Other Names (World)
Barn Swallow, Swallow, Chimney Swallow, Common Swallow, Eastern Common Swallow, House Swallow, Rustic Swallow, American Barn Swallow (erythrogaster), European Swallow (rustica), Eurasian Swallow (rustica), Nile Swallow (savignii), Egyptian Swallow (savignii)
Habits
Singly or in twos. Occasionally in flocks of up to 300. Often in association with other aerial birds such as martins, swallows and swifts.
Food
Flying insects, particularly flies.
Voice
A high-pitched 'tswit', becoming a rapid twitter. Song is a pleasant, mixture of rapid twitterings, warblings with some rattling notes. A high-pitched 'tswee' and a loud, short, 'chit', uttered in alarm.
Barn Swallow (Hirundo) [XC795140]
by Tiiu Tali from Valle de Tur\u00f3n-Mieres-Asturias, Spain (song)
Barn Swallow (Hirundo rustica) [XC760042]
by Stanislas Wroza from Carne, Wexford, County Wexford, Ireland (flight call)
Breeding Season (Guide)
Does not breed in Australia. Breeds in Europe and Asia.
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Nest
A bulky cup of grass and mud pellets, lined with feathers and other soft materials, usually attached to a wall of a culvert, under the eaves of a house or barn, under a bridge or similar situation.
Eggs (Guide)
4 - 6; smooth, glossy, white, spotted with various shades of brown, lavender, grey or dusky; oval; about 20 x 14 mm. Incubation: 14 - 17 days; mainly by female.
Proposed subspecies insularis, from islands in northern Gulf of Mexico, considered inseparable from mainland breeders. Populations in Eurasia intergrade; mandschurica often included in saturata, which itself is often subsumed in gutturalis or tytleri; birds from northern India (Sikkim), originally described as subspecies ambigua, probably belong in gutturalis, although sometimes included in nominate.
erythrogaster Boddaert, 1783 - Breeds North America from southern Alaska and western and southern Canada (southern from southern Yukon, central-western Mackenzie, northern Saskatchewan, northern Manitoba, northern Ontario, south-central Quebec and southern Newfoundland) south through most of USA (except extreme South-western, also southern Florida) to Mexico (north-western Baja California, and interior south to Colima, Michoaci¡n and Puebla). Also South America in eastern Argentina (northern Buenos Aires). Winters from Pacific slope of central Mexico and western Panama, and eastern West Indies (Puerto Rico, Lesser Antilles), south through most of South America.
rustica Linnaeus, 1758 - Europe and western Asia from Ireland, Britain and northern Scandinavia east to central Russia (east to R Yenisey), western Mongolia and western China, south to Mediterranean, northern Africa (east to Libya), Iraq and central Himalayas. Winters mainly sub-Saharan Africa, also southern Asia.
savignii Stephens, 1817 - Egypt (Nile Valley).
transitiva (Hartert, 1910) - Lebanon, Syria, Israel and western Jordan.
tytleri Jerdon, 1864 - South-central Siberia (R Yenisey east to Yakutskaya) south to northern Inner Mongolia. Winters eastern India and south-eastern Asia.
saturata Ridgway, 1883 - Eastern Russia (Kamchatka and Sea of Okhotsk coast south to mid-Amur Basin). Winters south-eastern Asia.
gutturalis Scopoli, 1786 - Eastern Himalayas, south, central and eastern China, Korea and lower R Amur east to Kuril Is, Japan and Taiwan, also possibly irregularly in Kamchatka. Winters southern and south-eastern Asia south to northern Australia.
Similar Species
Welcome Swallow (Hirundo neoxena) which lacks the black breastband, and has mid-grey underparts and underwing secondary coverts.
Compare Images
The Field Guide to the Birds of Australia Pizzey, G., and Knight, E., 1997, Angus & Robertson, Sydney ISBN 0 207 19691 5
Field Guide to Australian Birds Morecombe, M., 2000, Steve Parish Publishing Pty Ltd. ISBN 1 876282 10 X
Field Guide to the Birds of Australia Simpson, K., and Day, N., 1999, 6th Edition, Viking ISBN 0 670 87918 5
Reader's Digest Complete Book of Australian Birds 1988, 2nd Edition, Reader's Digest ISBN 0 949819 99 9
What Bird is That? 1984, Revised Edition, Angus & Robertson, Sydney ISBN 0 207 14846 5
Handbook of Australian, New Zealand & Antarctic Birds 1990 - , Oxford University Press, Melbourne ISBN 0 19 553244 9
BirdLife International Species Factsheet