# Sand martin (*Riparia riparia*)

Canonical page: https://creaturedata.com/animals/sand-martin  
Data as of: 2026-11-11

The sand martin (Riparia riparia), also called the bank swallow, is a bird in the family Hirundinidae, order Passeriformes, within the songbirds and other perching birds. It is a small bird with an adult body mass of 12.68 g, up to 14.35 g, and a wingspan of 27 cm. The sand martin is a migratory, aerial invertivore of riverine habitats, with a geographic range of 36,580,000 km². It is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, which is not a threatened category.

## Quick facts

| Fact | Value |
|---|---|
| Weight | 12.7 g – 14.4 g |
| Length | Not recorded |
| Wingspan | 27 cm |
| Lifespan | 8 years |
| Diet | Invertivore |
| Longest recorded lifespan | 10 years |
| Main food | Not recorded |
| Habitat | riverine |
| Egg incubation | 14.8 days |
| Young per litter or clutch | 4.49 |
| Age at maturity | 12 months |
| Litters or clutches a year | 1.5 |
| Lifestyle | Aerial |
| Migration | Migratory |
| Conservation status | Least Concern (IUCN) |
| Countries on record | Not recorded |

## Classification

- kingdom: Animalia
- phylum: Chordata
- class: Aves
- order: Passeriformes
- family: Hirundinidae
- genus: Riparia
- species: *Riparia riparia* (Linnaeus, 1758)

Synonyms: *Cotile fohkienensis*, *Hirundo riparia*, *Hirundo trogloditus*, *Riparia europaea*, *Riparia riparia goroshkoi*, *Riparia riparia macrorhyncha*, *Riparia riparia sibirica*

## Common questions

### What kind of animal is the sand martin?

The sand martin is a bird in the family Hirundinidae, part of the songbirds and other perching birds in the order Passeriformes.

### How heavy is a sand martin?

An adult sand martin weighs 12.68 g, with a highest reported value of 14.35 g. Its wingspan is 27 cm.

### What does the sand martin eat?

The sand martin is an invertivore, placing it at the carnivore trophic level, and it forages in the air.

### Is the sand martin endangered?

No. The sand martin is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, which is not a threatened category.

### How long does a sand martin live?

The sand martin has a lifespan of 8 years, with a highest reported value of 10 years.

### How many eggs does a sand martin lay?

The sand martin lays 4.49 eggs per clutch and has 1.5 clutches per year, with an incubation period of 14.75 days.

### Is the sand martin migratory?

Yes. The sand martin is a migratory bird of riverine habitats.

### Who named the sand martin?

The sand martin was named Riparia riparia by (Linnaeus, 1758).

## Sources

- [An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles](https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1), CC0 1.0, E096-269. Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1
- [AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds](https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7), CC BY 4.0, v7. Tobias, J.A. et al. (2022) AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds. Ecology Letters 25: 581–597. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13898. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7
- [Catalogue of Life eXtended Release](https://www.checklistbank.org/dataset/316691), CC BY 4.0, 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf
- [Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org), per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed), 2026-11-11. Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence).
- [Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org), CC0 1.0, 2026-11-11. Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service).
- [Wikipedia (English)](https://en.wikipedia.org), CC BY-SA 4.0, 2026-11-11. Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).

Cite as: Sand martin (Riparia riparia). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/sand-martin