Is this a house martin???

[wildfirejc]

I took this photo of a flock of what I thought were swallows, swifts or house martins.
But a close-up of this one stumped me. It doesn't have a fork tail.
Could anyone tell me what it is please?

[rossy]

swallow , rossy. and welcome wildfirejc.

[faz]

i agree with rossy swallow even thoug i cant see tail streamers white pattern makes me think swallow

[RoyW]

It is indeed a Swallow as confirmed by others.

The reason why the tail doesn't look forked is because of how widely it is spread. When a bird with a forked tail spreads the tail like this the end of the tail looks fairly straight (like in your photo) - a bird without a forked tail would appear to have a curved end to the tail with the feathers on the outer edges looking shorter than the central ones (try spreading a hand of cards and you'll see what I mean).

[wildfirejc]

Thank you all ))

[kestrel76]

May I offer an easy guide for House Martin, Sand Martin, Swift and Swallow identification:

House Martin = Blueish/black upper plumage with white rump patch on upper side.

Sand Martin = Brown upper plumage with brown 'chinstrap' marking.

Swift = Very dark plumage (can look black but actually brown) with very curved (sickle shaped) wings.

Swallow = Long tail feathers forming a very deep fork appearence.

I hope this may be of use. I am not an expert but know these to be diagnostics of the afore mentioned.