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).
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Famous quotes containing the word parasites:
“Shy and proud men ... are more liable than any others to fall into the hands of parasites and creatures of low character. For in the intimacies which are formed by shy men, they do not choose, but are chosen.”
—Sir Henry Taylor (1800–1886)