Sand Martin (Riparia riparia)
Great Egret (Ardea alba)
Small martin with dark brown chest-band and white throat. Upperparts dark brown, underparts white. Underside of wings dark. Juveniles with light fringes to brown feathers, and buff throat. Flight more elegant than Barn Swallow and House Martin. Often changes direction but keeps altitude. More fluttering flight than House Martin, with less gliding.
Sound:Contact call a mono- or disyllabic "trrrrt". Similar to House Martin but more raucous and less crisp, with less rolling r's, and with stable pitch throughout. Song a primitive improvisation on the contact call. Alarm call similar to House Martin; a sharp plaintive "tseep", but somewhat purer and more drawn.
Contact call:
Distribution:
Wikipedia: map (se also Xeno-canto below)
Ecology:Birdlife ecology
Links:
Observation.org Latest observations
Image search Flickr NB! May give other species
CCSlender and elegant bird, about the same size as Grey Heron. Bill dark in breeding birds, otherwise yellow. Legs and feet dark, but tibia often with red tinge in breeding season. Long, S-shaped neck with sharp angle/bend. Erect posture, and less skulking, horizontal hunting behaviour than Little Egret. Almost twice the size of Little Egret, and wing-beats are considerably slower. Wings give the impression of being attached more upfront than in Little E. Feets protrude well beyond tail in flight.
Sound:Silent outside breeding ground. In colonies various harsh calls like a dry, and mechanical "kerrrrrrr", and a very nasal "geet" or "ga-geet ga-geet" are heard.
Flight call:
Distribution:
Wikipedia: map (se also Xeno-canto below)
Ecology:Birdlife ecology
Links:
Observation.org Latest observations
Image search Flickr NB! May give other species
CC