Sand Martin

The sand martin, also called the collared sand martin or common sand martin, and in the Americas the bank swallow, is a migratory swallow that winters in eastern and southern Africa, southern Asia and South America. It is 12 to 13cm long with a wingspan of 26.5 to 29cm, and weighs 11 to 16g (Wikipedia, general species account).

It is brown above and white below with a narrow brown breast band, a black bill and brown legs. The brown back and breast band, white throat, small size and quick jerky flight separate it from similar swallows and martins. The song is a continuous gravelly twittering on the wing. There is breeding range overlap with the pale martin in central Asia, where the two share mixed colonies without interbreeding.