Sand Martin

Riparia riparia

Locally common Summer migrants from March-October with 164,000 pairs in a sandy bank at some sites in Britain & 600,000 in Ireland.

Also breeds in mainland Europe, Ireland, North Africa & North America from March-August.

Winters in South Africa & South America.

In America they are known as 'Bank Swallows.

Adults have a brown back and breast band, white throat, small size and quick jerky flight separate it from similar Swallows, such as the Common House Martin (Delichon urbicum)

The song is a continuous gravelly twittering when the birds are on the wing and becomes a conversational undertone after they have settled in the roost.