Sand Martin
Riparia riparia
Digesvale er med sine 12 cm Danmarks mindste svaleart. Den er vidt udbredt og findes i hele Europa, samt i Mellemøsten, det nordlige af Asien og i Nordamerika.
Our smallest swallow. Dull grey-brown above and white on throat and belly, with a bold brown band across the chest. It lacks both the House Martin’s white and the Barn Swallow’s red throat and tail streamers, and its flight is restless and fluttering.
Can be confused with
- Common House Martin — House Martin is blue-black above with a gleaming white rump and pure white underparts with no breast band; the Sand Martin is dull brown above, rump included, with a brown band across the breast.
- Barn Swallow — Barn Swallow is steel-blue above with a red forehead and throat and long tail streamers; the Sand Martin is dull brown with no red and no streamers.
- Common Swift — Common Swift is uniformly blackish-brown below as well, with long, scythe-shaped wings; the Sand Martin is white below.
Voice
In flight it keeps up an unbroken, gritty twitter that sinks to a quiet chatter once the flock has settled for the night. A hard warning call rallies the colony when a falcon or crow comes by.
Facts
Wingspan
27 cm
Conservation status
ikke truet
Family
swallows and martins
Hirundinidae
Read more
This is a short overview for the quiz. For the full account, go to the sources:
- Danmarks Fugle at the Danish Ornithological Society (in Danish)
- Wikipedia (in Danish)The description above is from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).
This page brings together information from several sources. If you spot a mistake, write to hallo@magnify.dk.