Bank Swallow

Overview
Bank Swallow: Small swallow with brown upperparts, and a brown breast band seperating white underparts from white throat and chin. Tail is notched. Brown legs, feet. The smallest North American swallow. Swift, erratic flight, alternating several shallow, rapid wing beats with short to long glides.

Range and Habitat
Bank Swallow: Breed from Alaska across northern Canada south to California, Texas, and Virginia. Spends winters in the tropics and the Old World. Preferred habitats include riverbanks, creeks, seashores, and lakes.

The Bank Swallow, which is also known as the Sand Martin, is native to numerous countries throughout the world. The range of this bird is around 10 million square kilometers. The population of this bird is about 46 million individual birds around the world. Currently there is not any concern that the population of this bird will face a significant population decline over the next several years. The Bank Swallow has a current rating of Least Concern as a result of its population and range.

INTERESTING FACTS
Most pairs in breeding colonies lay their eggs at the same time so that they will be feeding nestlings at the same time. This means there will be a large number of adults searching for swarms of insects, which makes it more likely they will find them. The scientific name of the Bank Swallow, Riparia, means “riverbank.” This species originally nested in the steep, sandy banks of rivers but have adapted to using many different man-made excavations. A group of bank swallows are known collectively as a "foreclosure" of swallows.