The Sand Martin (Riparia riparia) is the smallest of Sweden's swallows, easily told by its earth-brown upperside, white underside and the distinct brown breast band that crosses the chest. At just 12–13 cm long, with a wingspan of 26–29 cm and a weight of only 12–18 g, it also has a shorter, only slightly forked tail that gives it a more compact silhouette than the Barn Swallow or House Martin, and its flight is fluttery and irregular, often low over water and open ground. Its call is a dry, rattling, rasping "prrrt" or "tschrr" heard constantly around colonies and from flocks in the air, and the song is a simple, harsh chattering with no musical quality.
Sand Martins are the only Swedish swallow that excavates its own nest, and it always breeds colonially in open sand: both sexes dig a 60–90 cm tunnel straight into a vertical, eroding sand bank, ending in a lined chamber where the female lays 4–6 eggs, incubated by both parents for about two weeks. Colonies range from a handful to several hundred pairs, and because sand banks eventually become overgrown or collapse, the species depends entirely on fresh bare sand being continually exposed, for instance at gravel pits. Found across Sweden wherever suitable banks exist, the population is estimated at 50,000–100,000 pairs but is declining and classed as Near Threatened. The diet is exclusively flying insects — midges, small flies and other airborne prey — caught on the wing, often in hunting flocks low over lakes and wetlands. A long-distance migrant, the Sand Martin arrives in May and already leaves again in August, wintering in West Africa's Sahel zone; drought in that wintering region is thought to be one factor behind the species' decline in Sweden.
Read about this species in Swedish →