Species › Birds

Sand Martin

Riparia riparia

Order: Passeriformes
Family: Hirundinidae
Presence in the Strait: Migrant
Abundance: common
Protection in Spain: Special protection (List)
In Spanish: Avión zapador

54% of its open observations in the area are from September.

Photograph: Вячеслав Юсупов, CC BY, vía iNaturalist

Length: 12 cm
Weight: 14 g

Presence in the Strait

Common migrant.

Identification

Similar to a House Martin with light greyish-brown upperparts and white underparts with a brownish breast-band. In flight, dark underwing coverts.

Movements

They usually accompany other Hirundinidae during migration. Peaks in 2nd hf. March and 2nd hf. September.

Ring recoveries

France (1).

Bioestrecho editorial text. Last revised: 8 September 2026.

Photographs from iNaturalist observations with the licence checked file by file. Those marked “Strait” were taken within the area; place and date are those of each observation.

Calendar in the Strait

54 %

Peak in September. Observations under CC0 or CC BY licences. The distribution also reflects observation effort.

Where it is seen

Open records from the atlas database, in cells of about 3.6 km. Opacity follows the square root of the count, and also reflects where people observe most.

See on the map

First open record: 26 March 1970
Latest record: 3 March 2025

The oldest and the most recent open observation in the extended area. A recent first observation does not mean the species is new: it means nobody had published it openly before.

Conservation

The catalogues, Andalusian and Spanish, are what binds; the Red Book assesses the Spanish population with IUCN criteria, and the global Red List is the context.

LCNTVUENCR

Andalusian Catalogue: Special protection (List)
Spanish Catalogue: Special protection (List)
Red Book of the Birds of Spain 2021: LC · Least concern · breeding
Global Red List (IUCN): LC · Least concern

Andalusian Catalogue: Junta de Andalucía, list of 24 April 2025. Spanish Catalogue: MITECO, table of 30 June 2025. Red Book: SEO/BirdLife, 2021 (Annex I). IUCN: via GBIF, 6 September 2026. Red Book and IUCN categories are assessments; catalogue categories are legal obligations.

Phenology compared

Monthly distribution in proportion, by decade. It shows whether the passage is getting earlier or later.

2000–2009

2010–2026

Proportions, not totals: observation effort grew faster than any population.

Where they come from

1 birds ringed in other countries and recovered in the area.

France1

See the journey on the map

Classification

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Hirundinidae
GBIF taxon key: 2489160

Sources

Distribution and calendar: Bioestrecho's own database, ingested from GBIF and OBIS
Photograph: Вячеслав Юсупов, CC BY, vía iNaturalist
Taxonomy: GBIF backbone, pending WoRMS for marine taxa
Editorial text: written by Bioestrecho
Last revised: 8 September 2026

Sand Martin

Presence in the Strait

Identification

Movements

Ring recoveries

Gallery