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. chinensis R. congica R. riparia R. diluta R. cincta

Riparia is a small genus of passerine birds in the swallow family. The genus means "of the riverbank"; it is derived from the Latin ripa "riverbank".^[1]

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)^[2]

References

1. Jobling, James A (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London: Christopher Helm. p. 336. ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4.
2. Kessler, E. (2013). Neogene songbirds (Aves, Passeriformes) from Hungary. Hantkeniana. Budapest, 8:37-149.