Aron Tanti

Small martin with wide breeding range encompassing the entire Palearctic except northernmost parts of Eurasia. Also breeds N America. Aerial forager feeding on insects flying at moderate height. Widely distributed in Africa during winter with high variety of migration routes and pre-migration areas in the Carpathian Bend and Balkan (Szép et al. 2017). Numbers have varied greatly due to drought events at their wintering sites on the African continent (Szép 1995). Breeding colonies in riverbanks, quarries and coastal cliffs. European population 3,640,000-8,000,000 breeding pairs, trend unknown.

Season of assessment

B

Population trendDecreasing
Population size
(min-max, best estimate)		13400000-19800000,15900000
Red List categoryLC
Franks, S., Fiedler, W., Arizaga, J., Jiguet, F., Nikolov, B., van der Jeugd, Ambrosini, R, Aizpurua, O., Bairlein, F., Clark, J., Fattorini, N, Hammond, M., Higgins, D, Levering, H., Skellorn, W., Spina, F, Thorup, K. Walker, J., Woodward, I. and Baillie, S.R. (1) (2022) Online Atlas of the movements of European bird populations. https://migrationatlas.org EURING/CMS (1) Principal investigator
Map

Overall Connectivity for Sand Martin

Overall movement patterns show very high diversity in terms of distances and orientation, but some connectivity exists. Birds from NW, W Europe nearly all winter in W Africa (Senegal), birds from C and N Europe show some of the longest movements, mainly with a S orientation wintering in C Africa. Birds from E and SE Europe connect to M East and E Africa. Birds from W, NW and C Europe often travel short distances remaining in the same country besides their long-distance migration routes to Africa with S orientation, indicating exchange between breeding populations. All populations have routes connecting them to the Mediterranean, probably due to their staging sites in this region before crossing the Mediterranean Sea.

Recoveries by Condition for Sand Martin

Ringed sand martins have been present since the 50s, with a growing number in the 80s and reaching 10000 encounters over the last five years. The vast majority of encounters, 95% is a result of bird ringing projects between Apr and Sep. The highest number of encounters is reported from NW Europe with the most individuals encountered in July. SC, SE and E Europe have significantly fewer ringing effort than the rest of Europe. Despite the quantity of ringed birds in Europe, only a few are being recovered in African countries. There is overall a high proportion of birds observed alive. The recoveries through dead birds come from the African continent, France and Spain. Shot birds are rare.

Annual Movements for Sand Martin

From Nov to Feb most European regions have only sporadic encounters. Many birds are reported to migrate to Sub-Saharan Africa and overwinter there in these months. From Mar, first encounters appear in the Mediterranean, birds from SW and SC Europe en route to the breeding destinations. In Apr many encounters are still concentrated in N Africa, while some birds have already reached the Mediterranean region on the way to W and C Europe. By May, birds of all regions have more or less approached their breeding destination. Peak in encounters is in Jun-Jul at the breeding sites, with localized movements. Highest number of encounters observed in the UK, W Europe and Baltic. First birds beginning autumn migration are seen already in Aug from which many reaches their wintering site in Sep.

Connectivity by Month by Region for Sand Martin

Ringing is concentrated in summer between Jun-Aug. Sand Martins breeding in N Europe are mostly encountered in Africa in Dec. Birds from NW and W have many encounters in the Mediterranean in Aug-Oct and Mar-Apr, and Dec-Mar in W Africa. SW and W European breeders, specifically from W coast of France are encountered in the UK in summer, indicating connectivity between these populations. SC breeders are not connected to UK or N/W Europe in summer, but were encountered in S Europe at migration sites. Birds in Jun-Jul in C Europe are often re-encountered within the region during breeding at short distance, indicating local dispersal. In Sep-Nov all populations move to S Europe. Birds from E/SE Europe in Jun-Jul are often encountered in the Mediterranean in spring.

Henk van der Jeugd

References

Statistics Map
N records N individuals N recoveries
Mapped data*
Total available data
*Mapped data include only distant (>= 50 km) recoveries
References Map
Szep, T.1995 . Relationship between west African rainfall and the survival of central European Sand Martins Riparia riparia. IBIS 137: 162–168
Szép, T., Liechti, F., Nagy, K., Nagy, Z., & Hahn, S. 2017 . Discovering the migration and non‐breeding areas of sand martins and house martins breeding in the Pannonian basin (central‐eastern Europe). Journal of Avian Biology 48: 114–122

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