Barn swallow • Hirundo rustica • Nuxalk - qaaxatscili
Photos by Maria Shallard (top left), Kelly Fretwell (bottom left), and Josh Silberg (right).
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Identification
The barn swallow is a familiar, distinctive bird. Key characteristics to look for include the long, deeply forked tail, long, sharply pointed wings, and strongly contrasting colouring. It has a dark blue back, wings, and tail, with a rusty red throat and forehead, and white, light orange, or rust red undersides. It also has a dark breast band that separates the rust-red throat from the lighter-coloured chest. This band can be complete or incomplete. The colouring of males is more vivid than females. Both males and females are around 15-19 cm in length. Click here to hear the barn swallow's "twitter-warble" song. See the barn swallow ARKive page for more photos and videos.
Habitat & Range
Barn swallows spend the summer breeding months in North America, and the winter months in Central and South America. They feed on insects while in flight, and so can often be found flying in open areas such as meadows, parks, and near roadsides, or around wet areas like marshes, ponds, and shorelines. They tend to make their distinctive mud nests (in or under human-made structures such as barns, sheds, and bridges.
Find more information at the British Columbia Breeding Bird Atlas here.
Similar Species
Cliff and cave swallows can have similar colouring, but their wings and tails are shorter than those of barn swallows, and their tails are missing the distinctive broad fork. They are also missing the dark-coloured breast band.
Intriguing Info
The antics of barn swallows in flight can be fun to watch - they dart and weave through the air, make rapid dives and turns, and can snag insects from just about the ground or water while in flight. These antics are on display in the videos below.
Barn swallows used to nest in caves, but now almost all nesting sites are found on human-made structures. The one exception is a population in the Channel Islands.
The killing of barn swallows for the use of their feathers in hat-making indirectly led to the founding of the Audubon Society in the late 1800's. Read more about this story, how to attract barn swallows to your yard, and more cool facts on the All About Birds barn swallow page.
Conservation: Barn swallows are blue-listed in BC, and are designated as threatened by COSEWIC. Though they are a widespread species, they have been experiencing relatively quick population declines in many areas in Canada. Decreases in nesting and foraging sites may be impacting populations, but reasons for the extent and speed of the decline are not fully understood. Read the 2011 COSEWIC Assessment and Status Report for more information on this issues.
iNaturalist
https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/11901-Hirundo-rustica
The barn swallow is a familiar, distinctive bird. Key characteristics to look for include the long, deeply forked tail, long, sharply pointed wings, and strongly contrasting colouring. It has a dark blue back, wings, and tail, with a rusty red throat and forehead, and white, light orange, or rust red undersides. It also has a dark breast band that separates the rust-red throat from the lighter-coloured chest. This band can be complete or incomplete. The colouring of males is more vivid than females. Both males and females are around 15-19 cm in length. Click here to hear the barn swallow's "twitter-warble" song. See the barn swallow ARKive page for more photos and videos.
Habitat & Range
Barn swallows spend the summer breeding months in North America, and the winter months in Central and South America. They feed on insects while in flight, and so can often be found flying in open areas such as meadows, parks, and near roadsides, or around wet areas like marshes, ponds, and shorelines. They tend to make their distinctive mud nests (in or under human-made structures such as barns, sheds, and bridges.
Find more information at the British Columbia Breeding Bird Atlas here.
Similar Species
Cliff and cave swallows can have similar colouring, but their wings and tails are shorter than those of barn swallows, and their tails are missing the distinctive broad fork. They are also missing the dark-coloured breast band.
Intriguing Info
The antics of barn swallows in flight can be fun to watch - they dart and weave through the air, make rapid dives and turns, and can snag insects from just about the ground or water while in flight. These antics are on display in the videos below.
Barn swallows used to nest in caves, but now almost all nesting sites are found on human-made structures. The one exception is a population in the Channel Islands.
The killing of barn swallows for the use of their feathers in hat-making indirectly led to the founding of the Audubon Society in the late 1800's. Read more about this story, how to attract barn swallows to your yard, and more cool facts on the All About Birds barn swallow page.
Conservation: Barn swallows are blue-listed in BC, and are designated as threatened by COSEWIC. Though they are a widespread species, they have been experiencing relatively quick population declines in many areas in Canada. Decreases in nesting and foraging sites may be impacting populations, but reasons for the extent and speed of the decline are not fully understood. Read the 2011 COSEWIC Assessment and Status Report for more information on this issues.
iNaturalist
https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/11901-Hirundo-rustica
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References
Barn Swallow. The Birds of North America Online (A. Poole, Ed.). Ithaca: Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Retrieved from the Birds of North America Online. Accessed 22/07/2013.
Dunn, J. L. and Alderfer, J. (Eds.). (1999). National Geographic Field Guide to the Birds of North America. (3rd Ed.). Washington, D.C.: National Geographic Society. Pp. 324-325.
Authors and editors of page
Kelly Fretwell and Brian Starzomski (2013).
Barn Swallow. The Birds of North America Online (A. Poole, Ed.). Ithaca: Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Retrieved from the Birds of North America Online. Accessed 22/07/2013.
Dunn, J. L. and Alderfer, J. (Eds.). (1999). National Geographic Field Guide to the Birds of North America. (3rd Ed.). Washington, D.C.: National Geographic Society. Pp. 324-325.
Authors and editors of page
Kelly Fretwell and Brian Starzomski (2013).