Bank Swallow
Riparia riparia
Habitat
Status
Threatened (Federal)
Description
Bank Swallows are small, fast-flying birds with brown upperparts, white underparts and a distinctive dark band on the breast. While in floght, it vocalises almost constantly with a chattery buzzing call. Bank Swallows are highly social and are conspicuous in their nesting colonies along sandy banks.
They breed in a wide variety of natural and artificial sites with vertical banks, including riverbanks, lake and ocean bluffs, aggregate pits, road cuts, and stock piles of soil. Sand-silt substrates are preferred for excavating nest burrows. Breeding sites are often situated near open terrestrial habitat used for aerial foraging (e.g., grasslands, meadows, pastures, and agricultural cropland). Large wetlands are used as communal nocturnal roost sites during post-breeding, migration, and wintering periods.
Threats
-Nest habitat destruction due to human development, i.e. erosion control, dams, quarries, mines, etc.
-Roosting wetland habitat destruction due to development
-Pesticide use decreasing the abundance or diversity of flying insects.
You Can Help!
-Reduce or eliminate pesticide use wherever possible.
-Conserve and protect wildlife habitat.
Resources
