Barn Swallow - Hirundo rustica

 Classification
 Phylum: Chordata
 Class: Aves
 Order: Passeriformes
 Family: Hirundinidae
 Genus: Hirundo
Characteristics
Range
Habitat
Diet
Life Cycle
Behavior

ICUN Redlist - World Status:   Least

Concern
    Audio Credit: xeno-canto.org Chris Parrish 

  Characteristics   Life Cycle

The
barn

swallow is about six inches in length and

has a slate-blue head and wings. It has a
rusty-orange throat and forehead and a
pale orange chest and underside. It has a
deeply forked tail. Males and females are
similar, but the female's tail is a little less
forked, and her underparts are a little
paler.

  Range
In North
America, the
barn swallow
breeds from
Alaska east
to
Newfoundland, Canada and south to
California and northern Florida. The barn
swallow is a Neotropical migrant. It leaves
its breeding range in the fall and travels
south to winter in Mexico, Central America,
and South America. It travels by day,
eating as it flies. It travels as many as 600
miles a day. Barn swallows migrate in large
groups.
The barn swallow also breeds in northern
Europe, northeastern Asia, the Middle East,
and Northern Africa. European and Asian
barn swallows winter in southern Asia,
Indonesia, and Micronesia.
  Habitat
The barn swallow can be found in
farmlands, suburbs, marshes and
lakeshores.
  Diet
The
barn
swallow is an insectivore. It only eats
insects. Grasshoppers, beetles, moths, and
Barn
swallows form breeding pairs in the spring,
when they return to their breeding
grounds. The male tries to attract a female
by spreading his wings and singing. Barn
swallows often mate in the air. Both
parents build the nest.
Nests are made of mud and lined with
grass and feathers. The barn swallows
gather mud and roll it into pellets and then
carry it in their bills back to their nesting
site. The cup-shaped nest is built in the
rafters or eaves of buildings, on bridges, in
mine shafts, or on other manmade
structures. Occasionally, the barn swallow
builds a nest under a rock ledge or cliff
face, but that is rare. As their name
suggests, barns are one of the favorite
locations for barn swallows to build their
nests. As many as five to eight pairs of
barn swallows may use a single barn as a
nesting site.
The
other flying insects make up a large part of
its diet. The barn swallow zig-zags through
the air in pursuit of its prey. It even gets
its water while flying! It skims over the
surface of a body of water and scoops up
water in its bill.
female lays four to six eggs. Both parents
incubate the eggs and care for the chicks.
The eggs take around two weeks to hatch
and the chicks fledge when they are about
three weeks old. The parents continue to
feed the chicks for up to a week after they
fledge. The female may have two broods a
year. The same pair may mate for several
years.
  Behavior
The barn swallow uses a variety of
vocalizations to communicate. It has an
alarm call to warn of predators and a
mating call used to attract a mate.