BTO - Breeding Birds of the Wider Countryside: Sand Martin

SAND MARTIN
Riparia riparia

Conservation listings

Europe: SPEC category 3 (depleted)
UK: amber (European status)

Long-term trend

UK: fluctuating, with no long-term trend

Distribution maps

Maps and statistics from British and Irish
atlases can be viewed here.

Status summary

This species is notoriously difficult to monitor, because active and inactive nest holes are difficult to distinguish, and because whole colonies frequently shift to new locations as suitable sand cliffs are created and destroyed. WBS nest counts suggest a stable or shallowly increasing population, with wide fluctuations, and a steep decrease in the last seven years. BBS counts of birds show steep declines in the UK and England since 1994. Winter rainfall in the species' trans-Saharan wintering grounds affect annual survival and thus abundance in the following breeding season (D.M. Norman, pers. comm.).

Table of population changes for Sand Martin

Source Period
(yrs) Years Plots
(n) Change
(%) Lower
limit Upper
limit Alert Comment

WBS waterways 24 1978-2002 19 -8 -40 77 Small sample

10 1992-2002 25 -24 -43 9

5 1997-2002 23 -43 -56 -25 >25

BBS UK 9 1994-2003 96 -46 -59 -29 (>25)

BBS England 9 1994-2003 64 -29 -47 -5 (>25)

Table of productivity information for Sand Martin

Variable Period
(yrs) Years Mean
annual
sample Trend Predicted
in first year Predicted
in last year Change Comment

Clutch size 34 1968-2002 24 Curvilinear 5.06 eggs 5.05 eggs -0.01 eggs Small sample

Brood size 34 1968-2002 19 None Small sample

Daily failure rate (eggs) 34 1968-2002 11 Linear decline 0.0105 nests/day 0.0003 nests/day -0.0102 nests/day Small sample

Daily failure rate (chicks) 34 1968-2002 17 Linear decline 0.0197 nests/day 0.0009 nests/day -0.0188 nests/day Small sample

Laying date 34 1968-2002 21 Curvilinear day 114 day 139 25 days Small sample

Chick nest failure graph

Laying date graph

Insufficient data on CES
available for this species


	BTO Home \| JNCC Home BTO, The Nunnery, Thetford, Norfolk IP24 2PU, UK. © British Trust for Ornithology (Registered Charity Number 216652). Terms and Conditions \| Privacy Statement Email:
This report should be cited as: Baillie, S.R., Marchant, J.H., Crick, H.Q.P., Noble, D.G., Balmer, D.E., Beaven, L.P., Coombes, R.H., Downie, I.S., Freeman, S.N., Joys, A.C., Leech, D.I., Raven, M.J., Robinson, R.A. and Thewlis, R.M. (2005) Breeding Birds in the Wider Countryside: their conservation status 2004. BTO Research Report No. 385. BTO, Thetford. (http://www.bto.org/birdtrends) Pages maintained by Susan Waghorn and Iain Downie: Last updated 18 January, 2006