Riparia

Riparia is a genus of passerine birds in the swallow family Hirundinidae.

For the community in the United States, see Riparia, Washington.

Riparia
Sand martin (Riparia riparia)
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

These are small or medium-sized swallows, ranging from 11 to 17 cm (4.3 to 6.7 in) in length. They are brown above and mainly white below, and all have a dark breast band. They are closely associated with water. They nest in tunnels which are 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.

Taxonomy

The genus Riparia was introduced by the German naturalist Johann Reinhold Forster in 1817 with the sand martin (Riparia riparia) as the type species.[1][2] The genus name is from the Latin riparius which means "of the riverbank"; it is derived from the Latin ripa "riverbank".[3]

The genus contains six species:[4]

ImageScientific nameCommon nameDistribution
R. paludicola (Vieillot, 1817)brown-throated martinAfrica
R. chinensis (J.E. Gray, 1830)grey-throated martinTajikistan, Afghanistan and Indian subcontinent to southern China, Taiwan, and the northern Philippines
R. congica (Reichenow, 1887)Congo martinCongo River and its tributary, the Ubangi.
R. riparia (Linnaeus, 1758)sand martin or bank swallowBreeding season: practically the whole of Europe and the Mediterranean countries, part of northern Asia and also North America.

Non-breeding: eastern and southern Africa, South America and the Indian Subcontinent

R. diluta (Sharpe & Wyatt, 1893)pale martin or pale sand martincentral Asia to southeastern China
R. cincta (Boddaert, 1783banded martinAfrica from Cameroon and Zaire to Ethiopia south to the Cape in South Africa

Fossil record
  • Riparia minor (late Miocene of Polgardi, Hungary)[5]

References
  1. Forster, T. (1817). A Synoptical Catalogue of British Birds; intended to identify the species mentioned by different names in several catalogues already extant. Forming a book of reference to Observations on British ornithology. London: Nichols, son, and Bentley. p. 17.
  2. Mayr, Ernst; Greenway, James C. Jr, eds. (1960). Check-list of Birds of the World. Volume 9. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Museum of Comparative Zoology. p. 95.
  3. Jobling, James A. (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London: Christopher Helm. p. 336. ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4.
  4. Gill, Frank; Donsker, David, eds. (2019). "Swallows". World Bird List Version 9.2. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 27 August 2019.
  5. Kessler, E. (2013). Neogene songbirds (Aves, Passeriformes) from Hungary. Hantkeniana. Budapest, 8:37-149.
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