Bank Swallow

IDENTIFICATION: A small swallow with brown upper parts and a brown breast band. Length: 12 cm.; weight: 13-15 g.

VOICE: A harsh twitter. Audio (M. Oberle).

HABITAT: On migration it can be seen foraging over towns, coasts, river valleys, wetlands, grasslands and open agricultural areas.

HABITS: The Bank Swallow has a shallow, fluttery flight as it chases flying insects. It joins big flocks of other swallow species during migration through the Caribbean region. It nests in North America in colonies in steep earthen banks. Clay, sand or gravel banks are the natural sites for nests, but it also uses man-made banks such as in gravel or sand pits, in piles of sawdust at abandoned lumber mills, in an abandoned well or a pile of iron ore tailings at an old mine. Birds dig with both their bills and claws, and then use their feet to push the dirt out the burrow entrance. The length of the burrow varies considerably (35-120 cm.) depending on the nature of the bank. As with many bank-nesting birds, the burrow slopes upward and ends in a nest cavity that is lined with grass or bark. The Bank Swallow appears to make a party out of nest digging. It will often dig for a few minutes, then fly outside and chatter with its neighbors, as it flies back and forth near the nest entrance. House Sparrows and European Starlings take over some Bank Swallow nests. Both male and female incubate the 5-6 eggs over a 14-16 day period. Chicks fledge at 18-24 days.

STATUS AND CONSERVATION: An uncommon migrant in fall and spring. Rare in winter (e.g., 1 at San Juan Bay Estuary Christmas Bird Count, 18 Dec. 2000; 30 at Cabo Rojo Christmas Bird Count, 29 December 2001; Central Coloso, Aguadilla, 10 September 2002). The nesting range of this species may have expanded due to artificial banks for new nest sites.

RANGE: Nests in the Old World and in much of Alaska, Canada and the northern and central USA. Winters east of the Andes, especially from northern Peru and Brazil south to Uruguay and central Chile and Argentina, but the main winter population concentrations are unknown.

TAXONOMY: PASSERIFORMES; HIRUNDINIDAE; Hirundininae. Also called the Sand Martin.

Nest holes, North America - Photo: M. Oberle

References

Arendt, W.J. 1992. Status of North American migrant landbirds in the Caribbean region: a summary. Pp. 143-171 in Ecology and conservation of neotropical migrant landbirds (J.M. Hagan III and D.W. Johnston, eds.) Smithsonian Instit. Press, Washington, D.C.

Bent, A.C. 1942. Life histories of North American flycatchers, larks, swallows, and their allies. Smithsonian Instit. U.S. National Museum Bull. 179. (Reprinted by Dover Press, NY, 1963).

Ehrlich, P.R., D.S. Dobkin, and D. Wheye. 1988. The birderÆs handbook: a field guide to the natural history of North American birds. Simon and Schuster/ Fireside, NY.

Garrison, B.A. 1999. Bank Swallow (Riparia riparia). No. 414 in The birds of North America (A. Poole and F. Gill, eds.). The Birds of North America, Inc., Philadelphia, PA.

Martin, T. E., A. P. Moller, S. Merino, and J. Clobert. 2001. Does clutch size evolve in response to parasites and immunocompetence? Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A. 98:2071-2076.

Raffaele, H.A. 1989. A guide to the birds of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. Princeton.

Raffaele, H.A. 1989. Una guía a las aves de Puerto Rico y las Islas Vírgenes. Publishing Resources, Inc., Santurce, PR.

Raffaele, H.A., J.W. Wiley, O.H. Garrido, A.R. Keith, and J.I. Raffaele. 1998. Guide to the birds of the West Indies. Princeton.

Ridgely, R.S., and Tudor, G. 1989. The birds of South America: the oscine passerines. Univ. Texas Press, Austin.

Turner, A. and C. Rose. 1989. Swallows & martins: an identification guide and handbook. Houghton, Mifflin, Boston.

Bank Swallow, Spanish text

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