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 |
Riparia is a small genus of passerine birds in the swallow family. There are six species. In taxonomic order, they are:
- R. paludicola (Vieillot, 1817) – Brown-throated martin
- R. chinensis (J.E. Gray, 1830) – Grey-throated martin
- R. congica (Reichenow, 1887) – Congo martin
- R. riparia (Linnaeus, 1758) – Sand martin or bank swallow
- R. diluta (Sharpe & Wyatt, 1893) – Pale martin or pale sand martin
- R. cincta (Boddaert, 1783) – Banded martin
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.
Fossil record
- Riparia minor (late Miocene of Polgardi, Hungary)[1]
References
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Riparia. |
Wikispecies has information related to: Riparia |
- ↑ Kessler, E. (2013). Neogene songbirds (Aves, Passeriformes) from Hungary. Hantkeniana. Budapest, 8:37-149.
- 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.
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