From Opus

Alternative names: Collared Sand Martin; Bank Swallow

Photo by bo shaheen
Kuwait

Riparia riparia

[edit] Identification

Length 12-13 cm

• Dull earthy-brown upperparts
• White below
• Brown breast band
• Shallow forked tail
• Bill and legs are blackish-brown
  

Sexes similar
Juveniles: tertials and upper wing coverts have pale fringes; breast band is less distinct.

[edit] Similar Species

Northern House Martin has a white rump and lacks the brown breast band; Barn Swallow has much longer tail streamers, a black breast and red throat. The Eurasian Crag Martin is larger and flies more slowly.

[edit] Distribution

Photo by IanF
Saltholme East Pond. Port Clarence, Cleveland U.K.

Breeds in most of the northern hemisphere, wintering to Africa, southern Asia and South America.

[edit] Taxonomy

Five to six subspecies are recognized:^[1]
riparia: breeds widely in Holarctic regions; winters in the tropics
ijimae: Kamchatka Peninsula and Kuril Island to Amur River and Hokkaido
shelleyi: Lower Egypt and Suez Canal region
eilata: southern Israel
innominata: south-eastern Kazakhstan; may winter in Africa or southern Asia

are widely recognized - taczanowskii only by some authorities. Pale Sand Martin has been split from the present species.

[edit] Habitat

Riverbanks, lakesides and sandpit, often seen in numbers hunting insects in low flight over lakes and rivers. Prior to and during migration they roost communally in large reedbeds

[edit] Behaviour

[edit] Diet

The diet includes insects, such as flies and spiders that are caught in flight.

[edit] Breeding

Breeds colonially in vertical sandy or earth banks, e.g. in gravel-pits and river banks, where nest is excavated (often a good metre horizontally into the earth).

The nest burrow is built by both parents; the chamber being lined with plant material and feathers. The eggs are white, and shiny. Incubation and care of the young is carried out by both parents.

[edit] Vocalisation

[edit] References

1. Clements, JF. 2008. The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. 6th ed., with updates to December 2008. Ithaca: Cornell Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0801445019. Spreadsheet available at http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist.
2. Collins Pocket Guide to British Birds 1966
3. Collins Field Guide 5th Edition
4. Collins Bird Guide ISBN 0 00 219728 6
5. British Garden Birds

• List of references

[edit] External Links