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Bank Swallow

Riparia riparia

COSEWIC Status: Threatened

COSSARO Status: Threatened

Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada

The committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada is a committee of experts who determine the national status of native species thought to be at risk of disappearing from Canada. Members include academics, specialists, Aboriginal people or government, & biologists.

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Species at Risk Status

Threatened

This species is likely to become endangered if limiting factors are not reversed.

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Committee on the Status of Species at Risk in Ontario

The committee on the Status of Species at Risk in Ontario reviews the COSEWIC status reports for species that occur in Ontario, then makes recommendations on the appropriate provincial status of the species. Provincial status is identified on the Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks Species at Risk in Ontario (SARO) List.

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Species at Risk Status

Threatened

This species is likely to become endangered if limiting factors are not reversed.

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Have you seen this species at risk? Report your sighting.

Food

• Bank Swallows are primarily insectivores and will feed singly, in pairs, or in flocks.
• They catch insects in the air but will also eat land and water-based insects or spiders when available.

Habits and Reproduction

• Male Bank Swallows dig a 60-90-cm-long burrow then construct a soft nest of grasses, feathers, rootlets and leaves with the help of their female mate.
• Females typically lay four or five white eggs.
• Nests are constructed in natural or human-made settings so long as there is a vertical face in silt or sand deposits.
• A nesting colony may range in size from 10-2000.

Habitat

• Bank Swallows live in low lying areas near rivers, streams, ocean coasts, or reservoirs.
• Their territories usually include vertical cliffs or banks where they nest.
• Bank Swallows were commonly found around natural bluffs or stream banks, these swallows now often populate human-made sites, such as sand and gravel quarries or road cuts.
• The Bank Swallow migrates south for the winter, primarily to South America.
• The Bank Swallow is found on every continent except Antarctica and Australia.

Threats

• Although widespread, this species is in steep decline amounting to a loss of 98% of its Canadian population over the last 40 years albeit at a slower rate since the 1980s. The reasons for these declines are likely driven by the cumulative effects of several threats including:
  • loss of breeding and foraging habitat
  • destruction of nests during aggregate excavation
  • collision with vehicles
  • widespread pesticide use that has reduced the populations of insects they eat
  • impacts of climate change

Conservation Actions

• Report your sightings to the OMECP.
• Volunteer with Bird Studies Canada to advance the understanding, appreciation and conservation of wild birds and their habitat in Ontario.

Thanks to the official sponsors of the Ontario Breeding Bird Atlas (Bird Studies Canada, Canadian Wildlife Service, Federation of Ontario Naturalists, Ontario Field Ornithologists, and Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources) for supplying Atlas data, and to the thousands of volunteer participants who gathered data for the project.