Swallows

Bank Swallow

Uferschwalbe

Riparia riparia

Swallows6 photosFirst seen: 4 September 2026

The Bank Swallow, known as Sand Martin in much of Europe, is a small colonial swallow that nests in tunnels dug into sandy banks and quarries. It feeds low over water and open ground and migrates to Africa, South America or southern Asia depending on its breeding range.

ID tip: It is brown above and white below with a distinct brown breast-band and only a shallow fork in the tail. The plain brown rump separates it from House Martin, while the breast-band separates it from most other small swallows.

First seen: 4 September 2026 · Lake Skadar · 6 photos in the collection.

Places in my records

Locations where this species is supported by a dated first record, an unambiguous single-place outing or a reviewed assignment.

Lake Skadar4 September 2026 Ulcinj Salt Flats6 September 2026

Family: Swallows (Hirundinidae)
Length: 12–13 cm
Wingspan: 25–29 cm
Regional status: Summer visitor (Montenegro)
Conservation: Least Concern LCIUCN Red List · retrieved 5 September 2026
Habitat: Rivers, lakes, wetlands and open country near sandy nesting banks
Diet: Small flying insects

Built from verified occurrence records, not drawn by hand. Core range = the countries holding 99% of all records; the rest are scattered or vagrant records. Record counts track where people watch birds as much as where the birds are, so the map shows presence, not abundance. Data: GBIF (CC BY 4.0). Basemap: Natural Earth.

Bank Swallow

Places in my records

Selected photographs