Sand Martin

Habitat: Near steep clay and sand banks. The sand martin is more dependent on water than other swallows – gravel pits and rivers.

Appearance: Summer visitor throughout Europe, although locally absent due to lack of suitable nesting sites. In Belgium and the Netherlands, it is a fairly numerous breeding bird, migrating in fairly small numbers.

Breeding season: May to August, self-dug nest cavities in the ground – a passage about an arm’s length deep is dug with the beak and feet, usually in a recently formed steep wall, at the end of the passage it is widened into a breeding chamber, which the swallows line with feathers, 4 to 6 eggs.

Characteristics: Length 12 – 13 cm, wingspan 27 – 29 cm, weight 12 – 16 grams, age 10 years.

Food: Insects caught in flight. Especially in the evening, until well after sunset, the swallows hunt tirelessly above water surfaces. Sometimes they are located at a great distance from the nesting wall.