From: owner-ammf-digest@smoe.org (alt.music.moxy-fruvous digest) To: ammf-digest@smoe.org Subject: alt.music.moxy-fruvous digest V14 #6796 Reply-To: ammf@fruvous.com Sender: owner-ammf-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-ammf-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk alt.music.moxy-fruvous digest Sunday, May 26 2002 Volume 14 : Number 6796 Today's Subjects: ----------------- Strange tribal trick heals Neuropathy FAST ["Reverse Neuropathy" Subject: Strange tribal trick heals Neuropathy FAST Strange tribal trick heals Neuropathy FAST http://savagegrowu.us/BfkCj7WKrzm3IQaf3t7ANbZ6x-Bo8VAnOuIChQFWHE5NsKtINw http://savagegrowu.us/79B8zDUWKBZAZM7ChyXoX4h75pOQhRWvuBWXSEFesdWNVqe2wA ock martin pairs often nest alone, although where suitable sites are available small loose colonies may form with up to 40 pairs. These martins aggressively defend their nesting territory against conspecifics and other species. Breeding dates vary geographically and with local weather conditions. Two broods are common, and three have been raised in a season. Breeding mainly August to September. The nest, built by both adults over several weeks, is made from several hundred mud pellets and lined with soft dry grass or sometimes feathers. It may be a half-cup when constructed under an overhang on a vertical wall or cliff, or bowl-shaped like that of the barn swallow when placed on a sheltered ledge. The nest may be built on a rock cliff face, in a crevice or on a man-made structure, and is re-used for the second brood and in subsequent years. The clutch is usually two or three buff-white eggs blotched with sepia or grey-brown particularly at the wide end. The average egg size in South Africa was 20.8 mm C 14.1 mm (0.82 in C 0.56 in) with a weight of 2.17 g (0.077 oz). Both adults incubate the eggs for 16b19 days prior to hatching and feed the chicks about ten times an hour until they fledge and for several days after they can fly. The fledging time can vary from 22b24 days to 25b30 days, though the latter estimates probably take into account fledged young returning to the nest for food. Feeding The rock martin feeds mainly on insects caught in flight, although it will occasionally feed on the ground. When breeding, birds often fly back and forth along a rock face catching insects in their bills and feed close to the nesting territory. At other times, they may hunt low over open ground. The insects caught depend on what is locally available, but may include mosquitoes and other flies, Hymenoptera, ants and beetles. This martin often feeds alone, but sizeable groups may gather at grass fires to feast on the fleeing insects, and outside the breeding season flocks of up to 300 may form where food is abundant. Cliff faces generate standing waves in the airflow which concentrate insects near vertical areas. Crag martins exploit the area close to the cliff when they hunt, relying on their high manoeuvrability and ability to perform tight turns. A study of nine bird species including four hirundines showed that the more young there are in a nest, the more frequent are the parents' feeding visits, but the visits do not increase in proportion to the number of young. On average a solitary nestling therefore gets more food than a member of a pair or of a trio. Since the nestling period is not prolonged in proportion to the drop in feeding rate, an individual fledgling from a larger brood is likely to weigh less when it leaves the nest. However, a subspecies of the rock martin (P. f. fusciventris) was an anomaly in respect of both feeding rate and nestling time. There was no difference in parental feeding rate for members of a pair and members of a trio, but the nestling period averaged 1.5 days longer for trios than pairs. Predators and parasites Some falcons have the speed and agility to catch swallows and martins in flight, and rock martins may be hunted by species such as the peregrine falcon, Taita falcon, African hobby and wintering Eurasian hobby. Rock martins often share their nesting sites with little swifts, which sometimes forcibly take over the martin's nests. In 1975, one of the first findings of the tick Argas (A.) africolumbae was in a nest of Ptyonoprogne f. fusciventris in Kenya, at that time the martin was described under its synonym Ptyonoprogne fuligula rufigula (Fischer & Reichenow). Status The rock martin has a very large range of 16,300,000 km2 (1.63C1013 m2). The total global population is unknown, but the bird is described as generally common, although scarce in Botswana and Namibia. The population is thought to be stable, mainly due to the absence of evidence of any declines or substantial threats. Its large range and presumably high numbers mean that the rock martin is not considered to be threatened, and it is classed as least concern on the IUCN Red List. Notes The table is based on Turner (1989). Parentheses indicate that the scientific name has changed from that originally giv ------------------------------ End of alt.music.moxy-fruvous digest V14 #6796 **********************************************