALISING IN ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES, WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT AND OTHER ENVIRONMENTAL SERVICES
No, contrary to what might be inferred from this statement, we have not set out to count aircraft; we have counted planes, yes, but common house martin (Delichom urbicum), as we have been doing for the past three years (in Spanish, the common name for this bird is ‘avión’, airplane). The census focuses on counting active nests, following the methodology of Projecte orenetes, a citizen science project based on volunteer work, whose purpose is to monitor the nesting of this species.
Common house martin nest in the Sant Antoni neighbourhood, photo by Alba Moreno.
Two years ago, on the occasion of our first census, we wrote a post discussing some of the basic aspects of this species' biology. So, to avoid repeating ourselves, we refer anyone who would like to know more about this fascinating bird to that post:
https://novafalcons.com/en/blog/53-the-common-house-martin-delichon-urbicum-in-eivissa
That said, although three years is not a long historical series, it does allow us to begin to map the current status and distribution of the species in Ibiza and Formentera.
The first thing to note is that, to date, we have not been able to confirm that they breed in Formentera, therefore all their breeding areas in the Pitiusas are on the island of Ibiza. Within Ibiza, no colonies have been located in any of the three years outside the areas sampled in the first year or their immediate surroundings. In other words, to date, only three colonies have been confirmed: one in the municipality of Sant Josep, another in Sant Antoni and another in Ibiza.
In all three cases, there are more or less marked variations, which in principle may be due to circumstances determined by the date of the census rather than to a variation in population.
However, this population variation is worrying when analysed across the island as a whole, where the data show a 28% population decline in 2025 compared to 2023. It is true that between 2024 and 2025 the annual average remains fairly stable, so more years of monitoring will be necessary to determine whether the species is indeed in decline or whether 2023 was a year with an anomalous peak in activity.
What is clear is that we are talking about a species with a low reproductive presence, whose colonies must be protected as one of the many small treasures of the Pitiuso ecosystem.
To obtain detailed data on each of the sampling areas, simply visit the project website and access the municipality where the census was conducted to view the results for each year, both for the case in question and for all other municipalities outside the island where the census is conducted.
https://orenetes.cat/
Without further ado, here is a small photo album of this year's conference:
Participants in the censuses: Alba Moreno, Beatrice Mari, Lara Abascal, Roberto Bustamante y Borja Pérez.
Text and photographs: own work.
Find out more:
-https://novafalcons.com/en/blog/53-the-common-house-martin-delichon-urbicum-in-eivissa
- https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delichon_urbicum
- https://www.orenetes.cat/
- https://ornitologia.org/ca/
About Nova Falcons:
Nova Falcons is a company specializing in wildlife control and environmental services.
-Controls on birds, mammals y reptiles.
-Wildlife surveys, censuses and monitoring.
-Survey and control of invasive and protected species.
-Environmental impact studies and environmental consultancy.
-Pest and microorganism control.
-Consult other services without obligation.
