Sand Martin movements within Britain and Ireland

Colony fidelity and interchange in the Sand Martin

“…After becoming independent of their parents, juvenile Sand Martins spend a period 'exploring' the area around their natal colony (Mead and Harrison 1979a). They will thus familiarise themselves with a much wider area, which will be extended southwards as the birds start their oriented movement towards their winter quarters.…”

“…The earliest free-flying juveniles are caught at the end of May or in early June, but young will continue to fledge from successful colonies for a further 10 weeks. Rather little dispersal takes place in June or early July; but by the fourth week of July many long-distance movements are occurring and the large autumn roosts are forming (Mead and Harrison 1979a). Thus although catches of juveniles at a colony throughout the summer will probably include substantial proportions of locally-bred birds, only those made in June and the first half of July will provide reliable indications of origins.…”

“…THIS PAPER EXAMINES THE EVIDENCE for the degree of fidelity to natal colony or previous breeding site in the Sand Martin Riparia riparia. Relevant data are not easily separable, however, since it is known that adults and juveniles regularly visit colonies other than their own, especially during post-breeding and post-fledging dispersal and during migration (Mead and Harrison 1979a). Moreover, ringers operating at adjacent colonies have often caught birds at both sites within a short space of time, even at the height of the breeding season; there are numerous records of feeding adults caught up to 8-10 km from the colony where they were ringed, and this seems to be about the normal maximum feeding range of breeding birds.…”

“…CRITERIA USED Few adult movements in excess of 10 km are recorded between 15 May and 21 July (Mead and Harrison 1979a), and it is safe to assume that the great majority of adults caught at colonies then are nesting there or within a few kilometres of it. Juveniles present a more difficult problem.…”

Sex‐specific differences in Sand MartinRiparia riparianest attentiveness

“…The ringing efforts were performed under licence of the Czech bird ringing scheme. The available evidence suggests that catching Sand Martins at the nest site in this way has no adverse effect on their breeding success (Mead & Harrison 1979).…”