Riparia
{{Short description|Genus of birds}}
{{For|the community in the United States|Riparia, Washington}}
{{Automatic taxobox
| image = riparia Riparia-2006-Ejdzej-1.jpg
| image_caption = Sand martin (Riparia riparia)
| taxon = Riparia
| authority = T. Forster, 1817
| type_species = Riparia europaea{{cite web |url= https://www.aviansystematics.org/4th-edition-checklist?viewfamilies=161 |title= Hirundinidae |author= |date= |website= aviansystematics.org |publisher= The Trust for Avian Systematics |access-date= 2023-07-15}} = Hirundo riparia
| type_species_authority = T. Forster, 1817
| subdivision_ranks = Species
| subdivision =
R. paludicola
R. chinensis
R. congica
R. riparia
R. diluta
}}
Riparia is a genus of passerine birds in the swallow family Hirundinidae.
These are small or medium-sized swallows, ranging from {{cvt|11|to|17|cm}} in length. They are brown above and mainly white below, and all have a dark breast band. They are closely associated with water. They nest in tunnels which are usually excavated by the birds themselves in a natural sand bank or earth mound. They lay white eggs, which are incubated by both parents, in a nest of straw, grass, and feathers in a chamber at the end of the burrow. Some species breed colonially.
The cosmopolitan sand martin is almost completely migratory, breeding across temperate Eurasia and North America and wintering in the tropics. The other species are partial migrants or resident. Riparia martins, like other swallows, take insects in flight over water, grassland, or other open country.
Taxonomy
The genus Riparia was introduced by the German naturalist Johann Reinhold Forster in 1817 with the sand martin (Riparia riparia) as the type species.{{ cite book | last=Forster | first=T. | author-link=Thomas Ignatius Maria Forster | year=1817 | title=A Synoptical Catalogue of British Birds; intended to identify the species mentioned by different names in several catalogues already extant. Forming a book of reference to Observations on British ornithology | publisher=Nichols, son, and Bentley | place=London | page=17 | url=https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/13330911 }}{{ cite book | editor1-last=Mayr | editor1-first=Ernst | editor1-link=Ernst Mayr | editor2-last=Greenway | editor2-first=James C. Jr | year=1960 | title=Check-list of Birds of the World | volume=9 | publisher=Museum of Comparative Zoology | place=Cambridge, Massachusetts | page=95 | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/50585 }} The genus name is from the Latin riparius which means "of the riverbank"; it is derived from the Latin ripa "riverbank".{{cite book | last=Jobling | first=James A. | year=2010| title=The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names | url=https://archive.org/details/Helm_Dictionary_of_Scientific_Bird_Names_by_James_A._Jobling | publisher=Christopher Helm | location=London | isbn=978-1-4081-2501-4 | page=336 }}
The genus contains six species:{{cite web| editor1-last=Gill | editor1-first=Frank | editor1-link=Frank Gill (ornithologist) | editor2-last=Donsker | editor2-first=David | editor3-last=Rasmussen | editor3-first=Pamela | editor3-link=Pamela Rasmussen | date=December 2023 | title=Swallows | work=IOC World Bird List Version 14.1 | url=https://www.worldbirdnames.org/bow/swallows/ | publisher=International Ornithologists' Union | access-date=29 December 2023 }}
| class="wikitable" | |||
| Image | Scientific name | Common name | Distribution |
|---|---|---|---|
| 120px | R. paludicola (Vieillot, 1817) | brown-throated martin | Africa |
| R. cowani (Sharpe, 1882) | Madagascar martin | Madagascar | |
| 120px | R. chinensis (J.E. Gray, 1830) | grey-throated martin | Tajikistan, Afghanistan and Indian subcontinent to southern China, Taiwan, and the northern Philippines |
| R. congica (Reichenow, 1887) | Congo martin | Congo River and its tributary, the Ubangi. | |
| 120px | R. riparia (Linnaeus, 1758) | sand martin or bank swallow | Breeding season: practically the whole of Europe and the Mediterranean countries, part of northern Asia and also North America.
Non-breeding: eastern and southern Africa, South America and the Indian Subcontinent |
| 120px | R. diluta (Sharpe & Wyatt, 1893) | pale martin or pale sand martin | central Asia to southeastern China |
The genus formerly included the banded martin but this species is now placed in its own genus Neophedina.
=Fossil record=
- Riparia minor (late Miocene of Polgardi, Hungary)Kessler, E. (2013). Neogene songbirds (Aves, Passeriformes) from Hungary. Hantkeniana. Budapest, 8:37-149.
References
{{Commons category}}
{{Wikispecies}}
{{Reflist}}
{{Hirundinidae}}
{{Passerida|S.|state=collapsed}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q901041}}
{{Authority control}}
Category:Taxa named by Thomas Ignatius Maria Forster
{{Hirundinidae-stub}}