The bank swallow

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Some enthusiasts have managed to attract it by driving long nails coated with clay under the eaves of the house.

The northern rough-winged swallow

This is a brown-backed swallow that looks a lot like the bank swallow, but its throat and breast are greyish instead of white. Its wing is also longer and its wingbeat broader and slower.

It is rare, found mainly in southwestern Quebec. Less gregarious than its close relative the bank swallow, it nests in isolated pairs along shorelines, on escarpments, under bridges and in crevices in concrete walls.

The bank swallow

This is the one we sometimes call the “sand martin”. It has a brown back, a rather small build, and white underparts marked with a dark breast band.

It nests in colonies in burrows dug in sand, clay or gravel, anywhere the ground is loose enough for it to dig a tunnel wide enough to lay its eggs in.

It can be seen just about everywhere in Quebec, and sometimes even as far north as Rivière La Baleine.