nhptv.org
CLASSIFICATION
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Hirundinidae
Genus: Hirundo
Characteristics
The barn swallow is about six inches long and has a dark slate blue head and wings. It has a dark rusty orange throat and forehead and a paler 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 east to 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 can travel 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 and Indonesia and Micronesia.
HABITAT
The barn swallow can be found in farmlands, suburbs, marshes and lakeshores.
DIET
The barn swallow is an insectivore, it eats only insects. Grasshoppers, beetles, moths and other flying insects make up a large part of its diet. The barn swallow zig-zigs through the air in pursuit of its prey. It even gets its water while flying! It will skim over the surface of a body of water and scoop up water in its bill.
LIFE CYCLE
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 swallow pair will gather mud and roll it into a pellet and then carry it back to the nesting site in their bills. 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 will build a nest under a rock ledge or cliff face, but that is rare. Like their name suggests, barns are one of the favorite location for barn swallows to build their nests and a single barn may be used by five to eight pairs of barn swallows.
The female lays four to six eggs. Both parents help incubate the eggs and care for the young. The eggs take around two weeks to hatch and the chicks will fledge when they are about three weeks old. The parents will continue to feed them 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.
