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The barn swallow, or Hirundo rustica, is an amazing bird to watch. These little birds travel a long distance in their six to eight years of life. These birds are found all over the world, except for Australia. The interesting thing about barn swallows is that they nest in large colonies. If you live near an open field or on the countryside, chances are you can easily attract these amazing birds. We have barn swallows that nest on our front porch every year. Watching these birds is a true delight.
Barn swallows differ from the American swallow because the barn swallow has a tail that is deeply forked. A male barn swallow will have longer tails than the female, and both male and female have rust on the underside of their body, a tiny bill and dark, almost blue upperparts. An adult barn swallow will reach about six inches in length. Young barn swallows look very similar to the adult bird, but are often paler and have a short tail.
When barn swallows nest, they stay near their colony. If you have ever hosted barn swallows, you will know they are near. If you walk near the carefully constructed nest, the entire colony of birds, which are excellent at flying in sharp turns, will attempt to mob you. Often, these attractive and skilled birds will nest very near humans, often on the eves of porches or in barns, as their name suggests. This is because barn swallows prefer to eat bugs. They can eat a large amount of flies, beetles, bees, moths, mayflies, grasshoppers, and aphids. These birds are quite beneficial to humans. These birds often begin their hunt for insects late on warm summer afternoons. They fly close to the ground over fields and water. They carry the insects back to their young.
Barn swallows are also easy to identify because of their unique nest they build for their young. Both male and female will make several hundred trips to collect bits of mud pellets and plant fibers. Both the male and female barn swallow works to construct the nest. These nests are almost cylinder in shape and resemble a carefully woven basket of mud. After the nest is complete, the female bird lays between three and five eggs. The female bird has what is called a brood patch, which is a bare part of her underside to enable her to incubate her eggs. These feathers grow back. Barn swallow eggs will hatch in about 15 days and the young will leave the nest after about 18 to 24 days. In addition, the male and female barn swallow may choose to use the same nest to raise another brood within the same mating season.
Watching the barn swallows take care of their young is fascinating. The parent birds work tirelessly around the clock to hunt insects and carry them back to the waiting young. At night, the parent birds rest outside of the nest, often clutching to the eve of the porch so that the young has the entire nest.
