Species group · Birds
Martins
WAnimals has 3 species of martin, all in the family Hirundinidae.
- 3 species
- 1 family
- 51 countries
- 281 parks
- Weight
- 10 g – 25 g
- Length
- 12 cm – 15 cm
- Lifespan
- 4 – 15 years
Ranges calculated from the entries that record the figure, not from all 3.
All 3 species of martins on WAnimals
Each one has its own full entry. This group does not replace them: it brings them together.
Conservation status
No species documented in this group is genuinely at risk according to the IUCN, with the data available today.
See the global conservation statusWhere they live
Recorded in 51 countries. The ones with the most species in the group:
Where to see them
Did you know…
It digs burrows up to 1 m into sandy banks to breed in colonies.
From Sand Martin
Its scientific name comes from the Latin ripa, riverbank; in the Americas it is called the bank swallow.
From Sand Martin
The chicks gather in crèches during the day and at night may sleep in neighbouring burrows: the parents recognise their own by individual calls.
From Sand Martin
It is the least migratory of Europe's swallows and martins: many winter in Iberia.
From Eurasian Crag Martin
It is the only hirundine that can be seen on the Iberian Peninsula all year round.
From Eurasian Crag Martin
It flies with remarkable precision close in to vertical rock faces, working along them a few centimetres out and at great speed.
From Eurasian Crag Martin
Its nest is a closed half-sphere of mud pellets with a small entrance at the top, put up by the pair in about ten days over hundreds of trips.
From Common House Martin
A study in Scotland found that 15% of the chicks were not the offspring of the male raising them, and that 32% of broods contained at least one chick by another father.
From Common House Martin