Sand martin migration Riparia riparia
▶ Follow the sand martin across the big globe
Press ▶ to play the year. Line: a simplified typical route, joining the main cluster of GBIF records in each month (adjusted for observer effort).
| Scientific name | Riparia riparia |
|---|---|
| Wingspan | 27 cm |
| IUCN status | Least concern |
| Records mapped | 1,850,265 (GBIF) |
| GPS / geolocator tracks | none with an open licence yet |
Facts from Wikidata Q25909 (CC0).
When does the sand martin arrive in the UK?
A summer visitor in the records: sightings jump in late March and fall away after mid September.
Bars: this species’ share of all UK bird records in GBIF (CC0/CC BY), by month, scaled to the peak month. Based on 166,376 UK records. Weekly counts from the GBIF occurrence search API (country=GB). Dates are read from records, not from a survey, so treat them as a guide.
When do they arrive in and leave the UK? →
Migration in the data
1,850,265 GBIF records (CC0 and CC BY 4.0 licences only) are mapped here, in 1.41° grid cells, month by month.
In Europe and Africa, the centre of the records (adjusted for observer effort) is furthest north in July (about 52°N) and furthest south in December (about 2°N).
Month by month: centre of records in Europe and Africa
| Month | Centre (latitude) | South of the Equator |
|---|---|---|
| January | 2°N | 38% |
| February | 12°N | 27% |
| March | 30°N | 8% |
| April | 39°N | 3% |
| May | 46°N | 0% |
| June | 52°N | 0% |
| July | 52°N | 0% |
| August | 49°N | 0% |
| September | 39°N | 1% |
| October | 27°N | 10% |
| November | 5°N | 40% |
| December | 2°N | 44% |
Tracked birds
No openly licensed (CC0 / CC BY) tracking data package for this species was found in the Movebank Data Repository yet, so only records are shown.
About the sand martin
The sand martin, also known as the collared sand martin or common sand martin, and in the Americas as the bank swallow, is a migratory passerine bird in the swallow family Hirundinidae. It has a wide range in summer, embracing practically the whole Holarctic area, from Europe, across Asia to the Pacific Ocean, and throughout North America. It winters in eastern and southern Africa, southern Asia, and South America.
From the Wikipedia article “Sand martin” (revision 1380703927), CC BY-SA 4.0.
Sources
GBIF occurrence records, licence CC0 1.0 or CC BY 4.0 only, observations only (no specimens), filtered with: taxonKey=2489160&license=CC0_1_0&license=CC_BY_4_0&occurrenceStatus=PRESENT&hasGeospatialIssue=false&basisOfRecord=HUMAN_OBSERVATION&basisOfRecord=MACHINE_OBSERVATION&basisOfRecord=OBSERVATION. Monthly queries: Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec. GBIF.org (23 October 2026) occurrence data accessed via the GBIF API; a GBIF download DOI is still to be added. Contributing datasets.