Name

Hirundo rustica

Barn swallow

Framing

Phylum: Chordata

Subphylum: Vertebrata

Class: Aves

Order: Passeriformes

Genus: Hirundo

Species: rustica

Habitat

Near human settlements where it uses buildings to support its nests. Avoids forests and mountains.

Feeding

Free. Gregarious, with several pairs nesting in the same room. Predator of flying insects.

Distribution

Found on all continents. It is a summer visitor north of the Tropic of Cancer and a winter visitor south of that latitude.

Conservation status

Not threatened

Additional information

Small passerine (18 cm) with long pointed wings, forked tail with very long external rectrices in males, blackish back with bluish highlights, white belly, red face and throat and black head and collar. Very short bill, but wide mouth cavity for catching the flying insects on which it feeds. Prey is caught in flight and because it has very short legs it finds it difficult to get off the ground, so it only perches on the ground to collect mud, which it uses to build its nest, an open-fronted cup made of small mud balls glued together.