Banded Martin
Riparia cincta
- KingdomAnimalia (Animals)
- PhylumChordata (Chordates)
- ClassAves (Birds)
- OrderPasseriformes (Perching Birds)
- FamilyHirundinidae (Swallows and Martins)
- GenusRiparia (Sand Martins, Plain Martins, and Allies)
- SpeciesRiparia cincta (Banded Martin)
About the Banded Martin
The banded martin or banded sand martin (Neophedina cincta) is a small passerine bird in the swallow family Hirundinidae that is endemic to Africa. It is the only species placed in the genus Neophedina. The banded martin was described by the French polymath Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon in 1780 in his Histoire Naturelle des Oiseaux from a specimen collected from the Cape of Good Hope. The bird was also illustrated in a hand-coloured plate engraved by François-Nicolas Martinet in the Planches Enluminées D'Histoire Naturelle which was produced under the supervision of Edme-Louis Daubenton to accompany Buffon's text. Neither the plate caption nor Buffon's description included a scientific name but in 1783 the Dutch naturalist Pieter Boddaert coined the binomial name Hirundo cincta in his catalogue of the Planches Enluminées.
The banded martin was formerly placed in the genus Riparia. A genetic study found that it belonged to a different clade to other members of the genus, and it was moved to the genus Neophedina that had been introduced in 1922 by the South African zoologist Austin Roberts. The specific epithet cincta is from Latin cinctus meaning "banded".
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Closest Relatives at Golden Gate Highlands National Park
Plain Martin
Riparia paludicola
Rock Martin
Ptyonoprogne fuligula
Greater Striped-Swallow
Cecropis cucullata
White-throated Swallow
Hirundo albigularis
Barn Swallow
Hirundo rustica
South African Swallow
Petrochelidon spilodera
Lesser Striped-Swallow
Cecropis abyssinica
Pied Starling
Lamprotornis bicolor
Red-winged Starling
Onychognathus morio
African Stonechat
Saxicola torquatus
Cape Bunting
Emberiza capensis
Southern Fiscal
Lanius collaris
Global Distribution
Where this species is recorded worldwide. Restricted to human observations from 2019 onwards — the same kind of record and the same period the probabilities on this page are built from, so collar-tracking studies, camera-trap arrays and museum specimens are excluded. Around Santa Rosa that removes 5,924 GPS fixes from a handful of tagged jaguars.
where this species is recorded (GBIF density — it tracks where observers go, not how likely a sighting is) · parks where it occurs — tap a pin for the sighting probability there
Parks Where Found
Quick answers
What are the chances of seeing a Banded Martin in Golden Gate Highlands National Park?
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Banded Martin sighting in Golden Gate Highlands National Park, based on 14 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data.
When is the best time to see Banded Martin in Golden Gate Highlands National Park?
December has the highest sighting rate for Banded Martin in Golden Gate Highlands National Park in our monthly data.