Riparia

Riparia
Sand Martin
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Passeriformes
Family:	Hirundinidae
Subfamily:	Hirundininae
Genus:	Riparia T. Forster, 1817
species
R. paludicola R. congica R. riparia R. diluta R. cincta

Riparia is a small genus of passerine birds in the swallow family. There are five species. In taxonomic order, they are:

• Riparia paludicola – Brown-throated Sand Martin - (Vieillot, 1817)
• Riparia congica – Congo Sand Martin - (Reichenow, 1887)
• Riparia riparia – Sand Martin, or Bank Swallow - (Linnaeus, 1758)
• Riparia diluta – Pale Martin - (Linnaeus, 1758)
• Riparia cincta – Banded Martin - (Boddaert, 1783)

These are small or medium-sized swallows, ranging from 11–17 cm in length. They are brown above and mainly white below, and all have a dark breast band.

These species are closely associated with water. They nest in tunnels usually excavated by the birds themselves in a natural sand bank or earth mound. They lay white eggs, which are incubated by both parents, in a nest of straw, grass and feathers in a chamber at the end of the burrow. Some species breed colonially.

The cosmopolitan Sand Martin is almost completely migratory, breeding across temperate Eurasia and North America and wintering in the tropics. The other species are partial migrants or resident.

Riparia martins, like other swallows, take insects in flight over water, grassland or other open country.

References

• Mullarney, Svensson, Zetterstrom and Grant, Collins Bird Guide ISBN 0-00-219728-6
• Sinclair, Hockey and Tarboton, SASOL Birds of Southern Africa, ISBN 1-86872-721-1
• Turner, Angela K; Chris Rose (1989). Swallows & martins : an identification guide and handbook. Houghton Mifflin. ISBN 0-395-51174-7.